Chapter 11 Problems of Education. © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Sociological Perspectives on Education Functionalist Approaches.

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


Table 11-1: Perspectives on Education


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



• 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



• Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) indicates that – Schoolchildren in Asia perform better

academically than those in the U.S.


Figure 11-1: Years of SchoolCompleted by Persons Age 25+


Figure 11-2: Age 18–24; graduated high school or equivalent degrees


Figure 11-3: 4th-Graders’ Scores on Tests; Rates of Student Poverty: ‘04


Education and Equality: The Issue of Equal Access

• Black Students

• Hispanic Students– Bilingual/Bicultural Education– Asian Students

• Preschool Programs

• Desegregation


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


Figure 11-4: Elementary–Secondary per-Pupil Spending Amounts: ’07-’08


School Reform: Problems of Institutional Change

• Schools as Bureaucracies

• Classroom and School Size

• School Choice– Charter Schools– Homeschooling

• The Technological Fix

• Teachers’ Unions


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


Figure 11-5: A Typical SchoolDistrict’s Educational Bureaucracy


Figure 11-6: Estimated Impact of Bill to Save Teacher Jobs


Figure 11-7: Nonfatal Crimes against Students Ages 12–18


Social Policy

• Race to the Top: The Obama–Duncan Strategy

• Educational Conservatism and Back to Basics– Testing for Educational Excellence, or Drill

and Kill?


Social Policy

• Humanism and Open Education– Progressivism

• Access to Higher Education– Privatization of Public Higher Education

• Future Prospects


Figure 11-8: Tuition as a Percentage of Higher Education Revenues, 2004

Chapter 11 Problems of Education. © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Sociological Perspectives on Education Functionalist Approaches.

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