Chapter 11 Problems of Education

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Sociological Perspectives on Education Functionalist Approaches Conflict Approaches –Conflict view has two themes Marxian Non-Marxian Interactionist Approaches

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Table 11-1: Perspectives on Education

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Educational Attainment and Achievement How U.S. Students Measure Up in International Comparisons Greater proportions of American students are finishing high school & college The gap of educational attainment between blacks and whites has narrowed

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Educational Attainment and Achievement Higher dropout rates among minority students are caused by the fact that they –Do not receive enough help at home US lags behind many advanced industrial nations in standardized test scores The level of student achievement remains a subject of widespread debate

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Educational Attainment and Achievement Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) indicates that –Schoolchildren in Asia perform better academically than those in the U.S.

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Figure 11-1: Years of School Completed by Persons Age 25+

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Figure 11-2: Age 18–24; graduated high school or equivalent degrees

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Figure 11-3: 4th-Graders’ Scores on Tests; Rates of Student Poverty: ‘04

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Education and Equality: The Issue of Equal Access Black Students Hispanic Students –Bilingual/Bicultural Education –Asian Students Preschool Programs Desegregation

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Education and Equality: The Issue of Equal Access American society is based on the premise that everyone has the right to an education –Equality through education There’s of criticism that not all students have access to the same quality education –Central-city minority children –Urban and suburban divide

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Figure 11-4: Elementary–Secondary per-Pupil Spending Amounts: ’07-’08

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. School Reform: Problems of Institutional Change Schools as Bureaucracies Classroom and School Size School Choice –Charter Schools –Homeschooling The Technological Fix Teachers’ Unions

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. School Reform: Problems of Institutional Change School Violence Primary source of resistance to change is educational institutions Schools have become large bureaucratic organizations –With an existence independent of their educational goals

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Figure 11-5: A Typical School District’s Educational Bureaucracy

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Figure 11-6: Estimated Impact of Bill to Save Teacher Jobs

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Figure 11-7: Nonfatal Crimes against Students Ages 12–18

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Social Policy Race to the Top: The Obama–Duncan Strategy Educational Conservatism and Back to Basics –Testing for Educational Excellence, or Drill and Kill?

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Social Policy Humanism and Open Education –Progressivism Access to Higher Education –Privatization of Public Higher Education Future Prospects

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Figure 11-8: Tuition as a Percentage of Higher Education Revenues, 2004