Sociology paper about education
shirleyyyyyli
chapter_eight_education_power_point.pdf
Chapter Eight Educa/on
The New Educa/onal Standard • Bachelor’s degree is becoming the educa4on standard in the U.S. – In 2009 85.3% of adults completed at least a high school degree.
– More than 27% of all adults had aDained at least a bachelor’s degree.
– Approximately 76.5% of all Americans 65 years or older aDained a high school degree or more compared with 87% of those 25 to 34 years old.
– Educa4onal aDainment level of adults will con4nue to rise, as younger, more-‐educated age groups replace older, less-‐ educated ones
Educa/onal A8ainment of the Popula/on, 25 Years and Older, 2009
What Does It Mean to Me? • Compare the educa4onal aDainment of three genera4ons of your family – yourself, your parents and grandparents. – Does your family reflect the same educa3onal a5ainment pa5ern as indicated by the Census data – are younger genera3ons more educated than older genera3ons in your family? Why or why not?
Func/onalist Perspec/ve • Manifest func/ons (intended consequences):
– To educate, personal development, proper socializa4on, and employment.
• Latent func/ons (unintended consequences): – Public babysiDer, controls the entry and 4ming entrance into labor force, establish and protect social networks.
• Educa4onal system has taken over func4ons of other ins4tu4ons, par4cularly the family
• Func4onalists argue that these addi4onal tasks make it difficult to accomplish Educa4on’s primary task of educa4ng young.
Conflict Perspec/ve
• Conflict theorists -‐ educa4on not an equalizer, but a “divider” – dividing the haves from the have nots.
• The socializa4on func4on of educa4on is part of the indoctrina4on of Western bureaucra4c ideology.
– Creates an organiza4onal child who is: • carefully instructed and supervised • guided through the day in ordered agendas • rewarded for conformity • discouraged from individuality • prepared for the demands and constraints of a bureaucra4c adult world.
• The educa4onal system can also perpetuate racial and economic inequali4es. – Middle & Upper class children have more “cultural capital” , giving them advantage over lower class children (Bourdieu, 1977).
– Social Capital can also be procured through engagement in class linked extra-‐curricular ac4vi4es and organiza4ons (Lin 2001) crea4ng more access to diverse knowledge and networks.
Feminist Perspec/ve • Research shows the replica4on of gender rela4ons in schools by the privileging of males. – Males have favored status in interac4ons with teachers. – Girls are invisible and treated as “second-‐class educa4onal ci4zens” in the classroom.
– Boys received more praise, correc4ons, feedback and ac4ve teaching
– Girls received a cursory “okay” response. – Over 4me the unequal distribu4on of teacher 4me and aDen4on may take its toll on girls’ self esteem, achievement rates, test scores, and careers (Sadker and Sadker,1994).
• Structural factors and interpersonal dynamics contribute to gender inequality on college and university campuses. – College women are subjected to male domina4on through peer rela4ons, in the classroom, and in roman4c involvements.
– Organized ac4vi4es, like fraternity liDle sister programs, provide the structural and interpersonal dynamics necessary to create an atmosphere conducive to women’s subordina4on
Interac/onist Perspec/ve • Interac/onists focus on how classroom dynamics and
prac4ces educate the perfect student and at the same 4me create the not-‐so-‐perfect ones.
• The interac4on between teachers and students reinforces the structure and inequali4es of the educa4onal system.
• With tracking (separa4ng advanced and regular learners) students are iden4fied as college bound versus work bound. – Teachers, parents, and others might view students differently and the student’s true poten4al may be hindered.
What Does It Mean to Me? • Do female and male students tend to declare different majors at your school?
• What sociological perspec3ve(s) might best explain the gender gap in majors?
Summary of Sociological Perspec/ves
Problems and Challenges in American Educa/on
• 1983 Na4onal Commission on Excellence in Educa4on report, A Na4on at Risk was a scathing indictment of the educa4on system. – Found widespread failures in educa4onal system. – Claimed we were raising a scien4fically and technologically illiterate genera4on
– Noted rela4ve poor performance of American students compared to interna4onal peers, declining test scores, weaknesses of our school programs and educators, and the lack of skilled American workforce
• Some sociologists contend that the crisis in public educa4on is manufactured by poli4cians, educa4onal experts, and business leaders.
• Does not address the real problems facing our schools – social and economic inequali4es.
The Problem of Basic Literacy • Globally, more than 774 million adults are illiterate. – 64% are women
• Literacy dispari4es are associated with – Ethnicity – Gender – Poverty – Language
The Problem of Basic Literacy • In the U.S., 43% of all Americans demonstrate “below
basic” or “basic” literacy skills • Implica4ons of low literacy skills:
– Inability to find and retain jobs – Support their children’s educa4on – Par4cipate in communi4es.
• U.S. spends more on educa4on than other high-‐income countries, but our literacy scores are average in a world comparison.
Inequality in Educa/onal Access and Achievement
• Social Class and Educa/on – Socioeconomic status is one of the most powerful predictors of student achievement.
– The likelihood of dropping out of high school is five 4mes higher among students from lower-‐ income families than among their peers in high-‐ income families.
– Poor children begin school less prepared and struggle to keep up with their classmates.
– Recent tui4on increases and reduced availability of financial aid has reduced college access for many students.
• Gender and Educa/on – In 2000, females were the majority of undergraduate and graduate students.
– Males are 3 4mes more likely to pursue careers in science, mathema4cs or engineering than female.
– Girls fail to achieve their poten4al due to lower expecta4ons of success, the aDribu4on of any success to chance and belief that success leads to nega4ve social consequences.
However… – Women narrowing the gap in math & science and more are comple4ng bachelor’s degrees
Is there a “boy crisis” in educa3onal a5ainment?
Percentage Distribu/on of Full-‐Time College Students by Level and Sex, Fall 1970 to Fall 2009
Ethnicity/Race and Educa/on
• Race/Ethnicity omen predicts educa4onal success • Persistent academic achievement gaps remain between
Black, Hispanic, and Na4ve American students and their White and Asian peers
• The educa4onal aDainment of the young Hispanic popula4on, ages 25 and over, is lower than for other ethnic/racial groups
• Poverty influences this paDern • Stereotype threat – the risk of confirming in oneself a
characteris4c that is part of a nega4ve stereotype about one’s group.
Differences in Educa/onal A8ainment (in percentages) by Race and Hispanic Origin for Adults Age 25 to 29 years, 2010
Violence and Harassment in Schools • In recent years there were fewer school-‐associated
violent death events, but were more deaths per event, (i.e. Columbine).
• Based on 2009 YRBSS survey, about 5% of students missed more than 1 day of school because they felt unsafe at school or on their way to/from school.
• 2011 Na4onal School Climate Survey results for LGBT students showed: – 63.5% reported feeling unsafe because of their orienta4on – 18.3% were physically assaulted for the same reason – Nearly 82% reported being verbally assaulted in school the past year
Community, Policy, and Social Ac/on • Reformers argue that school choice, standardized tes4ng, and school vouchers are improving our educa4onal system.
• Cri4cs argue this threatens to erode an already-‐weak public school structure.
• A deepening chasm between what the public deems as important (safety, skills, discipline) and the goals of the reform movement (access, standardiza4on, mul4culturalism)
Policy Responses—The Basis for Educa/onal Reform
Educate America Act of 1994 • Introduced “standards-‐based reform” at state and community levels.
• Provided the grounds for sweeping reform at all levels and from all angles
• Established performance and content standards in math, English, science, and social studies
• Encouraged wide-‐spread community par4cipa4on
• Major provisions include: – New reading and math standard assessments for grades 3 to 8 and high school
– More flexibility for states and local school officials for budget spending and program development.
– The crea4on of a teaching quality program. – Consolida4on of bilingual/immigrant educa4on programs.
– Increases in federal funding for Reading First plan.
No Child Le` Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001
• Controversial elements include: – Public school choice and charter schools. – Annual tes4ng of students in reading and math, in order to establish academic benchmarks
– Parents have the op4on to move their children to another school if their school is not improving.
– Cri4cs say that school choice provisions will only work if there are schools to choose from within a district and if there is room in these schools.
“Every student should graduate from high school ready for college or a career regardless of their income, race, ethnic or language background, or disability status” by 2020 (U.S. Department of
Educa4on 2010: 3)
Promo/ng Educa/onal Opportuni/es—Head Start
• Largest early childhood program, serving over 20 million poor and at risk preschoolers since 1965.
• Began with preschool centers, expanded to serve school aged children, high school students, pregnant women, and Head Start parents.
• Research indicates that there is a posi4ve rela4onship between early childhood program enrollment and high school gradua4on, home ownership, school aDendance, and mo4va4on.
Mentoring, Suppor/ng and Valuing Networks
• Women and Girls – Studies indicate that most girls and women learn best in coopera4ve, rather than compe44ve learning ac4vi4es.
• LGBT Students – LGBT students are about 5-‐6% of the total student popula4on and have been a driving force behind crea4ng change in their schools and communi4es.
• Mentoring, Suppor/ng, and Valuing Networks – Girls Can! Community Coali4ons Project in 1996 supported 10 programs in diverse communi4es that promoted gender equity and girls self esteem in collabora4ve sepngs.
– Support groups and organized student ac4vi4es like the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) have emerged in CA, IL, and WA, providing support to LGBT teens, their friends and families.
An/violence and An/bullying Programs in Schools
• Resolving Conflict Crea4vely Program (RCCP). is a research based K-‐12 school program in social and emo4onal learning. – Aggression and violent behavior is learned and therefore can be reduced through educa4on.
– Students in RCCP were more pro-‐social, perceived their world in a less hos4le way, saw violence as unacceptable, chose nonviolent ways to resolve conflict, had higher reading and math scores, and were more able to focus on academics when there was less conflict with peers.
Does having a choice improve educa/on?
• Charter schools, magnet schools and school vouchers are designed to provide choice
• The research remains mixed and divided on the effec4veness of these choice op4ons
• Research consistently shows that students from poorer families or with less-‐educated parents are less likely to apply to or par4cipate in public choice programs than are those from middle-‐class families
• Saporito and Lareau (1999) concluded that race was a persistent factor in the choice process.
