Ch. 12-Education I. Inequalities in Schooling Class Differences in Early Childhood Many social scientists that begun to focus attention to inequalities in children’s earliest experiences within the home environment to explain educational inequality. Hart and Risley’s study of the effects of home environment on learning resulted in the following: Children in professional families had the most significant gains in early learning outcomes associated with language/vocabulary, critical thinking, and responsiveness to the learning environment. A child’s learning experience is dramatically affected by the social class of their parents. Preschool: several intensive preschool programs have shown impressive results in terms of changing children’s educational outcomes by changing the cognitive culture that they experience when they are very young. Achievement gaps relative to race and ethnic differences, although partially explained by differences in early childhood experiences, grow larger as children progress through school. This suggests that unequal learning opportunities in school are important factors driving educational inequality. Studies conducted by Entwisle, Alexander, and Olsen suggest that students learn better and more during a school year rather than during summer months. Students from higher SES categories learn at the same rate during the school year; but higher SES students continue their learning process during summer months due to access to enrichment programs compared to students from lower SES, who do not have similar opportunities. Inequality within School: Tracking and Student Outcomes A cumulative advantage exists in education. Higher performing students receive more learning opportunities than lower performing students; and are thus awarded with more educational opportunities over time. Students of higher social class enjoy better educational opportunities, complete more years of schooling, get better grades and are usually placed in higher tracks. Race: Blacks score lower with higher rates of being left back, suspended or expelled. Achievement gags can be explained by social class. When factoring out class differences, AfricanAmericans had a greater chance of graduating from high school, were 44% less likely to be held back a grade and were equally likely to be held back as white students (Conley, 1999). Ethnicity Hispanics score lower on tests, have higher rates of repeating grades and are expelled at higher rates than white students. Asians score consistently higher on tests of math ability, have higher GPA’s and have higher rates of going to college than non-Asian students. Gender Girls now are surpassing boys in educational attainment. Girls are less likely to drop out of high school or be left back. They earn more degrees than males, except for doctoral degrees. This does not pay off in the workplace. Women still earn less than men in the workplace. II. The Coleman Report 1. Differences in resources did not affect achievement gaps in education. Smaller class size was better than larger classes. Two factors were important: a. family background b. peers 2. Private vs Public schools Private schools were better than public schools but of the private schools, Catholic schools were the most successful, especially in poorer or minority neighborhoods. Catholic schools are the least expensive of the private schools. They are more successful due to the social capital in the community.