Sociology of Education Professor Rick Rubinson SOC 307/EDS 307 Spring Semester 2013 MWF 9:30 10:25 Tarbutton 218 Office: 217D Tarbutton Hall, 727-7531, email: rrubin@emory.edu Office Hours: Wednesdays 9:00 11:00 or by appointment The course will use Blackboard for announcements, course materials, online readings and grades. The following books are required for the course: Cornelius Riordan, Equality and Achievement: An Introduction to the Sociology of Education. (2 nd edition) Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004. Richard Arum, Irene Beattie, and Karly Ford. The Structure of Schooling: Readings in the Sociology of American Education. (2 nd edition) Pine Forge Press, 2011. Annette Lareau, Home Advantage: Social Class and Parental Intervention in Elementary Education. (2 nd edition) Rowan and Littlefield, 2000. Mitchell Stevens, Creating a Class: College Admissions and the Education of Elites. Harvard University Press, 2007. Diane Ravitch, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education. Basic Books, 2010. The required readings not in these books are on the online reserve system of Woodruff Library where they can be read online or downloaded so that you can have a hard copy. Articles on the syllabus indicated with ABF are from Arum, Beattie, and Ford, The Structure of Schooling. Course Requirements: The course grade will be based on: (1) a mid-term examination, (2) a final examination, and (3) several short take-home essays and/or presentations. Each exam will count for 35% of the grade and the essays/presentations will constitute 30% of the grade. I will distribute a set of study questions for each section of the course. These questions will be the basis for class discussions and the exams. It is very important that you complete the assigned readings before class. Also, please feel free to come see me with any questions, problems, or issues in the course.
August 26- September 2: I. Education in the United States: A Nation at Risk? August 30-September 4 1. Introduction: Waiting for Superman Documentary Film: Waiting for Superman National Commission on Excellence in Education, A Nation at Risk (online) Diane Ravitch, The Death and Life of the Great American School System, Ch. 1 and 2. September 6-September 11 2. The Crisis in Education: Achievement, Inequality, and Culture John Chubb and Terry Moe, An Institutional Perspective on Schools, Ch. 44 in ABF. Linda Renzulli and V. Roscigno, Charter Schools and the Public Good, Ch. 48 in ABF Amy Binder, Contentious Curricula: Afrocentrism and Creationism in American Public Schools, Ch. 49 in ABF. Richard Arum, Judging School Discipline: A Crisis of Moral Authority, Ch. 45 in ABF II. Ways of Seeing: Theories of Schooling and Education September 13: 1. Human Capital Theory Gary Becker, Human Capital, Ch. 5 in ABF. Randall Collins, The Myth of Technocracy, Chapter 1 in The Credential Society (online Gary Squires, Education, Jobs, and Inequality: Functional and Conflict Models of Social Stratification (online). September 18: 2. Status Conflict Theory Randall Collins, Functional and Conflict Theories of Education, Ch. 10 in ABF. Peter Cookson and Caroline Persell, The Chosen Ones, Ch. 12 in ABF. James Rosenbaum and Amy Binder, Do Employers Really Need More Educated Youth? Ch. 41 in ABF. Alejandro Portes, English-Only Triumphs, But the Costs are High, Ch. 47 in ABF. September 20:
3. Class Theory Samuel Bowles and Herb Gintis, Beyond the Educational Frontier: The Great American Dream Freeze, Ch. 11 in ABF. Michele Lamont and Annette Lareau, Cultural Capital: Allusions, Gaps, and Glissandos in Recent Theoretical Developments, Ch. 6 in ABF. Mitchell Stevens, Creating a Class: College Admissions and the Education of Elites, Ch. 46 in ABF. III. Equality and Achievement: The Dilemma of Education in the United States September 25-October 2: 1. Equality or Achievement? Cornelius Riordan, Equality and Achievement: Chapter 1, Equality and Achievement. 2. Methodological Issues in Studying Education Cornelius Riordan, Equality and Achievement: Chapter 2, A Sociological Perspective. Annette Lareau, Appendix: Common Problems in Field Work, in Home Advantage. IV. The Primary Importance of Social Background October 4-October 13: 1. Class, Race, Gender, and Family Structure Cornelius Riordan, Equality and Achievement: Chapter 3, Differences Between Homes. Christopher Jencks and Meredith Phillips, America s Next Achievement Test: Closing the Black-White Test Score Gap, Ch. 28 in ABF. AAUW, Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America (online). James Coleman and Thomas Hoffer, Schools, Families, and Communities, Ch. 7 in ABF. October 16: Fall Break October 18: Mid-Term Examination October 20-October 25:
October 27: 2. Explaining the Effects of Social Background: The Structure of Schooling S. Heyneman and W. Loxley, The Effect of Primary School Quality on Academic Achievement Across Twenty-Nine High- and Low-Income Countries (online). John Ogbu, Social Stratification and the Socialization of Competence (online). R. Mickelson, Why Does Jane Read and Write so Well? The Anomaly of Women's Achievement (online). David Baker and D. Jones, Opportunity and Performance: A Sociological Explanation for Gender Differences in Mathematics (online). 3. Explaining the Effects of Social Background: Home Advantage Annette Lareau, Home Advantage: Social Class and Parental Intervention in Elementary School (entire book). V. The Effects of Schools November 1-November 3: 1. School Quality, Racial and Gender Composition, and Public vs. Private Education Cornelius Riordan, Equality and Achievement: Chapter 4, Differences Between Schools: The Early Studies. James Coleman et al., Equality of Educational Opportunity: The Coleman Report, Ch. 14 in ABF. Christopher Jencks and Marsha Brown, The Effects of High Schools on Their Students, Ch. 15 in ABF. November 8-November 10: 2. School Finance, Summer Learning, School Size, and School Reform Cornelius Riordan, Equality and Achievement: Chapter 5, Differences Between Schools: The Current Studies. Jonathan. Kozol, On Savage Inequalities (online). Gary Orfield and Chungmei Lee, Brown at 50, Ch. 16 in ABF. Doris Entwisle et al., The Nature of Schooling, Ch. 17 in ABF. November 15-November 17: 3. School Organization: Tracking, Classroom Structure, and Teachers
Cornelius Riordan, Equality and Achievement: Chapter 6, Differences Within Schools. Maureen Hallinan, Tracking: From Theory to Practice, Ch. 18 in ABF. Adam Gamoran, Is Ability Grouping Equitable?, Ch. 19 in ABF. Jeannie Oakes, The Distribution of Knowledge, Ch. 20 in ABF November 22: Thanksgiving November 27-29: VI. Educational Reforms and Possibilities (I) Mitchell Stevens, Creating a Class: College Admissions and the Education of Elites (entire book). December 4-December 11: VI. Educational Reforms and Possibilities (II) Cornelius Riordan, Equality and Achievement: Chapter 8, Maximizing Achievement and Equality. Diane Ravitch, The Death and Life of the Great American School System (entire book). December 19: Final Examination, 4:30 7:00