Education and Inequality SOCI 101 November 1, 2011 SOCI 101 () - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Education and Inequality

SOCI 101 November 1, 2011

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Inequality in America

Father’s occupation predicts son’s occupation Mobility: the ability of a child to achieve a different status than his/her parent(s) Mobility is one way of assessing the fairness of a society Life Chances: how much is based on inherent talent, environmental differences, achieved success, and social safety net?

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Comparative Inequality

% bottom % top % top % bottom Country → top → top % → bottom → bottom USA 7.9 36 9.5 42.2 Nordics ∼ 11 ∼ 35 ∼ 15 ∼ 26 UK 12.2 29.7 10.7 30.3

Jantti et al., “American Exceptionalism in a New Light.” IZA Discussion Paper 1938, January, 2006. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=878675

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Education in America

Primary means for equalizing opportunity Primary means for legitimizing inequality Primary means for reproducing inequality

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Education in America

Segregation

Legally-enforced racial separation by school Systematic inequality in educational quality Brown v. Board, 1954, outlaws segregation

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Desegregation: Why Busing?

Residential segregation by race and class Preferences for racial makeup are unstable Local control and funding Policies and resistances

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Education in America

Desegregation

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Education in America

Desegregation

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Local Control and Funding

Principal funding source: property taxes Property values change in part with school quality Wealthy communities, wealthy schools State funding mitigates this somewhat

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Local Control and Funding

No Child Left Behind

National standards for school success Standardized testing, sub-population improvement rates Underperforming schools punished financially

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Sociology of Education

Willis, Learning to Labor

1970s England Why do working class kids end up in working class jobs? Development of oppositional culture Teachers and administrators use class to label kids

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Sociology of Education

Conley, Being Black, Living in the Red

What explains persistent black-white gaps? Not just education but income, job status, etc. Consider class as wealth, not income On most measures, African Americans outperform whites after accounting for family wealth

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Sociology of Education

Lareau, Unequal Childhoods

Philadelphia area families Some working-class, some middle-class How do they interact with school and teachers? “Concerted Cultivation” vs. “Natural Growth”

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Sociology of Education

Grant, Hope and Despair in the American City

Comparison: Syracuse, NY / Raleigh, NC Syracuse: City district, suburbs separate Raleigh: County district Incentives for quality across school districts

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How Race and Class Might Influence Education

Access to quality educaton Access to “extras” (computers, work spaces, etc.) Family cultural differences in approach to education Friend-network cultural differences in approach to education Educator bias . . .

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The Big Picture: Intellectual Habits of Mind

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Epilogue: The Public University

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