Chapter 14
Education
Chapter Outline
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Education: A Functionalist View
The Conflict Theory View
Issues in American Education
Cultural Transmission
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Passing major portions of society’s
knowledge from one generation to the
next.
Schools are a major means of cultural
transmission.
Our society contains many cultural
differences, and conflicting ideas on what
should be taught in schools.
Question

Which of the following is a latent function
of education?
A. providing child care
B. teaching basic academic skills
C. transmitting cultural knowledge
D. generating innovation
Answer: A

Providing child care is a latent function
of education.
Education America Act, 1994
Eight Educational Goals
1.
2.
3.
4.
All children should enter school ready to
learn.
The U.S. high-school graduation rate
should reach 90%.
U.S. students should lead the world in
math and science performance.
Every adult should be competent as a
citizen and a worker.
Education America Act, 1994
Eight Educational Goals
5.
6.
7.
8.
Schools should be free of drugs and violence.
Students should demonstrate academic
competencies in specific areas as they
progress through school.
Parents should become more involved in their
children’s education.
Teachers should expand and perfect their
professional skills throughout their careers.
No Child Left Behind Act,
2002
Changed the federal government's role in
education.

Four principles:
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stronger accountability for results
increased flexibility and local control
expanded options for parents
emphasis on proven teaching methods
College Students and the
Internet
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20% of today’s college students started using
the Internet between the ages of 5 and 8.
72% check e-mail at least once a day. 66%
have at least two e-mail addresses.
26% use instant messaging on any given day.
85% own their own computers.
60% have downloaded music files.
College Students and the
Internet
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46% believe e-mail makes it possible for them
to express ideas to a professor they would not
express in class.
73% say they use the Internet more than the
library for research.
37% of precollege students said “too many”
students use the Internet to cheat.
Child Care
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A latent function of public schools is to
provide child care.
As of 2000, 77.2% of married women with
school age children were in the labor
force.
Women with children worked more hours
each week on average in 2000 than they
did in 1969.
School Lunch Programs
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1975: Number of students in the federally
funded school lunch programs was
25,289,000, at a cost of $1.28 billion.
1999: More than 27 million children got
their lunch through the school lunch
program at a cost of $5.46 billion.
% of Adults Age 25–29 Who Have
a Bachelor’s Degree
% of People With a College
Degree— Ages 25 to 34
Country
Canada
France
Germany
Italy
Japan
United
Kingdom
United States
Men
18%
11.9
12.7
7.7
34.2
Women
18.9%
11.3
11
8.1
11.5
15.7
11.7
23.4
23.5
Question

How far do you intend to go in school?
A. Two years of college
B. Four years of college
C. Master's degree
D. Professional degree (law,
medicine, dentistry)
E. Ph.D.
The Conflict Theory View
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Schools stifle individualism and creativity
in the name of maintaining order.
The educational system socializes
students into values dictated by the
powerful majority.
Screening and Allocation:
Tracking
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Tracking begins with placing students in “fast,”
“average,” and “slow” groups in the 1st grade.
Teachers expect a certain level of performance
from the student based on their group.
Students sense this expectation and will often
give the level of performance that is expected.
Question

Rate yourself on academic ability
compared with the average person your
age.
A. Highest 10 percent
B. Above average
C. Average
D. Below average
E. Bottom 10 percent
High-School Dropouts
Factors associated with drop outs:
 Low educational and occupational
attainment levels of parents
 Low family income
 Speaking a language other than English
in the home
 Single-parent families
 Poor academic achievement
Dropping Out: Effects on
Society
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Dropouts pay less in taxes, because of their
lower earnings.
Dropouts increase the demand for social
services including welfare, medical assistance,
and unemployment compensation.
Dropouts are less likely to vote.
Dropouts have poorer health.
Half of all state prison inmates were drop outs.
Median Income By Education
Level
Average SAT Scores, 1995–
2005
The Gifted
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Ellen Winner (1996) has proposed that gifted
children have three atypical traits:
 precociousness— gifted children begin early
to master some domain
 nonconformity, an insistence on doing things
according to their own specific rules
 a rage to master, or a desire to know
everything there is to know about a subject.