Education and Inequality
SOC 263
Fall 2006
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01
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This course will focus on educational institutions as mechanisms of cultural transmission, socialization, and legitimation. How do social characteristics such as ethnicity, gender, and social class influence classroom interactions and performance? In what ways are school experiences related to occupational aspirations and attainment? We will examine how schools produce inequality through peer-group cultures, tracking, measures of achievement, and the distribution of knowledge. Schools and universities often become arenas of cultural and political conflict; we will assess the possibilities and limits of educational organizations as vehicles for social change. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Writing |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS SOC |
| Course Format: Lecture/Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: SOC151 OR SOC152 |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (SOC) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Readings will likely include selections from the following among other short readings:
Annette Lareau, HOME ADVANTAGE: SOCIAL CLASS AND PARENTAL INTERVENTION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Pierre Bourdieu, DISTINCTION: A SOCIAL CRITIQUE OF THE JUDGMENT OF TASTE
Jeannie Oakes, KEEPING TRACK: HOW SCHOOLS STRUCTURE INEQUALITY
Christopher Jencks, INEQUALITY: A REASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECT OF FAMILY AND SCHOOLING IN AMERICA
Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, SCHOOLING IN CAPITALIST AMERICA: EDUCATIONAL REFORM AND THE CONTRADICTIONS OF ECONOMIC LIFE
Kenneth Arrow, Samuel Bowles, and Steven Durlauf, editors., MERITOCRACY AND ECONOMIC INEQUALITY
David C. Berliner and Bruce J. Biddle, THE MANUFACTURED CRISIS: MYTHS, FRAUD, AND THE ATTACK ON AMERICA¿S PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Diane Ravitch, LEFT BACK: A CENTURY OF BATTLES OVER SCHOOL REFORM
Charles T. Clotfelter, AFTER BROWN: THE RISE AND RETREAT OF SCHOOL DESEGREGATION
Jonathan Kozol, SAVAGE INEQUALITIES: CHILDREN IN AMERICA'S SCHOOLS
Jay MacLeod, AIN'T NO MAKIN IT: ASPIRATIONS AND ATTAINMENT IN A LOW-INCOME NEIGHBORHOOD
Selected readings from Pierre Bordieu, Karl Marx, Max Weber, James Coleman, Adam Gamoran, Michael Apple, Robert Hauser, Robert Mare, Gloria Ladson-Billings
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Examinations and Assignments:
A weekly reading journal, in class presentations and debates, school observations, a quantitative data analysis project, and one 10-page research paper. |
| Instructor(s): Long,Daniel A. Times: .M.W... 02:40PM-04:00PM; Location: PAC004; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 25 | | SR major: 8 | JR major: 7 | | |
| Seats Available: 9 | GRAD: 0 | SR non-major: 3 | JR non-major: 2 | SO: 5 | FR: X |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 9 | 1st Ranked: 2 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 1 | 4th Ranked: 1 | Unranked: 5 |
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