Adolescence and Schooling
1. Functions of [public] schooling
 Personal-- peer relations, wider spectrum of adults (teachers, counselors, coaches, etc.,)
 Societal-- transmission of culture--, rules for social behavior, class interaction
(racial/ethnic, gender, economic)
 Intellectual/academic-- culture's canon of knowledge, skills for intellectual inquiry,
strategies for learning
2. One system for everyone or tracking
 Achievement--high vs. low; probs:
 ability measures doubious (achieved vs. expected)
 Behavior-- alternative schools;
 probs: referral often biased re: ethnic, economic class; referrals inconsistent from one
school to the next;
 Research on tracking
 Snow (1986)--with tracking "low" kids tend to be alienated from school (Brandon's
experience with basketball)
 Gamoran & Mare (1989) When achievement is held constant, tracking predicts drop
out better than scores on achievement tests.
 Page (1990)--kids in low tracks tend to think that luck and guessing is more fruitful
than hard work and skills
 Alternatives to tracking
 Banks (1993) cooperative learning--students, both high and low students gain;
students tend to become more responsible for their own learning
 Cromer--broader community involvement connects school with the world of the
students.
3. School size- Gabrino (1980)--once the number of kids in school exceeds 500, kids tend to get "lost" in
the crowd
 Coleman (1993)--smaller than 500 kids, the kids tend to identify with the school; one
plan--school-within-a-school
4. School Climate- Focus on process and product--not just outcomes (process of learning is what will carry
the individual through life as a learner)
 Integrate resources and classes to offer comprehensive curriculum
 Actively seek school-community support and interaction
 Value (and provide for) ALL options offered (e.g. college, AP, Voc/Tech, GED, Adult
High)
 Increase responsibility of the student as a decision maker in his or her own learning
5. Teacher Attitudes that foster positive school climate
 All students are capable of learning
 Expectations are high for all students


Teachers value free and positive interactions with all students (even "challenging"
students)
Teachers freely provide and receive feedback that is encouraging & informative
(Holland's story--sometimes the students are right)
6. Attribution theory—
Stable
Unstable
Internal
success—smart
Failure—stupid
external
success—easy task
failure—hard task
success—effort
Failure—effort
success--lucky
failure—unlucky
7. Motivation orientation—
 task/mastery orientation—the completion of the task and learning the material or
mastering the skill is key
 performance/ability orientation—focus is on external evaluation; getting the grade;
8. what kinds of schools can overcome these problems?
 high participation—active learning
 high personalization—teacher interacts with students as individuals
 high investigation—students test ideas rather than simply accepting them
9. School violence
 Students tend to have a greater tolerance for violence
 Students often see domestic violence
 Students often experience abusive homes/relationships
 Media display high levels of violence
 Issue is not whether one's safety is threatened but whether the individual perceives one's
safety is threatened

Alternatives/Prevention of school violence
 Cooperative learning--tends to create a sense of interdependence rather than
competition & fosters higher levels of active listening
 Conflict resolution training--strategies for peaceful resolution of disputes
 Constructive controversy--e.g. debate- argue for both sides of an issue
 Conflict resolution centers--peer/teacher mediated resolution (Beggs story about
music in the classroom)