Because Knetbooks knows college students. Our rental program is designed to save you time and money. Whether you need a textbook for a semester, quarter or even a summer session, we have an option for you. Simply select a rental period, enter your information and your book will be on its way!
| Preface | p. xiii |
| Sociology of Education: A Unique Perspective for Understanding Schools | p. 1 |
| Sociology and Education | p. 1 |
| Why Study Sociology of Education? | p. 2 |
| Questions Asked by Sociologists of Education | p. 5 |
| U.S. Schools in the Early Twenty-First Century: Applying Sociological Findings | p. 6 |
| Demographic Trends | p. 7 |
| Family, Economic, and Social Trends | ... MORE |
| Schools in the New Century | p. 10 |
| Reform and Policy in Educational Systems | p. 11 |
| American Sociology of Education | p. 11 |
| Theoretical Approaches in the Sociology of Education | p. 12 |
| Functionalist Theory | p. 13 |
| Conflict Theory | p. 17 |
| Interaction and Interpretive Theories | p. 19 |
| Recent Theories in the Sociology of Education: Critical, "New," and Postmodern Theories | p. 21 |
| Feminist Theories in Sociology of Education | p. 23 |
| The Open Systems Approach | p. 24 |
| Research Methods in Sociology of Education | p. 29 |
| Organization of the Book | p. 31 |
| Summary | p. 31 |
| Sample study questions in sociology of education | p. 33 |
| Putting sociology to work | p. 33 |
| Conflicting Functions and Processes in Education: What Makes the System Work? | p. 35 |
| Conflicting Functions of Education | p. 35 |
| Unanticipated Consequences of Functions | p. 37 |
| The Importance of Processes in Educational Systems | p. 37 |
| The Function of Socialization: What We Learn and How We Learn It | p. 38 |
| The Early Childhood Education Controversy | p. 38 |
| Role of the Media and Commercials in the function of Socialization | p. 41 |
| The Function of Cultural Transmission and Process of Passing On Culture | p. 45 |
| Literacy, Illiteracy, and Cultural Transmission | p. 45 |
| Some Factors Affecting Learning | p. 47 |
| How to Pass On Culture | p. 48 |
| What Culture to Pass On | p. 49 |
| The Function of Social Control and Personal Development | p. 58 |
| Violence and Discipline in Schools | p. 59 |
| The Function of Selection and Allocation: The Sorting Process | p. 63 |
| The Testing Game | p. 64 |
| Achievement Tests | p. 66 |
| The Function of Change and Innovation: Looking to the Future | p. 69 |
| Summary | p. 72 |
| Putting sociology to work | p. 73 |
| Education and the Process of Stratification | p. 74 |
| The Crisis in Schooling | p. 74 |
| Education and Stratification in America | p. 74 |
| Education and Stratification Around the World | p. 76 |
| The Process of Stratification: Is Inequality Inevitable? | p. 77 |
| Determinants of Social Class | p. 78 |
| Major Explanations of Stratification | p. 81 |
| Stratification and Equality of Educational Opportunity | p. 87 |
| The Meaning of "Equality of Educational Opportunity" | p. 87 |
| Social Class Reproduction: The Debate over Public versus Private Schools | p. 88 |
| The Controversial Issue of "Choice" | p. 91 |
| Ability Grouping and Teacher Expectations | p. 94 |
| Financing Schools in the United States | p. 105 |
| Summary | p. 107 |
| Putting sociology to work | p. 108 |
| Race, Class, and Gender: Attempts to Achieve Equality of Educational Opportunity | p. 109 |
| Gender and Equality of Educational Opportunity | p. 109 |
| Sex-Role Socialization | p. 110 |
| Sex Differences in the Educational System | p. 113 |
| Combating Gender Differences | p. 121 |
| Class, Race, and Attempts to Rectify Inequalities in Educational Opportunity | p. 122 |
| Trends in Public School Enrollments | p. 122 |
| The Underclass and At-Risk Students | p. 123 |
| Research on Equality of Educational Opportunity | p. 124 |
| The Battle over Desegregation | p. 126 |
| Court Cases on Desegregation | p. 126 |
| Effects of Efforts to Desegregate Schools | p. 129 |
| Student Goals, Aspirations, and Future Prospects | p. 130 |
| Integration Attempts | p. 134 |
| Educational Experience of Selected Minorities in the United States | p. 136 |
| Hispanic Students | p. 137 |
| Immigrants | p. 139 |
| Asian American Students | p. 141 |
| Native American Students | p. 142 |
| Special Education Students | p. 143 |
| Gifted Students | p. 146 |
| Improving Schools for Minority Students | p. 147 |
| Summary | p. 153 |
| Putting sociology to work | p. 154 |
| The School as an Organization | p. 155 |
| Social System of the School | p. 156 |
| Goals of the School System | p. 157 |
| Societal, Community, and Educators' Goals | p. 158 |
| School Goals | p. 160 |
| Individual Goals | p. 161 |
| The School as an Organization | p. 162 |
| The School as a Bureaucracy | p. 162 |
| Characteristics of Bureaucracy | p. 163 |
| Development of Schools as Bureaucracies | p. 168 |
| Problems in Educational Bureaucracies | p. 169 |
| Understanding Schools as Modern Organizations: Structures and Models | p. 171 |
| Centralized versus Decentralized Decision Making: The Fight over Control of Schools | p. 175 |
| Centralization of Decision Making | p. 175 |
| Decentralization of Decision Making | p. 177 |
| Small Schools and Classrooms: Are They Better for Student Achievement? | p. 178 |
| Summary | p. 180 |
| Putting sociology to work | p. 181 |
| Formal School Statuses and Roles: "The Way It Spozed to Be" | p. 183 |
| The Meaning of Roles | p. 183 |
| Statuses and Roles in the System | p. 183 |
| The School Organization and Roles | p. 184 |
| Role Expectations and Conflict | p. 184 |
| Professionals in the Educational System | p. 185 |
| Roles in Schools | p. 187 |
| School Boards: Liaison Between School and Community | p. 187 |
| Superintendent: Manager of the School System | p. 193 |
| The Principal: School Boss-in-the-Middle | p. 195 |
| Teachers: The Front Line | p. 199 |
| Support Roles in the School: Behind the Scenes | p. 211 |
| Summary | p. 214 |
| Putting sociology to work | p. 215 |
| Students: The Core of the School | p. 216 |
| Student Characteristics | p. 216 |
| Expectations for the Student Role | p. 218 |
| Learning the Student Role | p. 220 |
| Conflicting Expectations for the Student Role | p. 221 |
| Student Coping Mechanisms | p. 222 |
| School Failures and Dropouts | p. 223 |
| Who Drops Out? | p. 223 |
| Why Students Drop Out | p. 227 |
| Gangs and Schools | p. 228 |
| School Crime and Violence | p. 230 |
| Retention and Suspension: School Reactions to Problem Students | p. 231 |
| Adolescent Employment and Dropping Out of School | p. 232 |
| The Future for Dropouts | p. 233 |
| Criticisms of the Student Role | p. 235 |
| Students and the Informal System | p. 237 |
| Student's Self-Concept | p. 237 |
| School Value Climate and Student Achievement | p. 238 |
| Teacher and Student Expectations | p. 240 |
| Peer Groups and Student Culture | p. 240 |
| Student Coping Strategies | p. 244 |
| Students and Their Environments | p. 247 |
| Effects of Home Environment on Educational Achievement | p. 247 |
| Family Background and Parental Involvement | p. 249 |
| Social Class Background | p. 250 |
| Parenting Styles | p. 251 |
| Family Aspirations | p. 251 |
| Single-Parent Homes | p. 252 |
| The Role of Mothers | p. 252 |
| The Number of Siblings | p. 253 |
| Summary | p. 254 |
| Putting sociology to work | p. 256 |
| The Informal System and the "Hidden Curriculum": What Really Happens in School? | p. 257 |
| The Open Systems Approach and the Informal System | p. 258 |
| The Hidden Curriculum | p. 259 |
| Reproduction Theory and the Informal System | p. 260 |
| The Educational "Climate" and School Effectiveness | p. 262 |
| The Value Climate | p. 263 |
| The School Climate and Effective Schools | p. 264 |
| Classroom Learning Climate | p. 266 |
| Student Friendship and Interaction Patterns in the Classroom | p. 268 |
| Power Dynamics and Roles in the Informal System | p. 275 |
| Theoretical Explanations of Power Dynamics in the Classroom | p. 275 |
| Teacher Strategies and the Informal System | p. 277 |
| Summary | p. 280 |
| Putting sociology to work | p. 281 |
| The Educational System and the Environment: A Symbiotic Relationship | p. 282 |
| The Environment and the Educational System | p. 283 |
| Types of Environments | p. 284 |
| The School Systems' Environments: Interdependence Between Institutions | p. 286 |
| Home and Family Influences on Schools | p. 286 |
| The Institution of Religion: Church and State | p. 288 |
| The Economics of Education: Financing Schools | p. 295 |
| The Political and Legal Institutions | p. 301 |
| Communities and Their Schools | p. 304 |
| Summary | p. 306 |
| Putting sociology to work | p. 307 |
| The System of Higher Education | p. 308 |
| History and Development of Higher Education | p. 308 |
| Historical Functions of Higher Education | p. 309 |
| Trends in Development of Higher Education | p. 310 |
| Theoretical Approaches to Higher Education | p. 315 |
| The Expansion of Higher Education | p. 315 |
| Access to Higher Education | p. 316 |
| Stratification and Equal Opportunity in Higher Education | p. 317 |
| Elite versus Public Colleges | p. 318 |
| Admissions and the Courts | p. 319 |
| Characteristics of Higher Education in the United States | p. 321 |
| Growth of Higher Education | p. 323 |
| The School-to-Work Transition and the Credential Crisis | p. 323 |
| Functions of the Higher Education System | p. 324 |
| The University as a Community | p. 324 |
| The Function of Research | p. 325 |
| The Function of Teaching | p. 325 |
| The Function of Service | p. 326 |
| The Function of the "National Security State" | p. 326 |
| Conflicts over the University's function | p. 327 |
| The Academic Function of Universities versus Business Functions | p. 327 |
| What Type of Curriculum? | p. 329 |
| Higher Education as an Organization | p. 331 |
| Higher Education Structure and the Bureaucratic Model: Does It Work? | p. 331 |
| Roles in Higher Education | p. 334 |
| Roles in Higher Education: The Clients | p. 334 |
| Gender and Race in Higher Education | p. 335 |
| The Graying of College Graduates | p. 342 |
| Roles in Higher Education: The Faculty | p. 343 |
| Faculty Issues in Higher Education | p. 345 |
| Roles in Higher Education: Administrators | p. 348 |
| Environmental Pressures on Higher Education | p. 349 |
| Funding of Higher Education | p. 350 |
| The Courts and Affirmative Action | p. 352 |
| Environmental Feedback and Organizational Change | p. 354 |
| Outcomes of Higher Education | p. 355 |
| Higher Education: Attitudes, Values, and Behaviors | p. 355 |
| The Value of a College Education | p. 356 |
| Problems and Reform in Higher Education | p. 358 |
| Summary | p. 359 |
| Putting sociology to work | p. 361 |
| Educational Systems Around the World: A Comparative View | p. 362 |
| Cross-cultural Educational Studies | p. 364 |
| Comparative Education as a Field of Study | p. 365 |
| Comparative Education and the Systems Approach | p. 366 |
| Cross-cultural Studies of Educational Systems: Achievement Studies | p. 367 |
| Comparative International Studies of Achievement | p. 368 |
| Theoretical Perspectives in Comparative Education | p. 372 |
| Human Capital Perspectives | p. 374 |
| "Legitimation of Knowledge" Perspective | p. 377 |
| Rich versus Poor: An Educational Typology | p. 378 |
| World System Analysis | p. 381 |
| Global Institutional Interdependence | p. 383 |
| Education and the Institution of Religion | p. 384 |
| Family, Social Class, and Education | p. 385 |
| Education and Economic Institutions | p. 386 |
| Political-Economic Divisions Between Societal Systems | p. 389 |
| Higher Education Around the World | p. 392 |
| Summary | p. 396 |
| Putting sociology to work | p. 397 |
| Educational Systems Around the World: Britain, China, and Postcolonial Africa | p. 398 |
| Education in Britain | p. 399 |
| Development of Education in Britain | p. 400 |
| Control and Decision Making in British Education | p. 402 |
| Structure of the British Educational System | p. 402 |
| Composition of British Schools | p. 403 |
| Exams and Credentials | p. 403 |
| Inequality in Education and Occupational Mobility | p. 404 |
| Higher Education in Great Britain: Elite versus Mass Education | p. 404 |
| Education in the People's Republic of China | p. 406 |
| Recent Historical Events Affecting Education | p. 406 |
| The Drive Toward Modernization | p. 407 |
| Equality of Educational Opportunity | p. 408 |
| Status and Structure of Education in China | p. 408 |
| Higher Education in the PRC | p. 409 |
| Formal Education in Colonial Africa | p. 411 |
| Education in Ghana | p. 412 |
| History of Education in Ghana | p. 413 |
| Forms of Education | p. 414 |
| Nonformal Education in Africa | p. 415 |
| Structure of the Ghanaian Educational System | p. 416 |
| Equality of Opportunity in Ghanaian Education | p. 416 |
| Higher Education in Postcolonial Africa | p. 417 |
| Summary | p. 419 |
| Putting sociology to work | p. 419 |
| Educational Movements and Reform | p. 420 |
| The Nature of Educational Movements | p. 422 |
| Early Educational Movements | p. 425 |
| Early European Education: Purpose and Function for Society | p. 425 |
| Educational Movements in the United States | p. 426 |
| Alternative Education and Related Movements | p. 429 |
| Third World Alternative Educational Movements | p. 430 |
| English Primary Schools | p. 431 |
| Open Classrooms | p. 432 |
| Back to Basics | p. 433 |
| Private Schools | p. 434 |
| Accountability Movements | p. 435 |
| Effective Schools and Educational Reform | p. 437 |
| Structural and Curricular Changes in the Schools | p. 438 |
| The "School Choice" Movement | p. 438 |
| "Multiculturalism" and "Political Correctness" | p. 440 |
| Technology and the Classroom | p. 442 |
| No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 | p. 443 |
| Other Movements, Reforms, and Fads | p. 444 |
| A Look Into the Future | p. 446 |
| Summary | p. 447 |
| Putting sociology to work | p. 448 |
| References | p. 450 |
| Index | p. 484 |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |