Chapter 9 Flashcards
Education problems
Many children from disadvantaged backgrounds fail to meet grade level expectations
Higher levels of failure and grade repetition, increases risk of dropping out
Dropping out
Leaving school before finishing required program
Truancy
Absence from school without an excuse
Excessive truancy can lead to dropping out
Why do youth drop out?
Wanting a job or not liking school
Low academic achievement, poor problem solving, difficulty getting along with teachers, substance abuse, too old for grade level
Poverty and family dysfunction increase chances
Minority students drop out at higher rate than European American students
Correlates of School Failure
Personal Problems (Youth bring personal problems with them to school)
Social class Economic problems may cause students to take part time jobs, lower class students not equipped for middle class schools
Tracking
Dividing students into groups based on academic achievement
Effects of school label accumulate over time; if students fail academically, they are destined to again
Alienation
Students who report they neither like school nor care about their teachers opinions are more likely to exhibit delinquent behaviors
Causes of crime
School level
High proportion of students behind grade level in reading, many students from welfare families, high crime areas
Individual level
May be a function of # of students with emotional problems, isolated children
Community level
Schools with drug and crime problems most likely in socially disorganized neighborhoods
No Child Left Behind Act
Authorizes federal programs aimed at improving primary and secondary schools by increasing accountability
New Jersey v. TLO
Students are constitutionally protected from illegal searches, but schools are not bound by the same restrictions as law enforcement agencies
Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton
Legalized random drug testing for student athletes
Free Speech
Divided into passive speech and active speech, cannot be prohibited unless it interferes with discipline needed to operate schools
School prayer
Prayers led by an elected student official undermines protection of minority viewpoints
In loco parentis
In the absence of parents, schools have right to discipline
