Chapter 14

Education

The State of Education: A global Perspective

• Education- social institution by which society transmits knowledge-including basic facts, job skills, and cultural norms and values- to its members

• Schooling-formal instruction carried out by specially trained teachers

»Schooling is more available in some parts of the world than others

Low-Income Countries

• All nations provide for primary education of at least some children

• Of the poorest nations many children do not go to school

• Secondary education of children is even less common

• Poor nations are agrarian and rural and families take primary responsibility for education

Low-Income Countries

• Children work at an early age• Governments in poor nations are trying

to increase literacy by extending school»Literacy is important for

economic development in poor countries of the world

• Gender also is related to education in poor countries

»Patriarchy and education»Males have greater

opportunities

Low-Income Countries

• Low rates of literacy is related to a lower quality of life for the world’s poor

»Poorer health»Fewer job opportunities»Slows economic development

High-Income Countries

• Higher rates of schooling and literacy• Mandatory education• Education is a necessity for jobs• Post-secondary education is made

available to a larger segment of the population

Education in U.S. History

• Thomas Jefferson»Literacy and democracy

• Gender inequality and the lack of educational opportunities for women

• Racism, slavery and African-American education

• Industrialization and the need for a skilled labor force

Education in U.S. History

• By 1918 all states had laws making education mandatory

»Requiring students to attend school till the age of 16 or through the completion of the eight grade

• The twentieth century saw the expansion of education

The Academic Performance of U.S. Schools

• A larger share of the U.S. population earns a college degree than any other nation

• Scholastic Assessment test scores are below the 1967 average for both men and women

The Academic Performance of U.S. Schools

• Performance: Race, Ethnicity, and Class

• African-American students score about 200 points below the average for white students on SAT

• Hispanics 130 points below no-Hispanic whites

• Native Americans 75 points less

The Academic Performance of U.S. Schools

• Performance: Race, Ethnicity, and Class

• African American children living in a single parent family

• Racial stereotypes and educational bias• Hispanic children and language barrier• Native American children and cultural

alienation• Poverty

Dropping Out

• Dropping out before completing high school is a major problem

• About 11.2 percent of the population aged 16-24 have left school before completing high school

• Dropping out is related to being social disadvantaged

»Economically and culturally• Dropping out puts one at risk for other

social problems

Functional Illiteracy

• Functional illiteracy-not being able to read and write or do basic arithmetic well enough to carry out daily responsibilities

• About 20 percent or more of the population lack the necessary skills to function in society

• Functional illiteracy affects job opportunities

Segregated Schools and Busing

• Segregated schools-post slavery through the twentieth century

• Supreme court case- Plessy v. Ferguson• Separate but equal• Law and educational segregation in the

South• In 1954 – Brown v. Board of education

of Topeka

Segregated Schools and Busing

• Residential segregation and continued educational segregation

• Busing to achieve integration• Blacks reacted to busing with mixed

opinions• White flight and the continuation of

educational segregation»White opposition

• The 1990’s and the end of busing

School Funding

• Inequality in educational resources between states and within states

• Public schools are funded by state and local taxes

• Economic disparities between rich and poor communities in sources of income and educational spending for students

School Funding

• Cultural Capital• Differences in the home life of rich and

poor children is a major factor in education

• Families with more income are able to give their children more cultural capital

»More conducive environment»Parental education

Tracking

• Tracking- policy of assigning students to different educational programs

• Supporters of tracking argue that tests will be used to assign students to tracks best suited to address each child's abilities

• Critics argue that students are placed in tracks on the basis of culturally biased tests

• Tracking transform a social advantage into an educational advantage

Gender Inequality

• Reproduction of gender inequality in schools

• Gender and educational steering by teachers and counselors based on cultural prescriptions of gender in society

• Educational resources (books)and different images of the role of men and women

• Gender role models in school and cultural learning

Gender Inequality

• Congress (1972) and Title IX of the Educational Amendments to the Civil Rights Act

• Increase in girls in gifted programs in elementary schools

• Increase in the number of women going on to college

Immigration: Increasing Diversity

• Educating the more than 800,00 immigrants that enter the U.S. annually

• English Immersion versus Bilingualism

• English immersion- teaching immigrants using English

• Bilingual education-policy by which schools offer classes in most subject areas in a students’ native language while also teaching them English

• English as a second language

Schooling People With Disabilities

• In 1975 congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act

• Mainstreaming- integrating special students into the overall educational program

• Special classes- for special students approach

School Violence

• School violence has been a growing concern and consists of

»Homicides»Aggravated assaults»Rape»Robbery

School Violence

• Type of school and violence• Larger schools are more likely to have

violence• Urban schools are more likely to have

violence• Poverty and school violence

School Violence

• Reactions to school violence by schools and communities

»Zero-tolerance policies»Dress codes»Conflict resolution programs

Structural- Functional Analysis: The Functions of

Schooling• The focus is on the role of education in

society• How education leads to transmitting

knowledge and skills• How education leads to occupational

roles• How education integrates someone into

the larger society• Latent functions

»Child care

Symbolic-Interaction analysis: Labels Affect

Learning• The focus is on how individuals

experience education• How educational labels shape the

student’s future• Labels and the self-fulfilling prophecy-

situation in which people who are defined in one way eventually think and act as if the definition were true

Social-Conflict Analysis: Schooling and Inequality

• How education results in the reproduction of education

»Class»Gender»Race

• Education and the hidden curriculum and the teaching of conformity

»Political»Economic»cultural

Conservatives: Increased Competition

• Conservatives favor competition and education

• School choice and education

• Charter Schools—public schools that are given more freedom in order to try out new policies and programs

Conservatives: Increased Competition

• School choice and education• Magnet schools- public schools that

offer special facilities and programs in pursuit of educational excellence

• Private companies to engage in schooling for profit

• School vouchers-funds to be used by parents for private school or out of school district

Liberals:Increase Special Programs

• Support public education• Some free choice in schooling• Equalize school funding• Bilingual education• Expanded programs for minorities

Radicals: Attack Structural Inequality

• Academic shortcomings are a function of structured inequality in society

»Equalize school funding• Eliminate inequality throughout society