Deck 3: Equality of Educational Opportunity: a Look at Social Class Differences and Inequalities

Question 1

According to the text, education:

A) historically had been viewed as a mechanism for achieving a better life.
B) has helped to perpetuate class distinctions.
C) continues to be the most importance determinant of a person's future occupation and income.
D) all of the above.
E) none of the above

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Bourdieu and Passeron argue that children from privileged families succeed in school because:

A) they opt out.
B) they are naturally more gifted academically.
C) individual motivation.
D) family motivation.
E) their cultural capital is a better match with the expectations of the school system.

Answer 2

E

Question 3

What characterizes the "emerging sense of constraint" that working-class children develop?

A) They are socialized to defer to teachers.
B) They have less experience interacting with strangers.
C) They are less experienced being out of their comfort zone.
D) all of the above.
E) none of the above.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

What is meant by "equality of educational opportunity"?

A) When all children come out of the educational system equal.
B) When all children start their schooling from equal economic status.
C) When all people have an equal chance of achieving regardless of their social status.
D) When all schools treat each child alike.
E) all of the above.

Question 5

Bowles and Gintis argue that:

A) high standards and achievement expectations help students improve.
B) hardworking students can move up the class ladder.
C) the educational system is designed to keep people within their social class positions.
D) teacher-student relationships are important to ending social class inequalities.
E) rewards for successful students is a motivating factor to achievement.

Question 6

Ability grouping of students is important to the study of education because:

A) students in different ability groups have different and unequal educational experiences.
B) ability groups reflect class position and race.
C) one's ability group affects one's life chances.
D) all of the above.
E) only A and B above.

Question 7

In a study of how heterogeneous groupings in schools can be better managed by teachers, Cohen developed ideas about how:

A) teachers can work with multiple ability levels by having different ability groups.
B) students use each other as resources.
C) teachers use brighter students to teach less able ones.
D) grouping of homogeneous ability level students can cooperate.
E) all of the above.

Question 8

Critics of tracking claim which of the following?

A) Tracking improves the achievement levels of those in the bottom tracks.
B) Tracking harms the self-conceptions of ability among those in the highest tracks.
C) Tracking increases academic failure and heightens racial and social class tensions in a school.
D) all of the above.
E) none of the above.

Question 9

Which of the following is true with respect to ability grouping in the United States?

A) It treats all students alike by age cohorts.
B) It reflects an assumption that all students can and will learn the same material.
C) It usually begins in early elementary school and continues throughout high school.
D) all of the above.
E) none of the above.

Question 10

According to the discussion in the text on ability grouping and tracking:

A) ability grouping is a common practice in schools around the world.
B) children within any given group tend to be relatively homogeneous in terms of socioeconomic status.
C) once students are labeled and grouped, the tendency is to stay in that group.
D) all of the above.
E) only A and B above.

Question 11

Which of the following is not a characteristic of ability grouping?

A) Lower ability groups include children in equal proportions from all social classes.
B) Ability grouping is common in schools.
C) Students in upper ability groups are more motivated and have higher achievement.
D) Lower groups have a disproportionate number of students from the lower class who are minorities.
E) Track placement starts in elementary school.

Question 12

Home influences on students are seen in:

A) the value placed on education and achievement patterns.
B) the language patterns used.
C) "cultural capital" brought to school.
D) mothers' interaction with younger children.
E) all of the above.

Question 13

The means of financing schools is important to the study of education and stratification because:

A) we can determine to whom education is more important by the amount of money they are willing to spend.
B) unequal financing often means unequal education.
C) school effectiveness is determined only by the tax support for schools.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 14

What did not concern Kozol about social class disparities in educational environments due to funding?

A) Social disparities create different and unequal opportunities to learn.
B) Social disparities generate different and unequal desires to learn.
C) Students see their school as a reflection of their worth.
D) Students do not care about their school environment.
E) all of the above

Question 15

The Coleman Report found that:

A) one's personality profile is the best predictor of school achievement.
B) neither the socioeconomic makeup of the school nor students' family background had a significant impact on student achievement levels.
C) curriculum and facilities were among the best predictors of student achievement levels.
D) all of the above.
E) none of the above.

Question 16

In his study of inequality, Christopher Jencks concluded that:

A) school reform can reduce inequality.
B) when the educational attainment gap is narrowed, adult inequality is narrowed.
C) school reform can bring about little if any social changes in inequality outside schools.
D) schools can change people's attitudes toward inequality and minorities.
E) none of the above.

Question 17

Christopher Jencks' study of inequality concluded that:

A) changing schools is the best way to accomplish significant social changes outside schools.
B) compensatory educational programs are the most effective way of reducing economic inequalities between adults.
C) schools make little difference in eliminating economic inequality.
D) family background and attitudes toward education have no impact on one's school experience.
E) none of the above.

Question 18

Recent evaluations of the results of compensatory education programs show:

A) higher school achievement of Head Start children in early grades.
B) that parental involvement leads to higher achievement success rates.
C) that frequent monitoring of students' activities and progress is related to success.
D) all of the above.
E) none of the above.

Question 19

Which of the following is not a conclusion of the Coleman Report?

A) School curriculum and facilities accounted for the biggest difference in student achievement levels between socioeconomic groups.
B) The majority of children at the time of the report (1966) attended segregated schools.
C) The socioeconomic makeup of the school, the home background, and the background of other students in the school accounted for the greatest differences in achievement levels.
D) Minority students (i.e., blacks and Hispanics) scored lower on tests at each level of schooling than did white students.
E) Teachers tended to teach children of their own race.

Question 20

The implication for social policy from the Coleman Report was that:

A) the physical facilities of schools must be improved in order to produce a climate for achievement.
B) integrating schools will produce the climate and the achievement necessary to educate disadvantaged minority students.
C) busing has little impact on educational outcomes for minorities.
D) all of the above.
E) none of the above.

Question 21

Social stratification refers to the organization of people in society into socioeconomic strata.

Question 22

Studies of the relationship between education and stratification consistently show that one's social class position upon entering school does not affect educational achievement.

Question 23

The relationship between social class and educational achievement shows a high correlation.

Question 24

Social reproduction does not explain why kids from working-class background struggle in school.

Question 25

Children from different social classes experience different language environments during primary socialization.

Question 26

The principle of localism guides the structure of education in the United States.

Question 27

Spending money to reduce class size does not positively impact student learning.

Question 28

Jean Anyon found that teachers at schools serving working class students emphasized rule-following and respect for authority.

Question 29

Massive expansion of the system of higher education in the United States has led to a decrease of the social class gap in educational achievement.

Question 30

As children move into middle and high school, social class identities are affected by segregation and exclusion.

Question 31

Financial aid levels the playing field of inequality.

Question 32

The social class gap on SAT performance does not exist.

Question 33

"Summer melt" is when students who have been admitted to college fail to enroll.

Question 34

Stephens recommends an expensive intervention that emphasizes a college culture of interdependence to increase lower-income students' college enrollment.

Question 35

Discuss the major assumptions and criticisms of the functionalist theory of inequality as it relates to education. Is inequality necessary and inevitable?

Question 36

Discuss whether or not schooling is able to overcome problems stemming from a student's dysfunctional family. Is schooling the most important factor determining a person's life chances?

Question 37

Compare and contrast the functionalist and conflict perspectives regarding the importance of social class in determining educational outcomes.

Question 38

Define equal educational opportunity. Is equal educational opportunity possible or even desirable?

Question 39

Debate the following related questions: Are "pull out" programs such as those for "gifted and talented" students simply another form of ability grouping? Do such programs enhance the quality of education for all students?

Question 40

Debate the argument that tracking based on presumed ability results in "more academic failure, and heightened racial and social class animosity." What data can you draw upon to support your arguments?

Question 41

In considering the concept of "equal educational opportunity," discuss the dilemma posed by the value of equal access vs. that of individual freedom.

Question 42

What are the implications for stratification and equal opportunity when comparing public and private schools?

Question 43

Discuss the impact of home environment or school achievement. What impact does the school have on the home?

Question 44

Given the impact of the home environment on student learning, what might educators do to positively influence conditions in the homes of educationally disadvantaged students?

Question 45

Identify some of the ways in which teacher expectations for students are influenced by factors other than the academic achievement of students. How might these factors contribute to a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Question 46

Employing an interactionist framework, explain the relationship between teacher expectations, student self-conceptions of academic ability, and student performance.

Question 47

Assume that you are working with preschool children aged 3-5. What signs would you look for to predict whether a given child is likely to experience academic or behavioral problems upon entering elementary school?

Question 48

Although educators often talk about the importance of involving parents in school programming, parental involvement is easier said than done. What are some of the things that schools could do to increase parental involvement in school efforts to foster knowledge, values, and skills in students? What are some of the barriers to effective parental involvement?

Question 49

One of the functions of schooling is to prepare people to enter the workforce. Yet many forms of work require highly specialized training. How much of the responsibility for job training should be shouldered by employers and how much schools? What kind of training is most needed in a post-industrial economy? Are schools capable of meeting that need?

Question 50

Does improving the educational level of various groups necessarily result in greater social equality? What is the relationship between education and social equality?

Question 51

Consider for a moment the concept of power discussed in the text. Discuss the relative power of various groups (teachers, administrators, students, parents, and community members) in affecting educational decisions regarding curriculum and the allocation of resources.

Question 52

What are the advantages and disadvantages of allocating higher pay (and higher lifetime earnings) to people with college and graduate degrees? Does an advanced degree imply greater ability or competence?

Question 53

Discuss the merits and limitations of the following statement: "The underclasses are channeled into poor secondary schools and lower-level jobs. Thus, schools teach poor and minority children to accept failure and low occupational status."

Question 54

Some have agreed that males and females receive different treatment throughout their school careers. Based upon your experiences, how much truth is there in this assertion? Provide examples to support your arguments.

Question 55

Should schools strive to produce equal outcomes for students? Does equal treatment of students necessarily lead to equal outcomes? Is equal treatment of students possible or desirable?

Question 56

Should schools be subjected to "market forces" as argued by proponents of school choice? Should the organization and management of schools reflect business practices? Are schools simply a form of business?

Question 57

When a society claims to be a meritocracy, it often points to the role of schools in sorting students on the basis of their academic achievements. Do schools truly sort students based on academic achievement, or are other criteria also important in the screening process? Are schools fair in the way they screen and sort students?

Question 58

Identify several factors that might result in the imposition of low achievement expectations on students. What are some effective ways of changing such low expectations?

Question 59

Considerable attention has been given to the influence of teacher expectations on student achievement. In what ways might peer expectations function to enhance or undermine teacher expectations?

Question 60

Many claim that financing schools with local property taxes results in significant inequalities between school districts. What is the fairest way to fund schools? Should taxpayers in affluent districts pay taxes for schools in other districts?

Question 61

"Schools operate as single organizations, influencing the way students perform." Explain this idea of "collective responsibility."