1. Chapter Two - The Politics of Education
1.1. The Four Purposes of Education
1.1.1. Intellectual - to teach cognitive skills/knowledge, such as reading, writing, and mathematics. Helps students with higher-order thinking skills.
1.1.2. Political - prepares citizens who will be able to participate in politics. Identifies cultural groups in common political order. Teaches the basic laws that are in society.
1.1.3. Social - teaches students to socialize and be able to work together (ex - families, work, etc). Helps students to become social in various roles.
1.1.4. Economic - prepares students for working roles in society and the workforce.
1.2. Conservative Perspective
1.2.1. Role of the School
1.2.1.1. Providing education that ensures the hardest-working students receive the tools to be most productive from an economic and social standpoint. Schools also prepare students for adult roles in society.
1.2.2. Explanations of Unequal Performance
1.2.2.1. Individuals are successful, or unsuccessful according to their intelligence level, work ethic, and initiative.
1.2.3. Definition of Educational Problems
1.2.3.1. Decline of standards - schools lowered standards and educational quality in the 1960's and 70's.
1.2.3.2. Decline of Cultural Literacy - schools do not pass on American and Western heritage as much, in order to include multicultural demands.
1.2.3.3. Decline of Values/Civilization - schools lost the "normal" role of teaching morals/values.
2. Chapter Seven - Curriculum, Pedagogy, and the Transmission of Knowledge
2.1. Humanist curriculum theory - the purpose of education is to teach the best material that has been thought/written. The humanist theory is more conservative than others. I'm an advocate for this theory because I think it is important to be knowledgable in a wide range of subjects. At a young age, students will probably not know what they want to do as an adult, so be educated on lots of things could be very helpful later on.
2.2. Two dominant traditions of teaching
2.2.1. 1. The Mimetic Tradition - describes educational knowledge that is traded from one person to another through an imitative action.
2.2.2. 2. The Transformative Tradition - describes a major change in the knowledge of the subject being taught. The change is often dramatic, of "transformative".
3. Chapter Eight - Equality of Opportunity and Educational Outcomes
3.1. How class, race, and gender impact educational outcomes.
3.1.1. Class - Upper class families are more suited to be able to afford higher education for students. Teachers often label lower and working class students because they do not speak middle-class English like the upper class does. Upper class families typically expect more from their kids in school (grades/level of education).
3.1.2. Race - Race has a direct impact on the level of education that is most likely to be achieved. The highest percentage of drop out rates is among Hispanic-American students.
3.1.3. Gender - Females are more likely to finish school than males. Males usually perform better in Math, and males usually score the highest on SAT scores. While women are outnumbering the men on attending post-secondary institutions, the post-secondary institutions the women attend are usually less distinguished than those being attended by males.
3.2. Responses to the Coleman Study from 1982.
3.2.1. 1. Critics didn't see the findings as significant as Coleman and his associates did. More recent studies continue to show that private schools usually outscore public schools on testing, but it is argued that this isn't very significant.
3.2.2. 2. Geoffrey Borman and Maritza Dowling say that a students race and socioeconomic status effect where a student attends school, but the racial and socioeconomic make-up of the school itself has a bigger influence on the students.
4. Chapter Nine - Explanations of Educational Inequality
4.1. Cultural Difference Theories
4.1.1. 1. John Ogpu (1978-79, 1987) states African-American children underperform is school because they are adapting to their social class environment. African-American families and schools teach kids to compromise their lessons to handle life chances instead of gaining skills for jobs that will not be open to them later.
4.1.2. 2. Later works by Ogbu (1986) state that African-Americans have to oppose their cultural identities and adjust to "dominant" cultures to be successful in school. The white middle class is considered the dominant culture.
4.2. School-centered explanations for educational inequality
4.2.1. 1. School Financing - Public schools get financed through local, state, and federal levels. Public schools in affluent areas are receiving significantly more money per student that schools in the poor inner cities. School financing has always been a big controversy and will probably remain that way for years to come.
4.2.2. 2. Effective School Research - Coleman and Jencks found that school resources did not directly effect the inequalities between academic achievement and quality. Ronald Edmonds says that schools should be compared within low socioeconomic communities, not just schools of different socioeconomic statuses.
4.2.3. 3. Between-School Differences: Curriculum and Pedagogic Practices - Academic performances are different based on the climate of the schools. Why do higher socioeconomic areas perform so much better in school. Bernstein (1990) thinks that schools with working-class students are more authoritarian and teacher-directed. Middle class schools are less authoritarian and more student-centered with didactic practices.
4.2.4. 4. Gender and Schooling - One wave of feminism started in the 1960's. This feminist movement argued that women were not treated equal to men in all aspects of society, which included education. Many feminists think that schools are more geared toward competition which is more of a male attribute. These feminists think that curriculum and didactic practices should be turned toward caring and connectedness, two features that are more prominent in women.
5. Chapter Ten - Educational Reform and School Improvement
5.1. Two school-based reforms
5.1.1. 1. School-Business Partnerships - In the 1980's, there were several school-business partnerships formed to encourage schools to produce graduates that could keep up with the changing U.S. economy. The past decade has produced more efforts of educational reform from entrepreneurs and different foundations. Overall, there is not much evidence showing that these partnerships produce improvements in schools.
5.1.2. 2. Privatization - Private educational companies have become more involved with public education since the 1990's. For-profit companies have taken over several schools due to low student achievement. This has not been happening long enough to know if it is truly beneficial. The success has been mixed so far.
5.2. Two societal, economic, community, or political reforms
5.2.1. 1. School Finance Reforms - School funding being needed in poor school districts was court ruled in 1990. Funding had to be paralleled in urban and suburban districts. Any extra funding was to be dispersed for programs to help defeat disadvantages of the poor school districts.
5.2.2. 2. Full Service and Community Schools - Educating the entire community, instead of just the child is a way that education inequity could be fought. Full service schools meet the needs of the entire family, not just the student. These schools also provide more than education needs. Physical, psychological, and social needs are taught as well. Full service schools try to prevent problems and support them.
6. Chapter Three - The History of Education
6.1. Education for All: The Emergence of the Public High School
6.1.1. I think the use of tax money to support public high schools is one of the most influential moves. This support allows every person to get a secondary education. An education is important to a persons future and everyone has a right to one.
6.2. Conservative Perspectives
6.2.1. Conservatives believed that U.S. lacked in education. Historically, some conservatives thought social and political status were a little more important. Some critics, like Diane Ravitch thought that, "..using education to solve social problems has not solved these problems and has led to the erosion of educational excellence." (p.85)
7. Chapter Four - The Sociology of Education
7.1. Theoretical Perspective between school and society - Schools, as well as other public places shape students views/perceptions of society. The text describes several scenarios for how schools shape the minds of students.
7.1.1. Functionalism - describes society as "a machine"(p.117). One aspect works with another to make society function properly.
7.1.2. Conflict Theory - states that there are dominant sections of society that greatly influence the less dominant groups using manipulation and force.
7.1.3. Interactionalism - further describe the functional and conflict theories, but with more criticisms.
7.2. 5 Effects of schooling with the greatest impact on students.
7.2.1. Employment - A college education increases a students chances of better job opportunities.
7.2.2. Teacher behavior - teachers influence students in many ways. Their behavior and attitudes should be appropriate at all times.
7.2.3. Knowledge and Attitudes - Research has discovered that students with higher social backgrounds usually perform better in schools. Research also shows that the higher education received, the more involved individuals will be in different aspects of society.
7.2.4. Education and Mobility - Most people believe that economic and social mobility is directly related to education levels. The location of schooling (private vs public) also has effects on education levels.
7.2.5. Students Groups and Alienation - Students end up in different settings/groups depending on their education and culture. Subcultures are alienating students in school and are even having an effect after school when students enter society.
8. Chapter Five - The Philosophy of Education
8.1. Pragmatism
8.1.1. Pragmatism is a philosophy that describes people doing work to achieve their end goals. In the text, a schema for pragmatism is "problem > speculative thought > action > results" (p.186).
8.1.2. Key researchers - George Sanders Peirce, William James, John Dewey, and John Locke. There are other philosophers, but these are some of the main founders of pragmatic thinking.
9. Chapter Six - Schools as Organizations and Teacher Professionalization
9.1. Major stakeholders
9.1.1. Local Superintendent - Huntsville City: Dr. Matt Akin
9.1.2. School Board of Education: Elisa Ferrell (President - District 3), Walker McGinnis (VP - District 4), Beth Wilder (3rd Presiding Officer - District 2), Michelle Watkins (District 1), Pam Hill (District 5).
9.1.3. Alabama State Superintendent - Ed Richardson
9.1.4. President of State Board of Education - Kay Ivey (by virtue of position as Governor)
9.2. Elements of change within school processes and school cultures
9.2.1. School processes - School processes are described as the cultural aspects that can make schools an emotional memory and certain cognitive outcomes for some students.
9.2.2. School cultures - Schools have their own cultures. They are defined by specific political structure (principal - teachers - students), defined populations, and social relationships.