Exam 11: Education: What Are We Learning

Overall, the United States spends more money per student on education than most other industrialized nations.

Using conflict theory, discuss how the educational system maintains social class positions of groups and allows the elite to remain in control.

Recent research findings indicate that boys have more struggles with self-esteem than girls, especially in middle school.

Sociologists argue that family background is the single most important influence on children's school achievement.

Which of the following most accurately describes education in complex societies?

The peer culture that children and teens participate in rarely influences their future roles in society.

In some major U.S. inner cities, only a quarter of students graduate from high school.

Some social scientists claim that American schools destroy non-American (e.g., Asian, African, Hispanic) culture. Do you agree with this statement? Support your argument using symbolic interaction, rational choice, structural-functional, or conflict theory. Include the role of norms and socialization in your response.

Compare and contrast the functionalist and conflict perspectives on education. Provide examples.

Ty is an eighth-grade music teacher. Ty must support and encourage his students, but he must also give them poor grades for not learning their music. This causes Ty to experience:

Research finds that tracking levels correlate directly with factors such as the child's background.

The school system in a local community is often the source of pride and the unifying symbol of identity in the community.

According to structural-functionalists, what is a manifest function of education?

A latent function of education is that it weakens parental control over children.

Providing an opportunity for peer cultures to develop is a manifest function of education.

Boys experience "hostile hallways" in more physically and psychologically harmful ways than girls.

Link completes all assigned homework to succeed in school. According to Robert Merton's goals-means taxonomy, Link is best described as a(n):

The ways families stress the importance of education to their children are universal.

Using Weber's bureaucratic model, briefly describe the bureaucratic structure of U.S. schools.

Lani is very strong in language and writing classes. She aspires to be a journalist and her teachers largely believe that she is capable of achieving this goal. However, Lani does not excel in her math or music courses and is in jeopardy of not graduating because of her poor grades in math and music. The emphasis on following a standard curriculum for all students best reflects which aspect of Weber's bureaucratic model?