There are significant advantages of higher-income individuals investing in education
Earnings premium: the benefits of having a college degree which outweigh the cost of obtaining one
Higher incomes are associated with additional tax revenue
Lower unemployment is associated with reduced costs of welfare
In low-income countries less than 20% of students meet reading and math proficiencies at the elementary school level compared with nearly 80% in high-income countries
Over half of children in low- and middle-income countries cannot read proficiently by the age of 10
Sociological Theories of Education
Structural-Functionalist Perspective
Education is a social institution in society that serves four main functions:
Instruction
Socialization
Sorting individuals into various statuses
Custodial care
Conflict Perspective
Educational institution engages in a process of social reproduction to solidify class positions that allow the elite to control the masses.
The socialization function of education is really indoctrination into a capitalist ideology
Cultural imperialism: indoctrination into the dominant culture
Local taxes are 45% of U.S. funding and therefore school districts vary dramatically based on socioeconomic variables
Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
Concerned with the individual and small-group issues in education.
Teacher-student interaction: a subtle difference in how teacher communicates with students based on biases
Teacher disapproval contributes to lower self-esteem among disadvantaged and troubled youth.
This can create and perpetuate self-fulfilling prophecies
Teacher’s negative expectations, even if inaccurate → poor learning outcomes
The Inequality of Educational Attainment
Economics
Socioeconomic status is the best predictor of educational success
Students from low-income households are at a disadvantage because they lack an enriching academic home life
Students living in low-income school districts are more likely to attend schools that are underfunded and have fewer educational resources
The Head Start program provides an integrated program of health care, parental involvement, education, and social services for qualifying preschool children from the most disadvantaged homes
Race and Ethnicity
Compared to White students, Black, Hispanic, and Native American students are less likely to succeed at every level of education
Socioeconomic status interacts with race and ethnicity
Tests used to assess academic achievement and ability may be biased toward white middle-class culture
Overt racism and discrimination in the form of unequal funding, racial profiling, school segregation, and teacher/peer bias
English language learners (ELLs) benefit from bilingual education
Socioeconomic integration is legal and leads to higher academic achievement, and is cost-effective
Gender
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 states that no person shall be discriminated against based on sex in any educational program receiving federal funds
Boys outscore girls in mathematics, and girls outscore boys in reading
Boys are more likely to be diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), have learning disabilities, feel alienated from the learning process, and drop out or be expelled from school
Teacher gender expectations and the sorting into majors by gender
Male gender achievement gap is largest among students from low-income backgrounds
Mitigating Educational Inequality
Policy and Lobbying
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) — greater authority to state governments
Common Core State Standards — set of academic standards for mathematic and language arts to be used across the states
Standardized testing
Parent trigger laws allow parents to intervene in their children’s education and schooling
In the Classroom
Character education emphasizes the moral and ethical aspects of an individual rather than teaching specific subjects (ie. math/history)
School Choice
School vouchers: state-funded scholarships paid directly to parents to be used to send public school children to private schools
Opponents argue that vouchers drain needed funds and the best students away from public schools, increase segregation because White parents are more likely to use the vouchers, and public funding should not be used for religious private schools
Charter schools: schools which enter contracts detailing an instructional plan approved by local/state authorities
Face similar opposition as vouchers
Privatization
In 2020, approximately 5.7 million students attended private schools compared to the nearly 51 million who attended public schools
Study found that when controlling for social demographic variables such as income, there was no academic advantage
A recent trend is for local and state governments to contract out schools and educational services to for-profit corporations