Chapter 6 - School Flashcards
What is the 6-2-4 versus 5-3-4 grade system?
6-2-4
- grades 1-6, grades 7-8, grades 9-12
5-3-4
- grades 1-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12
What results have come from studies of private vs. public schools for teens?
private high school students score higher on academic tests and had higher levels of educational attainment
but public school students were better advantaged in university
- used to little individual attention, less of an adjustment
What are the active functions of schools?
training
- job/workforce preparation
social/cultural transmission
- expose them to formal and informal social/cultural situations
instilling knowledge and values
- general education
What are the latent functions of schools?
babysitting
- custodial role, highly structured time, somewhere to be during the transition phase
developing relationship/socialization skills
discover notions of personal status
How do adolescents earn status in school?
mastering curriculum achieving high class standing
non-academic interactions in school activities
community engagement/volunteering
What is the role of status in high schools?
spend much time forming status
importance over general learning and college/career prep
memories of high school revolve around status
What is currently seen as high school’s primary role?
preparation for college/university
structured to provide necessary background skills, knowledge, and socialization needed for further education
Who are considered the “forgotten half”?
those who don’t continue their education after high school or drop out of high school
disproportionately affects Aboriginal youth
What are the implications of dropping out?
can’t improve future economic prospects
possible downward social mobility
may arrive at lower SES than parents
What individual factors are associated with school underachievement?
cognitive/learning abilities
motivation
- striving for mastery > striving for performance
- underachievers attribute failures to external factors and successes to luck
personality
- performance avoidance, fear of failure
gender
- more males
personal situations
- pregnancy/dependents, self-supporting
What peer factors are associated with underachievement?
reputation, status, acceptance
peer attitudes and support
- those with negative attitudes towards school attract peers with the same views
social vs. antisocial behaviours
What family factors are associated with underachievement?
parenting styles (authoritative is good)
family structure/dynamic
family values
What community factors are associated with underachievement?
poverty/low SES
- few resources, impact on tracking, low collective efficacy
social support for learning/opportunities
after school programs
What school factors are associated with underachievement?
school climate
classroom environment
opportunities for involvement/extracurriculars
types of students (peer exposure)
teacher variables
educational self-fulfilling prophecy
grade transitions
What teacher factors impact achievement?
encouraging interest and application persistence -> academic self-efficacy
support, fairness, granting autonomy -> attachment to learning
authoritative teaching style is best
How does teacher efficacy affect student performance?
low teaching confidence -> less effort/engagement -> poor student performance -> reduced teaching confidence
destructive cycle
How does college/university affect learning/cognition?
increased knowledge of major field
effective speaking/writing abstract reasoning problem solving cognitive flexibility organization
more functionally adaptive in learning and non-learning situations
How does college/university affect attitudes/values?
increased value in art, culture, ideas, liberal education and exposure to new ideas
more openness, tolerance for diversity, “other orientation”, concern for individual freedom/inclusiveness/human welfare
shift from extrinsic to intrinsic rewards
more value on broad education, less on vocational prep
How does college/university cause psychosocial changes?
increased: ability to examine identities, self-concepts, interactions self understanding personal adjustment sense of well-being maturity
academic/social self-image and self-esteem recovers and becomes more positive
moral development
- shift to post-conventional/principled reasoning
What do these changes caused by college/university result from?
time/maturation
developmental opportunities
social and life experiences
What is secondary education?
umbrella term for middle, junior high, and high schools
How did industrialization impact secondary education?
kept children out of the labour force
new machinery needed employees more skilled than youngsters and social reformers were concerned over children working in unsafe environments
child labour laws narrowed and limited employment of minors
How did urbanization and increased immigration affect secondary education?
rapidly expanding economy -> poor housing, overcrowding, crime
social reformer envisioned education as means of improving lives of poor and working class
compulsory secondary education seen as means of social control, take thousands of idle young people off the streets
What was the curricular reform?
secondary school became aimed at the masses, no longer just as means of intellectual training for the elite
What is comprehensive high school?
educational institution that evolved during the first half of the 20th century, offered varied curriculum, and was designed to meet the needs of diverse population of adolescents
added courses like music, family life, health, physical education, and more
What is No Child Left Behind?
act signed by George Bush that ensures all students regardless of economic circumstances achieve academic proficiency
came from concern that inner-city schools were not producing graduates who could compete for high-skill jobs
schools had to create and enforce academic standards by annually testing all students and reporting results to the public
underperforming schools given chance to improve by providing additional instruction/tutoring/special services
continued failure -> reduced funding or forced closure
What is social promotion? What are the issues with it?
moving students to the next grade regardless of performance
poor and ethnic minority youth especially being cheated out of good education and graduating without the skills necessary to succeed
NCLB was supposed to fix this
What were the issues with NCLB?
states didn’t have the resources to conduct assessments or respond to poor performance
affects what takes place in the classroom - if a school’s financial future depends only on test scores, why should teachers do anything other than teach to the test
shift in focus towards testing leads away from longer assignments that improve self-control, persistence, critical thinking, determination, etc.
What is the Standards-Based reform?
dominated the past 4 decades
focus on policies to improve achievement by holding schools and students to a pre-determined set of benchmarks measured by achievement tests
Common Core
again sounds good but problematic to implement
What is Common Core?
set of standards in English language arts and mathematics that schools across the country were expected to use to evaluate whether students were learning what they should in each grade
What were the issues with Common Core?
no agreeance on what knowledge/skills should be known
economic, social, and political cost of holding students back if they fail
- motivation to develop exams with low standards, defeats purpose
What are charter schools?
public schools given the autonomy to establish their own curricula and teaching practices
What are school vouchers?
government-subsidized vouchers that can be used to private school tuition
How is education in the inner cities today?
achievement gap between white and non-white youth nearly as large now as in the 60’s
just 10% of the countries high schools produce 50% of the countries drop outs, 1/3 of Black and Latino students attend these schools
Why do we see these dropout trends within inner city schools?
personal and situational problems that few schools address
administration impedes reform and innovation
less sense of belonging at schools -> poor achievement
erosion of job opportunities in inner-city communities -> little incentive to stay in school or devote great effort to academics
How does school size affect academics?
larger schools can offer more varied/specialized curriculum
but student performance and interest in school improves when schools are less bureaucratic and more intimate
- less attachment
- schools within schools
offer more sports and clubs, but actual participation rates are half that of smaller schools
- easier to be on teams, student governments, and clubs in smaller schools
more educational inequality in larger schools
What are schools within schools? What are the positives and negatives?
subdivisions of the student body within large schools
positive: development of better social environment
negative: schools may vary considerably in educational quality
What is the ideal high school size?
600-900
Does class size have an effect on scholastic achivement?
variations in class size don’t affect achievement once adolescence has been reached
EXCEPT in situations that call for highly individualized instruction
What are the effects of overcrowding in schools?
achievement is low in overcrowded schools
- stress on both students and teachers
- use of facilities for instruction that were not designed to serve as classrooms
- inadequate resources
many schools use portables but these units are constructed with materials harmful to physical health in combination with tight quarters and poor ventilation
How does academic motivation change moving away from elementary school? What is the debate surrounding this trend?
decreases
debate over whether this drop is due to transition itself or nature of the difference between elementary and high school
- some think it is failure to meet particular developmental needs of young adolescents (more independence, fewer rules, and time to develop relationships)
What are the effects of school transitions?
temporarily disrupts academic performance, behaviour, and self-image
more frequent changes -> lower achievement, higher emotional and behavioural problems
What is meant by the statement “the psychologically rich get richer, and the psychologically poor get poorer” in regards to school transitions?
those with more academic and social problems before the transition cope less successfully with it
can also work the other way: students with high social competence before the transition can become even more competent over the course of the change
Who is more likely to become disengaged from school during adolescence?
boys
ethnic minority students
poor students
What key factor is associated with better adjustment to school transitions?
parental support and involvement
What changes occur between elementary school and junior high/middle schools?
become larger and less personal
less likely to trust students and more likely to emphasize discipline
- mismatch between what students want (independence) and what their teachers provide (control)
tend to believe that student’s abilities are fixed and not easily modified with instruction - belief interferes with student achievement
cultural stereotypes about adolescents also have negative influence on teachers’ beliefs
unsurprising that students experience drop in achievement motivation when entering middle/junior high school
What is tracking?
practice of separating students into ability groups so they take classes with peers at the same level
not done in all schools, and done differently among schools that do
- inclusive
- exclusive
- meritocratic (accurately matches abilities)
What are the pros of tracking?
more finely tune lessons to student abilities
especially useful in high school where students must master certain basic skills before learning specialized subjects
What are the cons of tracking?
students in remedial track receive different, and worse, education than those in more advanced tracks
leads to socializing with only peers from the same academic group - polarizes student body into different subcultures that are often hostile towards each otehr
discriminates against poor and ethnic minority students
set into place educational trajectory that is difficult to change
maintains income inequality
What are the 3 most common types of learning disability?
dyslexia - impaired reading
dysgraphia - impaired hand writing
dyscalculia - impaired arithmetic
What is mainstreaming?
integration of adolescents with intellectual handicaps into regular classroooms
What gender is more likely to have a learning disability? What are the stats?
males > females
1 in 5 school aged children is at risk
What are the pros and cons of mainstreaming?
con: not tailored to meet specific needs and target educational and professional resources in a cost-effective way
pro: avoids segregation of students that may foster social isolation and stigmatization
- generally favoured over separate classrooms
What is the “big fish little pond effect”?
reason that individuals who attend high school with high-achieving peers feel worse about themselves than comparably successful individuals with lower-achieving peers
What is ADHD?
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
biologically based psychological disorder characterized by impulsivity, inattentiveness, and restlessness, often in school situations
at risk for social, behavioural, and substance abuse problems
very strong genetic component and can be caused by brain damage prenatally or shortly after birth
may be an extreme point on a continuum of hyperactivity and impulsivity rather than a distinct category
What is desegregation? What were the issues with this?
when the court found it to be unconstitutional to maintain separate schools for children on the basis of race, many schools adopted measures to make schools more diverse
students self esteem is higher when they are the ethnic majority
- stronger feelings of attachment, engagement, and safety when more classmates in same ethnic group
low income students do worse when attending schools that are more socioeconomically diverse
Why are there more cross-ethnic relationships among males?
involvement in sport
stereotypes around black boys that they are cool and tough so white boys admire them
stereotypes around black girls is that they are loud and assertive, off-putting to white girls
What is social capital?
interpersonal resources available to adolescent or family
What makes the transition to college so stressful?
larger, more impersonal environment
other life changes (leaving home, breaking off relationships, managing own finances and residence)
increased commitments to school and work
What is the issue with education being so accessible?
so expected
society turns their back on those who don’t go to college even though it is 1/3 of the population
How has college attendance changed?
dramatic growth in enrolment
though a large number do not graduate
