1. Schools as Organizations
1.1. Schools as Orgnaizations
1.1.1. Federal Alabama Senators:
1.1.1.1. Doug Jones
1.1.1.2. Richard Shelby
1.1.2. House of Representatives
1.1.2.1. Michael Rogers
1.1.2.2. Robert Aderholt
1.1.2.3. Gary Palmer
1.1.2.4. Bradley Byrne
1.1.2.5. Martha Roby
1.1.2.6. Mo Brooks
1.1.2.7. Terri Sewell
1.1.3. State Superintendent
1.1.3.1. Michael Sentance
1.1.4. State School Board
1.1.4.1. Kay Ivey
1.1.4.2. Ed Richardson
1.1.4.3. Stephanie Bell
1.1.4.4. Ella B. Bell
1.1.4.5. Jeffrey Newamn
1.1.4.6. Jackie Zeigler
1.1.4.7. Betty Peters
1.1.4.8. Yvette M. Richardson
1.1.4.9. Cynthia Sanders McCarty
1.1.4.10. Mary Scott Hunter
1.1.5. Local Superintendent
1.1.5.1. Dr. Trey Holladay (Athens City Schools)
1.1.6. Local School Board Members
1.1.6.1. Mr. Russell Johnson (President)
1.1.6.2. Mrs. Beverly Malone (Vice President)
1.1.6.3. Mr. Tim Green
1.1.6.4. Mr. Scott Henry
1.1.6.5. Mrs. Shannon Hutton
1.1.6.6. Mr. James Lucas
1.1.6.7. Mrs. Jennifer Manville
2. Curriculum and Pedagogy
2.1. The Developmentalist Curriculum Theory
2.1.1. The developmentalist curriculum is related to the needs and interests of the students not the society. This theory emphasizes the process of teaching as well as the content. This curriculum is student centered and takes the interests of the student and their needs into account. Stresses the importance of school relating to real-life experiences.
2.1.2. There are two different traditions of teaching: Mimetic and Transformative
2.1.2.1. Mimetic
2.1.2.1.1. Based on the viewpoint that the educational purpose is to tranfer specific knowledge to students. This is referenced as the didactic method. This process involves the relationship between the teacher and the student to help the transfer of knowledge.
2.1.2.2. Transformative
2.1.2.2.1. Believes that education should create a meaningful change in the student. Involves a conversation between the student and the teacher for the transfer of knowledge. The goal is for the student to become and integral part of the learning process.
3. Equality of Opportunity
3.1. Race, Gender and Class In Educaiton
3.1.1. Race plays a part in a students educational achievement. The US is still stratified by race and this can impact how much education that student can get. "Among 16-24 year olds, for instance, 5.2 percent of white students deop our of school, where as 9.3 percent of African-American students and 17.6 percent of Hispanic-American students are likely to drop out of school" (Sadovnik, pg. 343)
3.1.2. Gender can also play a role in educational attainment. Sadovnik says that female students are less likely to drop out of school than male students. Female students are also on the increase of going on to postsecondary institutions. "In the last 20 years, gender differences between men and women, in terms of educational attainment, have been reduced." (Sadovnik, pg. 343)
3.1.3. Class is directly associated with how well a student does academically. There is a direct correlation between parental income and the child's performance in class and on tests. It also makes a difference in how the child is placed in high school.
3.2. The Coleman Study (1982)
3.2.1. There were two responses for the Coleman Study. The two different respnses were controversial and were based in some other areas we have talked about. One of the results stated that private schools were more significant in the academic achievement. It also states that they helped more of the lower income students.
3.2.2. The other result is that socioeconomic status and race of a particular student does not affect the academic achievement of the school but the racial and socioeconomic status of the school is what affects the students in the school. It also states that the the "education reform must focus on eliminating the high level of segregation that remains in the United States' education system and that schools must bring an end to tracking systems and biases that favor white and middle-class students.
4. Educational Inequality
4.1. The First cultural difference theory I would like to discuss is the one about "African-American chldren doing less well in school becasue they adapt to their oppressed positins in the class and caste structure." This requires that these students deny thier own identities and accept the majority culture of the schools. The second cultural difference is the theory that orking class and nonwhite students are resisiting the dominant culture in the school and are resisiting the white middle class cuture of academic success.
4.2. 4 School Centered Explanations
4.2.1. School Financing is one of the School Centered Explanations for Educational Inequality. "More affluent communities are able to provide more per-pupil spanding than poorer districts, often at a proportionately less burdensome rate than in poorer communities." (Sadovnik, pg. 428)
4.2.2. The next one I would like to mention is the Effective School Reasearch view. Sadovnik says, "THe finding that within-school differences are as or more significant than between-school differences raised questions about the common sense argument that studetns from lower socioeconomic backgrounds do poorly simply because they attend inferior schools"(Sadovnik, pg. 431)
4.2.3. Another explanation that is used is the curriculum and pedagogical view. It basically states information about how well schols succed in different socioeconomic communitites., "Schools in working class neighborhoods are far more likely to have authoritarian and teacher-directed pedagogic practices, and to have a vocationally or social efficiency curriculum at the secondary level. Schools in middle class communities are more likely to have less authoritarian and more student-centered pedagogic practices and to have a humanistic liberal arts college preparatory curriculum at the secondary level." (Sadovnik, pg. 433)
4.2.4. The last explanatin I would like to mention is the Curriculum and Ability Grouping. "The fact that different groups of students in the same schools perform very differently suggests that there may be school characteristics affecting these outcomes. " (Sadovnik, pg. 434) "At the elementary school level, students are divided into reading groups and separate classes based on teacher recommendations, standardized test score and sometimes ascriptive characteristics such as race, class, or gender."(Sadovnik, pg. 434)
5. Educational Reform
5.1. Educational Reforms
5.1.1. No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) 2002
5.1.1.1. -Signed by George W. Bush in 2002
5.1.1.2. -Tested every student in grades 3-8 in reading and math
5.1.1.3. -Washington would provide funding to states to design and implement the testing
5.1.2. Race to the top
5.1.2.1. -Adopted standards and assessment that prepared students to succeed in college and in the workplace
5.1.2.2. -Primary goal was to help states in meeting the various components of the NCLB act.
5.1.2.3. -Helped with building systems that measured the growth of students
5.2. School Based Reforms
5.2.1. School Choice
5.2.1.1. School choice is about the option of students getting to choose where they go to school. This option is highly political and contains intersectional choices like whether to attend private or public schools.
5.2.2. Charter schools
5.2.2.1. Charter schools is about private companies buying a school and hiring teachers to teach the students in a way that is fun and inviting for the students in the classroom. This option allows innovative teaching and more accountability. The first charter school in Alabama was in Mobile, AL. (ACCEL Academy). There is now one in Birmingham that is named STAR Academy.
6. Politics of education
6.1. Describe and identify the 4 Purposes of education:
6.1.1. 1. Intellectual
6.1.1.1. The first purpose is to help students succeed in their life by giving them knowledge of subjects like reading, writing and mathematics. It is also used to help them reach a higher-order of thinking.
6.1.2. 2. Political
6.1.2.1. The political view is to help assimilate diverse culture groups into a common political order. This will also help prepare citizens who will participate in this political order. The political view will also teach children the basic laws of the society.
6.1.3. 3. Social
6.1.3.1. As known as socialization, this process allows children to socialize into various roles. The school also works as a unit to ensure social cohesion. This is key in a stable society.
6.1.4. 4. Economic
6.1.4.1. The economic view is to help children find out what they will do later in life. They are preparing for their job roles outside of school. An example of this is what their interests are. A child may be interested in the laws and therefore, they may go to law school and become an attorney.
6.2. Choose and describe a perspective for:
6.2.1. Conservative Perspective
6.2.1.1. The role of the school
6.2.1.1.1. In the conservatives perspective, the role of the school is to prepare the students for their roles outside of the schoolhouse. "Providing necessary educational training to ensure that the most talented and hard working individuals receive the tools necessary to maximize economic and social productivity." (Sadovnik, p.27) To be exact. They believe we are getting the next generation ready to find their place in society.
6.2.1.2. Definition of educational problems
6.2.1.2.1. The conservative viewpoint on educational problems is that the education system has had a decline in their standards, a decline in their cutlural literacy, a decline in authority, and a decline in their values/ civilization. They disagree with the liberal and radical views . The liberal and radical views are demanding greater equality in the school system and the conservatives think this will cause a decline in our education.
6.2.1.3. Explanations of unequal performance
6.2.1.3.1. The conservative views unequal performance in a school hinging on what the student does. Does he or she try for their education. Conservatives believe that individuals rise and fall on their own intelligence. The school system is there to allow them to succeed and if they do not they are "deficient" in some way or they are part of a "deficient group".
7. History of U.S. Education
7.1. Choose and describe a reform movement that you think has had the most influence on education
7.1.1. I believe the age of reform: the rise of the common school was the most influential for education. In this reform period (1820-1860) there were changes in our education system like the opposition of the public school, education for women and African Americans, and the emergence of the public high school.
7.2. Choose and describe one historical interpretation of U.S. Education
7.2.1. I chose the historical interpretation of the public high school. I think this was significant because it gave students a further education. With it though, it caused educators to ask questions about its purpose and goals. Some tensions were about what was being taught. Would they teach more of classics or of the modern subjects. The also had to meet college entrance requirements.
8. Sociological Perspectives
8.1. Define each of the theoretical perspectives concerning the relationship between school and society
8.1.1. Functionalism
8.1.1.1. Functionalists view society as a type of machine that makes society work by having two parts interact. In curricula, they are to instill topics that are technically advanced and encourage unity.
8.1.2. Interactionalism
8.1.2.1. Interactionalistic views are basically taking everything they took for granted and turning it upside down to analyze deeper meaning. They will ask why a student is in a certain social group or why they are not. They may ask why are certain students learning more with one process than with another.
8.1.3. Conflict theories
8.1.3.1. Most conflict theories see the school as a "social battlefield". "Students struggle against teachers, teachers against administrators, and so on." (Sadovnik, p. 118)
8.2. Identify and describe 5 effects of schooling on individuals that you think have the greatest impact on students
8.2.1. Knowledge and Attitudes
8.2.1.1. Knowledge and attitude play a role in impacting students in the education system. Studies done back in the 70s show that sixth and seventh grade students who went to summer school were more likely to take advantage of educational resources like the library and even reading up on current events.
8.2.2. Teacher Behavior
8.2.2.1. Teacher behavior plays a large role in how students learn. Labels can either help or hurt a student. If a teacher labels one of her students as high achieving, they may achieve more but when other students see that they may not try as hard. In the text it gives an example of this. It states that the teachers were told that their classes were more likely to have a mental spurt that year. At the end of their year, they assessed the students to analyze how much they learned and found that they learned some, but the students who were labeled as "spurters" made greater achievements.
8.2.3. Student Peer groups and Alienation
8.2.3.1. While students are at school, whether high school or college, they will collect into groups. In college there are four main groups of student rings: the intellectuals, the careerists, the strivers, and the unconnected students. Careerist students are usually not motivated by their education experience. Intellectuals are interested and have achieved many awards in school. Strivers usually come from a lower socioeconomic status, but graduate with a sense of accomplishment. Unconnected students are usually the least satisfied with their educational experience.
8.2.4. De Facto Segregation
8.2.4.1. In schools today, the minority of students are advancing. A study showed that African-American students who went to integrated schools more likely to graduate and achieve their goals and less likely to be arrested or live in desegregated areas. It also showed that women were less likely to have a child before the age of 18.
8.2.5. Gender
8.2.5.1. Gender plays a role in our schools. The text mainly talks about girls and how they may start to feel less in high school. Their determination decreases and so does their potential for themselves. They see women as teacher and men as administrators. The test asks the question of if the female students are seeing themselves as 'subordinate' to men.
9. Philosophy of Education
9.1. Pragmatism
9.1.1. Key reseachers
9.1.1.1. The main researchers in the study of pragmatism in school are George Sanders Peirce (1839-1914), William James (1842-1910) , and John Dewey (1859-1952).
9.1.2. Generic Notions
9.1.2.1. The general notions of pragmatism is that teachers should gear their lessons towards the needs and interests of their students. School should reflect the community so that students can assume social roles and be ready to enter the 'democratic' way of life.
9.1.3. Goal of education
9.1.3.1. The goal of education for a pragmatist is growth. The things children learn in school should let them grow. This was stated by John Dewey in his famous section Democracy and Education
9.1.4. Role of a teacher
9.1.4.1. The role of the teacher, is a facilitator. The students are the teachers ultimately. They will learn from one another with your help. The teacher is to encourage and offer suggestions and questions for deeper thought for the students.
9.1.5. Method of instruction
9.1.5.1. The method of instruction is to let children learn individually and in groups. To do this, the teacher may put the students into pods or she may separate them out individually to do projects or assignments. Another way is to have students ask questions about things they want to know.
9.1.6. Curriculum
9.1.6.1. Curriculum for pragmatism changes as the needs and interests of the students changes. Not the material but the way it is presented. For example, students may be given a topic like kittens or balloons and these can then be used in several subjects to learn new concepts.