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Education:  (Discussion Points from Chapter 14)

 

1.         Start with these statistics at the beginning of the chapter:  1.) World-wide, 850 million adults (men and women) are illiterate; 2.) There is a great diversity in the amount of money that U.S. communities spend on education ranging from a low of $2,000. per student to $17,500. per student; 3.) Drop-out rates differ greatly according to one’s socio-economic status.  The poor (lowest 20% on the economic scale) are eight times more likely to drop out than the richest 20% (Macionis, p. 345).  (Today, in the U.S. about 11 percent of the population aged 16-24 are H.S. dropouts (p. 351)

 

Looking at another set of statistics, sociologist, John Palen, reports that for over a century in the U.S. women have been more likely to graduate from High School than men, and today, they are more likely to receive bachelors and masters degrees—55% of all bachelors degrees; 57% of all masters degrees.  Men still received the majority of doctoral degrees at 56%. (Palen, 2000)

 

2.         Today it is almost expected that H.S. students will go on to earn some kind of advanced degree.  This is a big contrast with the past.  According to Macionis (p. 349)  only 16.4 percent of people 25 and older had H.S. degrees in 1920.  Palen states that in 1940 three-quarters of Americans 25 years old or older did not have a high school degree.  Until 1970, half the U.S. labor force did not have a H.S. degree.  Today over 83 percent of the population finishes high school, 50% has some college, and 25% hold college degrees (Palen, 2000).  (Macionis, citing statistics on the population aged 25 to 64, notes that 28 percent have a 4-year college degree (p. 348).

 

3.         What is the purpose of education in society—socialize individuals into being “good, productive citizens;” find the right “fit” between the goals of a person and the needs of society; or meet the individual’s needs for self-development?  Are there cross-cultural differences in how societies answer this question?  Explain.  What do you think SHOULD be the purpose of education in society?  

 

4.         Link the following perspectives; functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism with the following terms—manifest function; latent function; cultural imperialism; hidden curriculum; self-fulfilling prophecy. 

 

5.         Discuss the quality of primary and secondary education in the U.S.  In some areas the situation does not look very promising.  Macionis (p. 348) claims that it is estimated that 20% of the U.S. adult population is illiterate.  (This estimate seems high).  Palen (2000) defines functional illiteracy as the inability to read and understand a language at the sixth-grade level and claims that roughly one-eighth (12.5%) of the U.S. adult population is functionally illiterate.  More in line with what Macionis claims, Palen (2000) cites a study by ETS that estimates that 90 million people over 16 are not “fully equipped for the literacy requirements of the workplace.”  (In Sept. 2002, the U.S. labor force numbered approximately 143 million people, according to Bureau of Labor Force statistics).

 

            a.         One serious problem is the unevenness of educational quality across the U.S.  Large urban education systems (particularly inner city schools) have been ineffective in educating children who lack stable home environments or strong family motivation.  Tests of urban black 17-year olds indicate reading levels equivalent to white 13-year olds in suburban areas.  Remember, Macionis observed that there is a great diversity in the amount of money that U.S. communities spend on education ranging from a low of $2,000. per student to $17,500. per student.  The tremendous diversity faced by U.S. schools is further exemplified by this comment on p. 349; “Across the country, more than 50 million students, who speak 100 different languages, are enrolled in more than 100,000 public, parochial, and private schools.”  The public school budget in the U.S. is around $375. billion dollars (p. 349).

 

            b.         Another problem is declining standards.  The text talks of “literacy passports” and other standards of learning that high schoolers must pass before getting their diploma, but these standards are low.  12th graders are required to read only at an 8th grade level.  Then, there are the international comparisons:  Palen cites a 41-nation comparison of 8th graders.  U.S. students ranked 28th in math and 17th in science.  Students in Japan and Germany have longer school years—244 and 210 days respectively—compared to 180 days in the U.S. (Palen, 2000),  Macionis (p. 350) presents data ranking the U.S. 18th in total literacy scores—behind such countries as Japan; South Korea; Finland; Canada; New Zealand; Australia; Britain; and Ireland.

 

            c.         Grade inflation—High school grades are going up but performance on SATs are going down.  There has been a big increase in the number of students who have “A” averages when they take the SAT—up to 38 percent.  But these “A” students’ SAT scores have declined by 12 percent.  The text claim that a combined SAT score of 1000 today is the equivalent of 900 before 1996!  When your instructor went to college, the “gentleman’s C” was the rule—Almost everyone got “C’s” and all were happy with them because you could still get into med school or law school with a “C” average. 

 

            d.         The dumbing down of text books—Palen discusses this in his social problems text.  What is the reading level of the text (Macionis) that we’re using in this course?

 

            e.         Private vs. Public Schools—According to the text, there are about 45 million students in U.S. public primary and secondary schools today.  Nearly 6 million more are enrolled in private schools.  The majority of these private schools are parochial (religious) schools.  Urban parochial schools generally achieve better results in educating children.  (The text states that inner city parochial minority students are four times more likely to graduate from H.S. and three times as likely to go to college as public school minority kids.  Why?  It is NOT due to expenditures per pupil, class size, or a “better quality, better behaved” student.  Two things appear to be involved in the success of these schools—They demand more of their students and they demand more from parents with regard to involvement in their children’s education.

 

6.         Discuss the major findings of the Coleman Reports.  What factor produced the most variation in achievement levels among students?  Why?  What were social and political outcomes of the first Coleman study?  Discuss Coleman’s second study results.  What social and political impact did they have on Coleman, himself?  Why?  Finally, which won out over the long run—politics or science?  (By this I am asking how sound was Coleman’s research, scientifically?)

 

7.         Compare majority and minority education achievement rates.  Why has there been a decline, since the 1980s in black college enrollment relative to white college enrollment (40 percent of black high schoolers go on to college as opposed to 45 percent for whites)?  Why is it that black males are falling behind black females and whites with regard to college graduation rates?  (Between 1976 and 1994) there was a 20 percent increase in college graduates among black men but a 55 percent increase for black women).  Overall today, about 17 percent of blacks (aged 25 to 34) complete college compared to 30 percent for whites.  How do Latinos and Asians compare to whites and blacks with regard to educational achievement?  Minority status is big factor in school performance in the U.S.  (Remember the U.S. on average lags behind 17 countries in total literacy scores.  When minorities alone, are examined, the performance is much worse.  Macionis points out (p. 351) that H.S. students from families earning $100,000. or more score 260 points better on the SAT than H.S. students in families earning under $10,000.

 

8.         Some concepts that you should know:  Cultural Capital; Tracking; Bilingual Education; Mainstreaming; Affirmative Action; Percent Plans; Self-Fufilling Prophesy; Charter Schools; Magnet Schools; School Vouchers;Sociological Perspectives on Education

 

9.         Discuss the major contributions to U.S. education of each of the following:  The Morrell Act; The GI Bill; and the growth of the community college system.

 

10.       Address the monetary costs and benefits of a college education today.  Given the sharp rise in college tuition costs, is it really worth it?

 

11.       What is affirmative action?  Why do you suppose that 75 percent of white men; 66 percent of white women; and 48 percent of African Americans oppose these kinds of preference programs for minorities?

 

12.       What trends does the text predict for the future of U.S. education?

 

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