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 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) |
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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 |
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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? |
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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. |
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5. Discuss
the quality of primary and secondary education in the |
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a. One serious problem is the unevenness
of educational quality across the |
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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. |
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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. |
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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? |
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e. Private vs. Public Schools—According
to the text, there are about 45 million students in |
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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?) |
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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 |
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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 |
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9. Discuss
the major contributions to |
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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? |
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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? |
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12. What trends
does the text predict for the future of |