soc 100 chapter 13

Which of the following statements about changes in the boy-girl achievement gap during the past 30 years is true?

Achievements among girls have improved in many ways, while boys from lower-class backgrounds have worsened.

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

Socioeconomic status (SES) is a combination of parents' level of education, parents' jobs, family income, and wealth, which has a lot to do with educational opportunity and success. While the money aspect might seem obvious when we realize that SAT preparation services can run $1,000 or more, less clear is how the parents themselves play a role. What might one reason be for a parent or parents to be an active part of improved SES for a student hoping to go to college and not just pay more to get them there?

Parents with less education might not feel able or be willing to help with a child's more challenging homework

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

Leticia, a high school student who has been in remedial math classes for years, changes schools and is placed in a regular math class. She is sure she will fail and tries to switch classes, but the remedial class is full. Her new math teacher encourages Leticia and tells her she shows promise with math skills. Halfway through the semester, Leticia is surprised to find that she is doing well in the class. This scenario is an example of

not tracking

The Coleman Report, issued in 1964 soon after the Brown v. Board of Education decision about desegregation, found that differences in achievement among schools depended primarily on students' family background and their classmates and not on differences in school resources. This had significant implications for equality in education, but no obvious solutions. Studies done following the Coleman report demonstrated that smaller class sizes benefited students significantly. Why might this finding contradict the Coleman report?

Smaller class sizes would mean that more resources- teachers, classrooms, books, and so forth- would be needed.

Stereotype threat, the fear that one's behavior will confirm an existing stereotype of a group with which one identifies, is a pervasive problem for minority group members. In a college environment, it can be even worse than usual. After she graduated from high school in Galveston, Texas, in 2008, Angelica Gonzalez applied to prestigious Emory University and was admitted on the basis of scholastic ability, but after her second year, she found herself drowning in a debt she knew she could probably never repay. A well-meaning professor reached out to her, wondering if she had considered cheaper schools. How might this query by her professor have contributed to her sense of being stereotyped?

The question simply reinforced what Angelica already had come to learn about herself as being too poor to attend college

The ability to deal with bureaucracies and confidence in public social settings allow Liam's parents to be actively involved in the Parent Teacher Association at his school. These traits are an example of

cultural capital

One reason that IQ tests correlate highly with academic performance is that the tests were

developed to assess one kind of intelligence found in schools

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

A __________ response to the question of why there has been a significant increase in the number of high school and college graduates in the United States over the past century might point to the simple rules of supply and demand - a need for a more educated workforce encouraged more people to stay in school longer.

functionalist

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

The SAT is a controversial topic in higher education these days. The SAT has long been considered to be a way to provide an objective look at student ability and help predict success, but many researchers have noted that the SAT does not do this. What might one of the underlying reasons be for the College Board - the organization that currently administers and controls the SAT - be for continuing to advance the merits of the test?

o maintain their position as a viable company

The practice of tracking - sorting students according to ability - is controversial. Some research suggests it is beneficial, other research that it is not. In his interview with Dalton Conley, Steven 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

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

While Shamus Khan's research sheds light on the nature of some private schools, other researchers find that Catholic schools, which are also private schools, were among the most successful in preparing students academically, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Several researchers suggest that students at Catholic schools make beneficial connections with people, which is an example of

social capital

The two primary functions of schools are to educate and socialize students. In the beginning of the chapter we read about Patrick, a young Liberian man who enrolls in a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)-based school. What might be one of the things that the MOOC coursework cannot offer Patrick and other students?

socialize them

The text recounts an example of the difficulties in the classroom around discipline when the students become rowdy and hard to manage. The teacher so identified in the work of Amanda Lewis, 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

Studies have shown that academic performance in private schools outperforms those in public schools. In his interview with Dalton Conley, Shamus Khan talks about St. Paul's School, a private boarding school costing almost $40,000 per year. Khan notes that students attending essentially convert their "birthright into credentials." What important aspect of education in the U.S. is reflected in his comments?

the problem of addressing inequality in schools

Ben is the fifth child in a family of nine and has five brothers. When he started college, his parents told him he had to get a job on campus if he wanted to pay for his education as they could not afford a car and his financial aid only covered tuition and basic supplies. Ben's parents are an example of

the resource dilution model-- Parental resources are finite, so more children in a family result in fewer resources available to each child