Soc Chapter 13 Questions
Which of the following statements about changes in the achievement gap between boys and girls during the past 30 years is true?
Achievements among girls have improved in many ways, while among boys from lower-class backgrounds they have worsened. FEEDBACK: In recent years, girls have caught up to (or begun to outperform) boys in many measures of educational achievement. For example, they outperform boys in national writing tests and attend college in higher numbers.
The achievement gap between black and white students decreases significantly when students from similar socioeconomic background are compared. What does this tell us about the connection between race, class, and educational outcomes?
Much of the achievement gap can be attributed to class FEEDBACK: Much of the achievement gap can be attributed to class.
Students' socioeconomic status (SES) reflects parental level of education, employment, and assets, and is a big factor in their educational opportunity and success. What is one nonfinancial boost that parents can provide a student planning to attend college?
Parents with more education can help with a child's more challenging homework FEEDBACK: SES is frequently associated solely with wealth and money. But educational level of parents matters too. For example, a parent who cannot understand basic math (recall innumeracy) might be unable to help their child with advanced math homework, thus contributing indirectly to the lessening of chances for their child, and eventually lower socioeconomic status.
Studies on student achievement have demonstrated that smaller class sizes benefit students significantly. What implications do these studies on smaller class size have?
Smaller class sizes would mean that more resources, such as teachers, classrooms, books, and so forth, would be needed FEEDBACK: Smaller class sizes were a significant gain for students. There were fewer discipline problems and higher achievement test scores. At the same time, however, reductions in class size must make for an increase in the overall available resources.
If success in the workplace typically requires learning on the job, why do Americans place so much emphasis on formal schooling?
The expansion of the education system attracts people who want to remain or become members of the elite. FEEDBACK: Education has long been a badge for elite status in the United States. To maintain that elite status, people have to obtain more education to set themselves apart from others and to meet the increasing demands of employers for better credentials.
Angelica, a working-class Latina student, is admitted to college due to her scholastic ability, but by the end of her sophomore year, she is in debt, so a well-meaning professor suggests she consider transferring to a cheaper school. How might this suggestion contribute to her sense of stereotype threat?
The question simply reinforced what Angelica already had come to learn about herself as being too poor to attend college. FEEDBACK: Angelica's situation is not unique. While many colleges do all they can to help students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, the persistence of stereotypes and the threat they pose to the students themselves is an impediment to student success.
Their ability to deal with bureaucracies and confidence in public social settings allow Liam's parents to be actively involved in his school's Parent Teacher Association. These traits are an example of
cultural capital FEEDBACK: Cultural capital is symbolic and interactional resources that people use to their advantage in various situations. In this case, cultural capital is embodied in the ability to deal with bureaucracies and confidence in the public school system.
One reason why intelligence quotient (IQ) tests correlate highly with academic performance is that the tests were
developed to assess one kind of intelligence found in schools FEEDBACK: Intelligence quotient (IQ) tests were an attempt to define and identify the capability we call intelligence. While these tests do evaluate conceptual and computational abilities, most sociologists have noted that IQ testing is culturally biased, and low scores tend to result from socioeconomic deprivation and the stigma of inferiority.
Affirmative action has been found to affect the makeup of the student body primarily at what type of U.S. colleges and universities?
elite institutions FEEDBACK: Affirmative action significantly affects selective, elite institutions, which represent only one-fifth of American colleges, because the majority of schools in the United States admit just about everyone.
The number of high school and college graduates in the United States has significantly increased over the past century. Explaining this as a case of supply and demand in which a need for a more educated workforce encouraged more people to stay in school longer would be in line with
functionalist FEEDBACK: Recall that functionalism is the theory that various social institutions and processes in society exist to serve some important (or necessary) function to keep society running. In this case, functionalists would argue that industrialization created a need for more technical jobs, which in turn requires a more educated workforce.
At a store, you pay the cashier $20.00 for your $13.95 purchase. The cash register is malfunctioning, so the clerk calculates your change in his head. He gives you $5 and a nickel: a dollar short of the correct amount. You don't interpret the incident as getting deliberately shortchanged but rather as an example of the clerk's
innumeracy FEEDBACK: In the United States, 22 percent of the population aged sixteen and older suffers from innumeracy, an insufficient ability to work with numbers.
Which of the following is an example of what sociologist Phillip Jackson called the "hidden curriculum" in schools?
learning not to talk when the teacher or a classmate is talking FEEDBACK: The hidden curriculum is the nonacademic socialization and training that takes place in the schooling system, such as learning not to talk when another person is talking.
Research shows that the closer in age siblings are, the more they compete for family resources, which
negatively impacts their educational outcomes, because they receive comparatively less attention FEEDBACK: The more closely children are spaced together in a family, the greater the competition for resources will be. Research (Downey, 1995) has supported this research dilution model, finding that the frequency of communication with parents, parents' educational expectations, the amount of money saved for college, and presence of educational materials in the home all successfully explain the effect of family size on educational performance.
Sorting students according to ability, also known as tracking, is controversial. In his interview with Dalton Conley, Stephen Morgan describes his work with non-Catholic students attending Catholic schools. He casts doubt on the benefits of tracking and instead suggests that
parents' goals for their children may play a large part in their success FEEDBACK: Morgan chose Catholic schools precisely because of the high percentage of non-Catholic students enrolled. His findings suggest that parental desire for a student to succeed is more important than tracking.
Studies show that when low-achieving students are placed in a class with mostly high-achieving students, their academic performance tends to improve. This is an example of the importance of
peer-to-peer dynamics FEEDBACK: Research has found that peer-to-peer dynamics also affect educational outcomes. However, this effect goes both ways; in other words, some research has shown that when high-achieving students are placed in classes with mostly low-achieving students, they make fewer gains.
Researchers find that private Catholic schools are among the most successful in preparing students academically, particularly students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Several researchers attribute this to the beneficial connections made through the schools, an example of
social capital FEEDBACK: Social capital is any relationship between people that can facilitate the actions of others. In the context of education, several researchers suggest that the strong effects of Catholic schools stem from large amounts of social capital within the community.
The text recounts an example of classroom difficulties around discipline when students become rowdy and hard to manage. The teacher, Mr. Ortiz, uses classroom time to encourage students to insult one another. What kind of approach is Mr. Ortiz failing to use in this case?
teaching methods that are supported by extensive research FEEDBACK: Amanda Lewis studied elementary schools, which were the focus of this case. In this instance, the teacher is not using what are called best practices, which are methods supported by extensive research.
Leticia, a high school student who has been in remedial math classes for years, changes schools and is placed in a regular math class. Her new math teacher encourages Leticia and tells her she shows promise. In a few weeks, Leticia is surprised to find that she is doing well in the class. This scenario is an example of
the Pygmalion effect FEEDBACK: The Pygmalion effect, or self-fulfilling prophecy, is the process that occurs when behavior is modified to meet preexisting expectations. In the context of education, researchers have proposed that teachers' expectations may influence students' behavior.
What educational issue does Kari Smith's forehead tattoo highlight?
the general difficulty of paying for higher education FEEDBACK: Kari Smith auctioned off her forehead as a billboard in order to pay for son's college education. This example introduces the question of educational funding more broadly, including alternatives to taking on student debt such as a governmental universal education funding policy at the price of taxpayers or a system of students selling off percentages of their future earnings to investors.
Studies have shown that students in private schools outperform students in public schools. In his interview with Dalton Conley, Shamus Khan talks about St. Paul's School. Khan notes that students attending essentially convert their "birthright into credentials." What important aspect of education in the United States is reflected in his comments?
the problem of addressing inequality in schools FEEDBACK: The cost of any private schools places them beyond the reach of many American families. Khan notes that while many at the school do convert their birthright into credentials, others, including Khan himself, are not born into affluent families, so schooling is an essential component of their upward social mobility.
Julia is the fourth of five children. When she started college, her parents told her she would have to get a job to help pay for her education. Julia's parents are an example of
the resource dilution model FEEDBACK: The resource dilution model suggests that parental resources are finite and that each additional child dilutes them.
What might be one of the reasons for the College Board, the organization that administers the SAT, to continue to advance the merits of the test despite the fact that studies have not found it to be a useful?
to maintain the profitability of their business FEEDBACK: While the SAT was originally created in 1933 as an attempt at promoting meritocracy, the target demographic at that time were largely white, middle- to upper-middle-class families. Since that time, the demographics of college have shifted substantially. In addition, the organization, despite being a not-for-profit structure, now pays its president and 19 executives hefty salaries. It is a thriving organization.
