2. Chapter 12: Education

3. Section 1 Bureaucracy in Education:
Early 1900s – Educators believed that kids could and should be educated the same way that cars were mass produced
Purpose of Standardization
Professional educators are specialists
65 million students in public education
Most are placed with similar ability levels in the same classroom and 1 lesson plan works for the majority of the students

4. Formal Schooling – education that is provided and regulated by society

5. 1960s – open classroom, cooperative learning, integrative curriculum
Humanists wanted the elimination of restrictive rules and codes as well as to create a democratic learning environment

6. Open Classroom – 1960s and again in 1990s
Democratic relationships & flexibility
Abandons use of grade cards based on comparison of student performance

7. Cooperative Learning
- Students study in groups with teachers as guides instead of controlling agents
Students learn best when active and work as a team
Cooperation replaces competition
Benefits are that it reduces stress, academic performance increases, students have more positive attitudes toward school, racism decreases, and self-esteem increases

8. Integrative Curriculum
- Students and Teachers collaborate to create curriculum
Real-world concepts and hands-on experience
Various types of intelligences

9. Back to Basics Movement
Due to Low Test Scores and being overtaken by global competitors, this movement occurs.
Teach basic skills – reading and math
Increase graduation requirements, school day, and school year
Standardized Tests
High school students are given more homework
Discipline is tightened and enforce a code of conduct

10. Alternatives to Public School System
Creates competition and student choice
Government Vouchers – amount spent/child in public education

11. Alternatives Cont. PROS:
Public schools have to compete for kids, which will improve services
Kids can move if not happy
CONS:
No higher test scores
Drain needed funds for public schools
Can result in racial and class segregation

12. Types of Alternatives
Magnet – specialized schools for the arts and sciences.
Typically promotes de-segregation and enhanced school quality
High levels of academic achievement
Criticized for taking the best students away

13. Types
Charter – publicly funded schools that operate like private schools
No school board and they shape their own curriculum and utilize nontraditional methods
Critics say: drain money from public schools, questionable quality, mixed success, and typically do not perform better

14. Types
For-Profit – supported by governmental funds but ran by private companies
Only the best schools will survive
Critics say: shouldn’t mix profit and public service; voters lose power; may skimp on equipment, services, and training

15. What are your thoughts about online High School?

16. Section 2 Manifest Function – academic skills and..
1) Transmit Culture – manage knowledge to pass on to the next generation and maintain order by teaching values and standards
2) Creating a Common Identity – homogeneous values, norms, beliefs, and attitudes

17. Debate: Bilingual education
PROS:
Keep up with peers, so they don’t fall behind
Honor Cultural Diversity
CONS:
Hinders Development of Common American Identity
Has not been proven to help academically

18. 3) Selecting and Screening Students – intelligence and achievement (standardized) tests for over 50 years, track students, identify talents and aptitudes, and help predict careers

19. 4) Promoting Personal Growth and Development – Expose students to many experiences as well as develops creativity, verbal skills, artistic expression, intellectual accomplishment and cultural tolerance. Prepares students for a world of work and computer skills.

20. Latent Functions Unintended and unrecognized result Functions:
Daycare facilities
Vote for taxes to find friends and dates
Prevent delinquency by keeping kids indoor
Training grounds for athletes

22. Section 3: Conflict Perspective
Meritocracy – social status based on ability and achievement instead of social class and parent’s background
-In theory, everyone has an equal chance
- Based on competition (social process that occurs when rewards are given to people on the basis of how their performance compares with the performance of others doing the same task)

23. American Meritocracy
Race, class, gender, ethnicity are barriers of true merit-based achievement
Wealthier schools do better and get higher-paying jobs
Students in poorer schools are not as prepared when applying for jobs (values, manners, dress, language)

24. College Entrance Exams
Minorities score lower
SAT created in 1926 to identify talented youth regardless of background

25. Equality and Inequality in Education
Social class and ethnicity heavily influence student placement in various tracks.
Cognitive ability – intelligence and ability to think abstractly

26. Social Darwinists – intelligence differences are based on genetics
Critics: it is not nature v. nurture, but genetics v. environment

27. Environmental factors affect performance on tests:
City dwellers do better than rural dwellers
Do better as we age
Cultural Bias – wording more familiar to dominant group
Score better when tested by adult members of own race or income group
Nutrition is a performance factor

28. Promoting Educational Equality
School Desegregation – racial balance in classroom
works if there is an atmosphere of respect and acceptance established
Minorities in desegregated schools get better jobs and higher income

29. Multicultural Education –
Emphasizes differences among gender, ethnicity, and race
Can increase minority attendance
Could promote divisions

30. Compensatory Education -
Specific Curricular programs designed to overcome a deficiency
Example: Federal funds given to Head Start, which as been proven to work

31. No Child Left Behind - Passed in 2001 by Congress
Greater involvement in Education by the federal government
Annual standardized tests
Meet level of proficiency or face consequences
Critics: teaching to the test, want to reduce testing, and in % failed to make “adequate yearly progress”

32. Today – Race to the Top and Common Core Standards

33. Section 4: Symbolic Interactionism
How schools transmit culture through socialization
Hidden Curriculum – norms, values, discipline, order, cooperativeness, conformity, patriotism
Examples at THS?

34. Textbooks – convey values and beliefs as much by what they omit as by what they include
Until 1980s:
Men are shown as challenging and aggressive activities
Women are shown as homemakers, secretaries or passive activities
Men appeared more often
Minority groups rarely presented and if presented, it was a negative context
Today: more balanced picture

35. Teachers affect Student’s Performance
Pygmalion Effect – some students perform better than others simply because they are expected to do so
What else might this be called?

36. Sexism in Education Unconsciously transmit sexist expectations
Boys are more likely to:
Receive more attention, be praised, be talkative, call out in class, be called on, demand help or attention
Girls are more likely to:
Do better in single-gender schools and classes, higher self-esteem, better grades, learn more, more positive about learning environment, move onto advanced courses

37. ANY QUESTIONS?