Chapter 8: Problems in Education “At the present time, public education is in peril. Efforts to reform public education are, ironically, diminishing its quality and endangering its very survival.” -- Diane Ravitch, educational historian and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education

Chapter Outline The Global Context: Cross-cultural Variations In Education Sociological Theories of Education Who Succeeds? The Inequality of Educational Attainment Problems In The American Educational System Strategies For Action: Trends And Innovations In American Education Understanding Problems in Education

Cross-Cultural Variation In Education The United States has more than 140,000 schools, 4.6 million primary and secondary school teachers and college faculty, 5.4 million administrators and support staff, and 75.9 million students. There are 776 million illiterate adults around the world, and 100 million children have little or no access to schools.

Cross-Cultural Variation In Education Education at a Glance, a publication of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), reports education statistics on over 35 countries. –First, in general, educational levels are rising. –Second, there is a clear link between education and income, and between education and employment.

Cross-Cultural Variation In Education Education at a Glance, Continued: –Third, across all OECD-participating countries, an average of $9,195 is spent per student each year they are in school from elementary school to college. –Fourth, in reference to teachers, the average student-teacher ratio in elementary schools in OECD-participating countries is 22:1. –Fifth, educational attainment is increasing Worldwide.

Cross-Cultural Variation In Education

Sociological Theories of Education Structural-Functional Perspective Education serves 4 important functions: –Instruction –Socialization –Sorting individuals into various statuses –Custodial care

Multicultural Education: Education that includes all racial and ethnic groups in the school curriculum thereby promoting awareness and appreciation for cultural diversity. Sociological Theories of Education Structural-Functional Perspective

Sociological Theories of Education Conflict Perspective Educational institution solidifies class positions and allows the elite to control the masses. Quality education and educational opportunities are not equally distributed. Education provides indoctrination into the capitalist ideology. –Cultural imperialism - Indoctrination into the dominant culture of a society.

Sociological Theories of Education Conflict Perspective

Education perpetuates racial inequality: Gross inequalities between poor districts and middle-and upper-class districts. Schools in poor districts have inadequate facilities, materials, and personnel. Sociological Theories of Education Conflict Perspective

Sociological Theories of Education Symbolic Interactionist Perspective Concerned with the individual and small- group issues in education: –Teacher-student interactions –Student self-esteem –Self-fulfilling prophecy - Occurs when people act in a manner consistent with the expectations of others.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy –Rosenthal and Jacobson experiment: Five random elementary school students were labeled as having superior intelligence and ability. Teachers expected them to do well and treated them in a way that encouraged better school performance. Sociological Theories of Education Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

Who Succeeds? The Inequality of Educational Attainment

The Inequality of Educational Attainment Social Class and Family Background One of the best predictors of educational success and attainment is socioeconomic status. On standardized tests such as the SAT and the ACT, “children from the lowest-income families have the lowest average test scores.” Families with low incomes have fewer resources to commit to educational purposes.

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Head Start and Early Head Start –Begun in 1965 to help preschool children from the most disadvantaged homes, Head Start provides an integrated program of health care, parental involvement, education, and social services for qualifying children. –Early Head Start is a program for infants and toddlers from low-income families. Participating children perform significantly better in cognitive, language, and social-emotional development than their peers who do not participate. The Inequality of Educational Attainment Social Class and Family Background

Local dollars, which make up 47 percent of school funding, varies by socioeconomic status of the district. The U.S. system of decentralized funding for schools has several additional consequences: –Located in inner cities where the value of older and dilapidated houses have depreciated –Less likely to have businesses or retail outlets –Due to city proximity, inner city schools are more likely to include hospitals, museums, and art galleries, all of which are tax-free facilities –Disproportionate amount of the money has to be spent on maintaining the school facilities because of age

The Inequality of Educational Attainment Social Class and Family Background

Local dollars, which make up 47 percent of school funding, varies by socioeconomic status of the district. The U.S. system of decentralized funding for schools has several additional consequences: –Located in inner cities where the value of older and dilapidated houses have depreciated –Less likely to have businesses or retail outlets –Due to city proximity, inner city schools are more likely to include hospitals, museums, and art galleries, all of which are tax-free facilities –Disproportionate amount of the money has to be spent on maintaining the school facilities because of age

The Inequality of Educational Attainment Race and Ethnicity Between 1989 and 2009, the percentage of racial and ethnic minorities in public schools increased from 32 percent to 45 percent. In comparison to whites, Hispanics and blacks are less likely to succeed in school at almost every level. By fourth grade, over 85 percent of blacks and Hispanics are reading below grade level compared to 59 percent of whites. Similarly, by eighth grade, over 83 percent of black and Hispanic students compared to 57 percent of white students are below grade level in mathematics.

The Inequality of Educational Attainment Race and Ethnicity

Bilingual Education: In the United States, teaching children in both English and their non-English native language. Advocates claim that bilingual education results in better academic performance of minority students. Critics argue that bilingual education limits minority students and places them at a disadvantage when they compete outside the classroom.

The debate over bilingual education is likely to grow. By 2040 less than half of all school-age children will be non-Hispanic whites. The Inequality of Educational Attainment Race and Ethnicity

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The Inequality of Educational Attainment Race and Ethnicity School Desegregation In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregated education was unconstitutional because it was inherently unequal. Integration Hypothesis: A theory that the only way to achieve quality education for all racial and ethnic groups is to desegregate the schools.

The Inequality of Educational Attainment Race and Ethnicity

The Inequality of Educational Attainment Gender Not only do women comprise two-thirds of the world’s illiterate, girls comprise more than 70 percent of the 125 million children who don’t attend school. Although progress in reducing the education gender gap has been made, gender parity in primary and secondary schools has not been achieved. Globally, of the 176 countries with data available, only two-thirds have achieved gender parity in primary schools, and less than 40 percent have achieved gender parity in secondary schools.

Education and Gender in the U.S.: In 1833 Oberlin College in Ohio became the first college in the U.S. to admit women. –Female students at Oberlin were required to wash male students’ clothes, clean their rooms, and serve their meals and were forbidden to speak at public assemblies. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 states that no person shall be discriminated against on the basis of sex in any educational program receiving federal funds. The Inequality of Educational Attainment Gender

Problems in the American Educational System Low Levels of Academic Achievement The Educational Research Center uses three indicators to measure achievement in public elementary and secondary schools: current levels of performance, improvement over time, and achievement gap between poor and non-poor learners. Based on a 100-point scale, the achievement average for the nation was 68.7 (D+), ranging from a high of 85.0 (B) for Massachusetts and a low of 55.3 (F) for Mississippi.

Problems in the American Educational System Low Levels of Academic Achievement U.S. students are also outperformed by many of their foreign counterparts. Based upon the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), U.S. 15-year-olds perform below the OECD country averages in both science and mathematics.

Problems in the American Educational System Low Levels of Academic Achievement

Problems in the American Educational System School Dropouts The status dropout rate is the percentage of an age group that is not in school and has not earned a high school degree or its equivalent. –In the last several decades, the status dropout rate has significantly declined, dropping from 14 percent in 1980 to 8 percent in 2009.

Problems in the American Educational System School Dropouts

Reasons for Dropping Out: In focus groups and a survey, respondents identified five reasons for dropping out of high school: 1.Classes were not interesting 2.Missed too many days and can’t catch up 3.Spent time with people who were not interested in school 4.Had too much freedom, not enough rules 5.Was failing in school Problems in the American Educational System School Dropouts

Dropout Prevention Programs: successful programs share five common elements: –(1) management of students, –(2) mentoring, –(3) family involvement, –(4) curricular reform, and –(5) contending with out-of-school problems. Problems in the American Educational System School Dropouts

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Problems in the American Educational System Crime, Violence, and School Discipline Despite the horrors of high-publicity school killings such as those at Columbine and Virginia Tech, the chance of a student dying at school is quite rare—about one homicide or suicide per 2.5 million students. The unlikelihood of such an event is reflected in students’ perceptions of safety. –In 2008, 93 percent of students said they felt very or somewhat safe while at school, a number that has changed little over the last 15 years. In the 2007–2008 school year, the latest term for which data are available, 85 percent of schools recorded at least one violent crime.

Following the nation’s largest massacre on a campus in which 32 students and faculty members were killed, students and faculty at Virginia Tech gather for graduation. Degrees were awarded posthumously on May 12, 2007, to 26 students. Problems in the American Educational System Crime, Violence, and School Discipline

Bullying: Inherent in a relationship between individuals, groups, or individuals and groups, bullying entails an imbalance of power that exists over a long period of time in which the more powerful intimidate or belittle others. In 2007, about a third of students between 12 and 18 reported being bullied in the last year. Cyber-bullying: The use of electronic devices (e.g. websites, , instant messaging, text messaging) to send or post negative or hurtful messages or images about an individual or a group. Problems in the American Educational System Crime, Violence, and School Discipline

A report by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has documented many of the troubling conditions that exist in U.S. schools: –... rodent infestation, mice droppings, fallen ceiling tiles, poor lighting, mold that has caused mushrooms to grow, crumbling exterior walls, asbestos, severely overcrowded classrooms and hallways, freezing rooms in the winter and extreme heat in the summer, old carpeting, clogged bathroom toilets and no stall doors, inadequate circuit breakers causing frequent outages, and poor ventilation. Problems in the American Educational System Inadequate School Facilities and Programs

More and more school buildings and facilities are in need of repair. Mold, defective ventilation systems, faulty plumbing, and the like are not uncommon. Quality education is expected to continue in the classrooms despite deplorable conditions. Problems in the American Educational System Inadequate School Facilities and Programs

Green schools are “education buildings that operate in harmony with the natural environment.” Green schools reduce energy use by using natural and solar light. They conserve water and use recycled materials, reduce air pollution and excessive noise, and enhance indoor climate control. Collectively, such innovations reduce absenteeism, increase student performance and teacher retention, and, ultimately, save money. Problems in the American Educational System Inadequate School Facilities and Programs

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Problems in the American Educational System Recruitment and Retention of Quality Teachers According to the U.S. Department of Education, the number of schoolteachers leaving the profession has increased over the last 20 years, reaching 8 percent in High teacher turnover is problematic in a number of ways: –First, newer teachers are less experienced and often less effective. –Second, teacher turnover contributes to a lack of continuity in programs and educational reforms. –Finally, recruiting and training expenses in addition to the time and effort devoted to replacing teachers who have left the profession is considerable.

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Problems in the American Educational System Recruitment and Retention of Quality Teachers Recruiting Teachers: Across the nation, school system representatives attend teacher job fairs at colleges and other venues to recruit highly qualified teachers for their local school districts

Alternative certification programs are programs whereby college graduates with degrees in fields other than education can become certified if they have “life experience” in industry, the military, or other relevant jobs. Problems in the American Educational System Recruitment and Retention of Quality Teachers

Between 1994 and 2008, enrollment in degree- granting institutions increased by 34 percent. Because of unemployment rates and the increase in the college-age population, enrollments are expected to grow another 17 percent by As the number of students attending college has increased, so have the costs associated with getting a college degree. In 2010, the annual average expense for tuition and fees, books and materials, and money for living expenses for a full-time undergraduate student at a four-year public institution was $19,300. Problems in the American Educational System The Challenges of Higher Education in America

Trends and Innovations in American Education National Educational Policy No Child Left Behind: The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 was signed into law in January The federally funded plan was organized around four principles: accountability for learning outcomes, flexibility in funding, expanding school options for parents, and the use of sound teaching methods, including the use of only “highly qualified” teachers in the classroom by However, soon after the act was signed, it became clear that the implementation of NCLB was problematic.

Trends and Innovations in American Education National Educational Policy

National Standards: The National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers have led the move to adopt a common set of academic standards. Fiscal Stabilization: The four assurances refer to a state’s commitment to improving teacher quality, raising academic standards, intervening in failing schools, and developing assessment databases in return for federal dollars.

Trends and Innovations in American Education National Educational Policy

Trends and Innovations in American Education Character Education and Service Learning Character education entails teaching students to act morally and ethically, including the ability to “develop just and caring relationships, contribute to community, and assume the responsibilities of democratic citizenship.” Service learning programs, one type of character education, are increasingly popular at universities and colleges nationwide. Service learning programs are community based initiatives in which students volunteer in the community and receive academic credit for doing so.

Trends and Innovations in American Education Use of Computer Technology and E-Learning

Charter schools –Originate in charters approved by local or state authorities. School vouchers –Tax credits used for public or private school that parents select. Character Education –Education that emphasizes the moral and interpersonal aspects of an individual. Trends and Innovations in American Education The Debate over School Choice

Home Schooling: –The education of children at home instead of in a public or private school. Privatization: –A practice in which states hire businesses to provide services or operate local schools. Trends and Innovations in American Education The Debate over School Choice

Understanding Problems in Education Any criticism of education must take into account the fact that just over a century ago, the United States had no systematic public education system at all. Today, the United States spends more money per student, at every level of education, than any other industrialized nation in the world.

Understanding Problems in Education Significant educational reform is needed to meet the needs of a global economy: –First, we must invest in teacher education and in teaching practices. –Second, the “savage inequalities” in education, primarily based on race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, must be addressed. –Third, the general public needs to become involved.

Understanding Problems in Education

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Quick Quiz 1. Which society of these 8-- US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, USSR, UK-- has the highest rate of university graduates? A.Japan B.US C.UK D.Germany

Answer: B The U.S. has the highest rate of university graduates.

Quick Quiz 2. What is the function of education, as examined by structural functionalism? A.Teaching students knowledge and skills. B.Teaching students to respect authority. C.Socializing youth into the dominant culture. D.All of these choices.

Answer: A Teaching students knowledge and skills is the function of education, as examined by structural functionalism.

Quick Quiz 3. Ms. Gardener has defined Julian as an "at- risk" student. Julian has been moved to a lower level reading group and is not called on to participate in class discussions. The next month's report card shows that Julian's test scores have slipped. What symbolic interactionist idea is this an example of? A.dramaturgy B.looking glass self C.impression management D.self-fulfilling prophecy

Answer: D This an example of self-fulfilling prophecy.

Quick Quiz 4.According to conflict theorists, what is the socialization function of education? A.Indoctrination into a capitalist ideology. B.All of these choices. C.Promoting awareness for cultural diversity. D.Teaching students to respect authority.

Answer: A According to conflict theorists, the socialization function of education is Indoctrination into a capitalist ideology.

Quick Quiz 5.Which of the following is not true regarding social class, family background, and education? A.Disadvantaged parents are less involved in their children's education. B.Disproportionately, children from low income families do not go to college. C.Low income families are less likely to take their children to museums and zoos. D.Working class parents do not value the education of their children.

Answer: D It is not true that working class parents do not value the education of their children.