Sociology 531: Sociology of Education
Course Reference Number: 076-282
Spring 2006
W 4:40-7:10
Gladfelter Hall 741
Instructor: Professor Kim Goyette
Email:kgoyette@temple.edu
Office phone number: 204-0134
Office hours: M, W 12-1, Th 10-11 or by appointment
Office: 737 Gladfelter Hall
Website: A website for this course will be created using the program Blackboard. It can be accessed at
http://tuportal.temple.edu. Please check this site at least once a week for course announcements and reminders,
assignments, and class presentations.
Main goals of the course:
The main focus of this course is on the ways that educational systems both maintain and challenge social inequality.
Students will discuss the ways that education differentially allocates resources based on race, class, and gender. The class
will explore this issue in both the “classical readings” in the Sociology of Education, and also in recent books by those
working in the field. Books chosen for this course are intended to begin discussion on contemporary debates. The class
will be asked to pay special attention to whether the policies discussed by them will ameliorate or exacerbate existing
inequalities by race, class, and/or gender. The first half of the course will highlight classical readings, while the second will
emphasize contemporary debates.
This course has three main objectives. First, the course will prepare students for the preliminary examination in the
Sociology of Education through discussions of main theories, ideas, and classical works in the field. Second, the course
will promote critical debate about contemporary issues in education. The class will read and discuss “hot topics” in
education like debates over curricula, “marketing” universities, racial inequality in school achievement, and school choice.
Finally, the course will advance students’ own research projects through frequent discussions and evaluations of students’
own work by the instructor and their peers.
Class Structure:
Each class will be divided into roughly 2 parts of an hour and a quarter each, with a 10 minute break at about 6:00. The
first portion of the class will be spent discussing either the “classical” readings, designed to prepare students for the prelim
exams, or exploring debates in Sociology of Education through the books assigned. In the second half of the class, we will
talk about our own research projects. One or two student facilitators will lead students through each portion of the class.
Readings for the course:
Six books and a reader are available for purchase by students. The following books are available at the Temple University
Bookstore:
Arum, Richard and Irenee R. Beattie. 2000. The Structure of Schooling: Readings in the Sociology of Education. Boston:
McGraw Hill.
Binder, Amy J. 2004. Contentious Curricula: Afrocentrism and Creationism in American public Schools. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press.
Bok, Derek. 2004. Universities in the Marketplace: The Commercialization of Higher Education. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press.
Carter, Prudence L. 2005. Keepin’ It Real: School Success beyond Black and White. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lee, Valerie E. 2002. Inequality at the Starting Gate: Social Background Differences in Achievement as Children Begin
School. Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute.
Rosenbaum, James E. 2004. Beyond College for All: Career Paths for the Forgotten Half. New York: Russell Sage
Foundation.
Scott, Janelle T., ed. 2005. School Choice and Diversity: What the Evidence Says. New York: Teacher’s College Press.
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The above books are also available on reserve at the Paley Undergraduate Library Reserve Desk.
To manage the cost of readings for this course, students will also be asked to retrieve articles from the journal service,
JSTOR. These articles are indicated with the acronym, JSTOR.
Students with Disabilities:
Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact me privately to discuss
the specific situation as soon as possible. Contact Disability Resources and Services at 215-204-1280 in 100 Ritter Annex
to coordinate reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities.
Course requirements:
All students are expected to attend class. Assignments for the course include a prelim/research “journal”, one research
paper completed in steps, a take-home midterm, and a take-home final.
Class participation: Students who miss more than two classes will be expected to provide written documentation for their
absences. Students will be judged according to their active participation in discussions.
Prelim Journal: In this journal, students are asked to summarize the main ideas from each of their readings and respond to
them. I recommend that students discuss what (if anything) they like about the article or book, what its weaknesses are,
how it could be made stronger, and how it connects or speaks to some of the other readings in class. Students may wish to
comment on the article or book’s relevance to their own work. The journals will be given one of two grades: A score of 4
or an “A” journal makes connections between books and articles in the course, and connects the student’s work with the
course readings. The “A” journal shows how readings contribute to the student’s own ideas about education. A score of 3
or a “B” journal summarizes the articles and describes their strengths and weaknesses. Journals can be any length, though
less time should be spent on summary and more on developing the student’s own ideas and work.
Research paper: Students will be asked to do original research for your paper. Choose a topic of interest that relates to the
course and evaluate it using any of these sources of information: historical documents, popular media, interviews with
officials, family, or friends, secondary data sets, documented observations within a school setting. You are required to cite
a minimum of five articles or books on your topic (not included in the course readings) and integrate them with your own
research. Periodically, you will be required to turn in write-ups of the various stages of the paper. You will receive
feedback on these. Further, you are required to meet with the instructor at least once during the semester to discuss this
project. The integrated, final project paper should be between 15-20 pages in length, 1 inch margins, in 10 or 12 pt. font,
and is due on April 26. Students will continuously be evaluating each other’s work. Students will present their projects in
15 minute conference style presentations at the end of the class.
Midterm: Will be a take-home “mini” prelim question. Students will be given a choice of questions and asked to integrate
the readings in a five-page response to one of them.
Final: Will be like a prelim. Students will be given a choice of questions and will be asked to integrate the readings in a 10page response to one of them.
Optional field trip: Students will be given the opportunity to participate in a field trip to an area high school. This trip
should last about 3-4 hours during which students will discuss issues of race, class, and/or gender inequality with high
school students. Observations from these trips may be integrated into students’ own research projects. Students are not
required to do this. Dates and times will be announced in class and posted on Blackboard.
Grading: Class participation (10%), prelim journal (20%), midterm (15%), project paper (30%), and final (25%).
Late assignments and make-up exams will not be accepted unless accompanied by written documentation of reasons for the
delay (doctors’ notes, for example).
***Plagiarism or cheating in any form will not be tolerated and will be dealt with swiftly according to university
policy.***
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Course Schedule and Readings
SS refers to those readings found in Arum and Beattie’s Structure of Schooling reader. JSTOR refers to those that can be
obtained through JSTOR on the Temple University Library website.
Jan. 18
Introduction to the course, an historical overview of U.S. education, and education internationally
Aaron Benavot and Phyllis Riddle. 1988. “The Expansion of Primary Education, 1870-1940: Trends and Issues.”
Sociology of Education 61(3). Pp.191-210. (JSTOR)
Francisco O. Ramirez and John Boli.1987. “The Political Construction of Mass Schooling: European Origins and
Worldwide Institutionalization.” Sociology of Education 60(1). Pp. 2-17. (JSTOR)
Jan. 25
Why educate? Socialization and stratification, Functionalism and Conflict.
Discussion of last week’s readings continued.
Emile Durkheim. “The First Element of Morality: The Spirit of Discipline.” Pp. 78-85. (SS)
Max Weber. “The ‘Rationalization’ of Education and Training.” Pp. 16-18. (SS)
Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis. “Beyond the Educational Frontier: The Great American Dream Freeze.” Pp. 112-121.
(SS)
Randall Collins. 1971. “Functionalism and Conflict Theories of Educational Stratification.” American Sociological
Review 36. Pp. 1002-19. (JSTOR)
Feb. 1
Status attainment and social mobility.
Peter M. Blau and Otis D. Duncan. “The Process of Stratification.” Pp. 35-45. (SS)
Hans-Peter Blossfeld and Yossi Shavit. “Persisting Barriers: Changes in Educational Opportunities in Thirteen Countries.”
Pp. 245-259. (SS)
Ralph H. Turner. 1960. “Sponsored and Contest Mobility and the School System.” American Sociological Review 25(6).
Pp. 855-867. (JSTOR)
Kenneth L. Wilson and Alejandro Portes. 1975. “The Educational Attainment Process: Results from a National
Sample.” American Journal of Sociology 81(2). Pp. 343-63. (JSTOR)
***Paper topic and research question are due.***
Feb. 8
Schools as organizations.
John Chubb and Terry Moe. “An Institutional Perspective on Schools.” Pp. 474-487. (SS)
John W. Meyer, W. Richard Scott, David Strang, and Andrew L. Creighton. “Bureaucratization without Centralization:
Changes in the Organizational System of U.S. Public Education.” Pp. 450-462. (SS)
Jonathon Kozol. “The Dream Deferred, Again, in San Antonio.” Pp. 181-193. (SS)
Maureen Hallinan. “Tracking: From Theory to Practice.” Pp. 151-162. (SS)
Donna Eder. 1981. “Ability Grouping as a Self-fulfilling Prophecy: A Micro-analysis of teacher-Student Interaction.”
Sociology of Education 54(3). Pp. 151-162. (JSTOR)
Feb. 15
What do schools give students? The three capitals
Theodore W. Schultz. “Investment in Human Capital.” Pp. 46-55. (SS)
Pierre Bourdieu. “Cultural Reproduction and Social Reproduction.” Pp. 56-68. (SS)
James Coleman and Thomas Hoffer. “Schools, Families, and Communities.” Pp. 69-77. (SS)
Paul Dimaggio. 1982. “Cultural Capital and School Success: The Impact of Status Culture Participation on the Grades
of U.S. High School Students.” American Sociological Review 47(2). Pp. 189-201. (JSTOR)
Feb. 22
Race inequality across and within schools
Signithia Fordham and John Ogbu. “Black Students’ School Success: Coping with the Burden of ‘Acting White’.” Pp. 303309. (SS)
Amy Stuart Wells and Robert Crain. “Consumers of Urban Education.” Pp. 310-318. (SS)
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Christopher Jencks and Meredith Phillips. “America’s Next Achievement Test: Closing the Black-White Test Score Gap.”
Pp. 319-325. (SS)
Gary Orfield. “The Growth of Segregation: African Americans, Latinos, and Unequal Education.”Pp. 194-206. (SS)
Roslyn Mickelson. 1990. “The Attitude-Achievement Paradox among Black Adolescents.” Sociology of Education 63(1).
Pp. 44-61. (JSTOR)
March 1
Class, and gender inequality across schools and within schools.
James Coleman et al. “The Coleman Report.” Pp. 154-167. (SS)
Christopher Jencks et al. “Inequality in Educational Attainment.” Pp. 168-180. (SS)
Paul Willis. “Elements of a Culture.” Pp. 260-275. (SS)
Annette Lareau. “Social Class Differences in Family-School Relationships: The Importance of Cultural Capital.” Pp. 288302. (SS)
Roslyn Arlin Mickelson. “Why Does Jane Read and Write So Well? The Anomaly of Women’s Achievement.” Pp. 326337. (SS)
Barrie Thorne. “Boys and Girls Together… But Mostly Apart.” Pp. 338-345. (SS)
Karen Martin. 1998. “Becoming a Gendered Body: Practices of Preschools.” American Sociological Review 63(4):494511. (JSTOR)
***Draft of research paper is due.***
March 15
Inequality before school
***Midterm is due.***
Valerie Lee. Inequality at the Starting Gate.
March 22
Choosing schools
Janelle Scott. School Choice and Diversity.
March 29
Curricular debates
Amy Binder. Contentious Curricula.
April 5
“Acting Black?”
Prudence Carter. Keepin’ It Real.
April 12
Non-college options
James Rosenbaum. Beyond College for All.
April 19
Commercializing universities
Derek Bok. Universities in the Marketplace..
April 26
The politics of school reform and research project presentations
David Berliner and Bruce Biddle. “The Manufactured Crisis: Myths, Fraud, and the Attack on America’s Public Schools”
Pp. 502-516. (SS)
***Research Paper is due this week.***
May 5
Final Exam questions are due by 5 pm..
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