Final Exam (Ch 16, 18, 20)

Question 1

Achievement Gap:

Answer 1

Disparity in terms of a number of educational measures between the performance of groups of students, especially those by gender, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

Question 2

Contributing Influences on the Achievement Gap:

Answer 2

1. Middle and Upper-middle-class parents tend to invest more heavily in their children’s education, rather than their health.
2. Income inequality has increased through the late 20th century. If you have the money, you can buy the goods needed to help thrive in school.
3. Income is related to a range of other social resources that enables parents to support their children’s intellectual development.
4. Residential segregation on the basis of income rose throughout the late 20th century.

Question 3

Intelligence:

Answer 3

Level of intellectual ability, particularly measured by IQ (intelligence quotient) tests.

Question 4

Emotional Intelligence:

Answer 4

The ability to identify, assess, and control the emotions of oneself or others.

Question 5

IQ (Intelligence Quotient):

Answer 5

The score attained on test of symbolic or reasoning abilities.

Question 6

Assimilation Theory of Education:

Answer 6

Focuses on what might be called the “official” curriculum and looks at questions such as how learning a common language and the facts of a common history and geography create a sense of “affinity” among members of society, which is something less than full consensus.

Question 7

Assimilation Current Application:

Answer 7

The use of curricula in high schools across the country that instill a common set of values in students regardless of their racial, ethnic, and religious differences.

Question 8

Credentialism Theory of Education:

Answer 8

Places less emphasis on the contents of an official curriculum. They argue that the specific skills and information that students learn in the classroom are much less relevant to their later achievements than the actual diploma.

Question 9

Credentialism Current Application:

Answer 9

Parents going to exorbitant lengths and costs to hire consultants who will help their children get into elite undergraduate schools, despite the fact that they can learn as much at a local state school.

Question 10

Cultural Capital:

Answer 10

Proposes that middle and upper-middle class children come to schools with a certain kind of cultural capital - speech patterns, demeanors, tastes, and so on - that the school values, and thus rewards.

Question 11

Cultural Capital Current Application:

Answer 11

Parents knowledge of the college admissions process can give their children a significant edge over less advantaged children of equal ability.