Sociology

Sociology Study Guide

attached to them, it is imperative that schools on a budget strive to maintain thosemandates. Another major problem with the public school system is the inequality that exists across geographic area. Schools rely on tax money and federal aid to fund programs like Head Start and school lunch programs. Certain geographic areas have a greater tax pool to pull from. The role of teachers in the school system is varied. From disciplinarian to judge, confidante to counselor, substitute parent to colleague and employee, a teacher’s day is unique. On top of those responsibilities, many parents state that they believe teachers should be held to “higher” standards than societal norms because they are impressing young minds. Students usually fall into three subcultures: • Academic: Intellectual leaders, high grades, academic activities • Fun: Popular students, social, athletics/parties/dating • Delinquent: Rebellious toward authority, rules, and/or structure The school system encourages competition in four different ways. Competition is not necessarily a bad thing; it is integral to the socialization process. • Number/letter grading system: The normal means of determining whether students have grasped the information provided to them or not. o It is easy, however, for students to lose track of learning, and simply learn how to make a good grade. o Teachers can easily lose sight of learning verses a great record of achieving students. • Standardized testing: In this often debated assessment, social and racial inequalities are perpetuated by the educational facilities. o SATs are used as a test for college aptitude. • Self-fulfilling prophecy: This includes labeling which can lead to certain academic successes and failures. Labeling someone as a ‘jock’ can keep them from even trying to achieve academic success. They’ll lean toward fulfilling what is already said about them. • IQ test: As a measure of intelligence, this test may show a cultural bias in the wording of the questions and the subject matter tested. Inequality in Schools Even though education is free and compulsory, inequalities still exist due to poverty and social isolation. This stratification-based distribution of education preserves social inequality. It is still a fact that the class to which an individual is born strongly influences their social success or failure. Discrepancies in equality exist between social classes and races, and more pronounced between public and private schools. Many hypothesize that if quality of teachers, funding, and materials were all representatively equal inevery school district, there would be no inequality. A controversial report by James Coleman refutes

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