Ch 13 Sociology - Inquizitive

Identify the examples of how the educational system in the United States tends to favor students from high-SES families—families that are middle- and upper-class.

1. High-SES parents interact with their children in educationally more beneficial ways. 2. Schools reward middle- and upper-class knowledge, such as knowledge gained during travel abroad. 3. High-SES parents are more likely to invest time and energy in nurturing their children's education.

Identify the reasons Jonathon Kozol criticizes the sorting function Pitirim Sorokin says schools perform.

1. The sorting perpetuates social divisions based on race and class. 2. The sorting happens at an unreasonably early stage of schooling.

Identify the explanations that researchers have proposed for the superior academic achievement of students at private Catholic schools, compared to public schools.

1. a more rigorous program of study 2. a more close-knit academic community 3. preexisting differences between the student populations

At private Catholic schools, Catholic students outperform non-Catholic ones.

False

In this video, sociologist Stephen Morgan offers his thoughts on Catholic high school students academically outperforming public high school students. What does Morgan think is the main explanation for this difference?

Catholic school students have parents who care more about education

Identify which of the following are the best-documented explanations for the black/white achievement gap in U.S. schools.

Explanation(s): 1. Race correlates with social class, and being middle- or upper-class has certain advantages. 2. Among underprivileged youth of all races, values are sometimes inverted, so that achievement is considering a bad thing.

Identify the ways in which social class explains some apparent differences between black and white children in academic achievement and attainment.

Explanations: The poverty rate among black children is much higher than the poverty rate among white children. Once social class background is accounted for; black youth are just as likely to graduate high school as white youth. Black families have lower levels of wealth compared to white families. Not Explanation(s): Social class differences explain what appears to be a higher level of academic achievement among black children.

Families sometimes employ creative financing to try to pay for college, including auctioning space on one's forehead for advertising, or staging magic shows. Identify the system-level changes that would make raising money for college more attainable for working class and poor young adults and their parents.

Helpful change(s): greater access to scholarships and government subsidies lower tuition costs Not helpful change(s): access to sites like gofundme.com higher taxes

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In the 1960s, Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson conducted a study of the effects of teacher expectations on student performance. Place the steps of the study protocol from first to last.

In order: 1. students took an IQ test in the fall 2. randomly selected students were described to teachers as gifted 3. the teachers interacted with students for an academic year 4. students took an IQ test in the spring 5. students arbitrarily labeled as bright did better on the second test

Identify each of the following as either an intended or unintended consequence of tracking. Intended Unintended

Intended: Students are sorted into classrooms that reflect their interests and abilities. Students are matched to jobs and colleges for life after high school. Unintended: Additional characteristics such as social class, race, and gender are used to sort students into tracks. Students in tracks that are not dedicated to advanced coursework or vocational jobs fall behind their peers.

The percentage of Americans with college degrees has risen dramatically since 1910. The functionalist explanation would be that this increase is a response to changes in the economy. Identify the problems with this explanation.

Problems: Most job-related skills are acquired at the workplace, not in the classroom. The increase in average education level goes well beyond what the economy demands. Much of what college students learn is not career-related. Not Problem(s): Today's economy requires a less educated workforce, not a more educated one.

Identify each statement about affirmative action in U.S. college admissions as either reality or myth.

Reality 1. Eliminating affirmative action would significantly alter the racial and ethnic mix of students at elite schools. 2. Affirmative action for some racial groups significantly lowers the acceptance rate for other groups. Myth 1. Most preferential treatment consists of affirmative action on behalf of minorities. 2. Most colleges make significant use of affirmative action in their admissions process.

This animation explains how schools—the very institutions that are supposed to help level the playing field for students with different backgrounds—paradoxically sort students based on those same backgrounds. How does this paradox come to be in the United States?

Within a school, students are sorted into different academic tracks

Match the labels to the appropriate scenarios.

benefits the high-achieving students: placing a few low-achievers in a class of high achievers benefits the low-achieving students: placing a few high achievers in a class full of low achievers placing a few low achievers in a class full of high achievers

In this video, sociologist Shamus Khan talks with Dalton Conley about the benefits of attending an elite school, like St. Paul's where Khan taught for a time.

benefits: an ability to navigate certain social and professional environments a set of social connections that help them after they leave Harvard a conversion of their social class into a legitimizing credential

Identify the formal measures of social class or socioeconomic status (SES).

formal measure(s): family wealth family income parents' educational attainment parents' occupational status

A conflict-perspective analysis of the rising number of college graduates focuses on the competition between and within social classes. A college degree sets one apart from the less educated and thereby signals elite status. But as people respond by working to acquire this status marker, the value of the marker becomes diluted, until elite status is no longer conferred simply by having gone to college but rather by which college one attended.

in order: conflict-perspective competition elite status diluted

Individual teachers appear to matter more for student success in the United States than in European countries because European teaching is -, while U.S. teachers have more - in running their classrooms. Coupled with the long hours teachers spend with students, classrooms become - for students.

in order: standardized autonomy pressure cookers

Identify which of the following are major criticisms of the socialization function performed by public schools in the United States.

major criticisms: Socialization is used to instill acceptance of capitalist values. Socialization has been used to nearly eradicate native culture.

According to Pitirim Sorokin, schools are - that assess students for ability, talent, and -. Based on the results, students are taught different skills and socialized in ways most suitable for their - future occupations. A student who is - will be placed in a vocational program, while a student who is - will be placed in the school's gifted and talented program.

sorting machines character likely good with his or her hands intellectually gifted

What has research on "summer setbacks" found happens to the academic achievement of upper- and lower-class children during the summer break from school? Match each group to the correct description.

upper class children: make progress over the summer lower class children: lose ground over the summer