Deck 13: Education: With Emphasis on Social Reproduction in a Knowledge Economy

Question 1

The means by which instructors pass on the values, knowledge, and skills that they or others have defined as important for success in the world is known as

A)informal education.
B)schooling.
C)syllabi.
D)curriculum.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The statement "Illiteracy is a product of one's social environment" means that people are considered illiterate when

A)they cannot understand another culture's symbol system.
B)they possess the literacy skills necessary to make it in society.
C)they cannot understand or use the symbol system of the surrounding environment.
D)they know little about the social issues affecting their lives.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

A system in which students are assigned to separate instructional groups within a single classroom or different programs, such as college preparatory versus remedial, is known as

A)standardization.
B)hidden curriculum.
C)tracking.
D)classification.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

People who cannot use a computer, read a map, make change for a customer, read traffic signs, follow instructions to assemble an appliance, or fill out a job application share one trait. They are

A)uneducated.
B)unschooled.
C)illiterate.
D)social misfits.

Question 5

Early school reformers in the United States viewed education as

A)a setting promoting diversity and multiculturalism.
B)a liberating force.
C)a place where students could argue about the value of ideas.
D)the vehicle for "Americanizing" a culturally and linguistically diverse population.

Question 6

Research suggests that tracking has all but which one of the following effects?

A)Low-track students are less likely to develop positive self images.
B)Poor and minority students are more likely to be placed in lower tracks.
C)Low-track students are given higher quality instruction in order to encourage movement into a higher track.
D)Placement in a college preparatory track had positive effects on academic achievement regardless of family background or ability.

Question 7

Research suggests that tracking has ______________ effect on high-track students.

A)no noticeable
B)a positive
C)a negative
D)an invasive

Question 8

The most popular destination for U.S. students studying abroad is

A)Japan.
B)the United Kingdom.
C)France.
D)China.

Question 9

Transmitting skills, contributing to personal reflection and change, and integrating diverse populations are considered __________ of education.

A)functions
B)informal aspects
C)formal aspects
D)the self-fulfulling prophecy

Question 10

A program of formal and systematic instruction that takes place primarily in classrooms is

A)instruction.
B)schooling.
C)curriculum.
D)skill-specific instruction.

Question 11

In the most general and basic sense, illiteracy is the inability to

A)read at the fourth-grade level.
B)understand and use a symbol system.
C)read enough to get through a typical day.
D)understand principles of math and science.

Question 12

In Rosenthal and Jacobson's study of teachers' expectations of students identified as "academic bloomers," the authors found that the students identified as "bloomers" improved their test scores over the course of a school year. The researchers concluded that teachers communicated expectation of improvement to "bloomers"

A)by paying more attention to bloomers than they had in the past.
B)by giving them extra help before school.
C)in subtle and complex ways that they could not identify.
D)through the tone of their voice and extra attention.

Question 13

Which one of the following characteristics applies to the process of informal education?

A)purposeful
B)systematic
C)spontaneous
D)planned

Question 14

Sociologist Jeannie Oakes studied a wide range of school systems and came to the conclusion that __________ has/have the greatest effect on quality of education.

A)tracking
B)rural-urban environments
C)type of school (public versus private)
D)amount of cultural diversity

Question 15

Questions such as "which groups are most likely to drop out of high school and which are most likely to attend college?" and "who writes the curriculum?" would be of interest to a

A)functionalist.
B)conflict theorist.
C)social stratification theorist.
D)symbolic interactionist.

Question 16

Which of the following is not one of the historical factors contributing to the emergence of a credential society in the United States?

A)technological advancements associated with full-scale industrialization
B)a long-standing association between high economic status and advanced degrees
C)a large number of schools and colleges in the United States
D)the fact that the United States maintains a separate between church and state

Question 17

In the broadest sense, education is

A)a purposeful, planned effort to impart specific skills.
B)a program of formal and systematic instruction.
C)those experiences that train, discipline, and develop mental and physical potential.
D)spontaneous, unplanned exposure to ideas.

Question 18

Most Americans tend to equate education with

A)increased job opportunities.
B)personal empowerment.
C)civic responsibility.
D)national well-being.

Question 19

____________ argue that schools simply perpetuate the inequalities of the larger society.

A)Structural strain theorists
B)Conflict theorists
C)Symbolic interactionists
D)Functionalists

Question 20

Jenny does not possess the calculating skills to balance her checkbook or to file her tax return. From a sociological point of view, she is

A)undereducated.
B)unschooled.
C)functionally illiterate.
D)a social misfit.

Question 21

The concept social reproduction focuses sociologists attention on social activities and structures that work to transmit _____________ from one generation to the next.

A)learning
B)the subject matter
C)inequality
D)life lessons

Question 22

Rosenthal and Jackson maintain that something in the way teachers talk, in their facial expressions and posture conveys their expectations to students. It seems that students respond by meeting these expectations. This process is known as

A)formal curriculum.
B)schooling.
C)self-fulfilling prophecy.
D)informal education.

Question 23

Which one of the following does not qualify as a characteristic of the knowledge economy?

A)accelerated pace
B)rapid obsolescence
C)standardization
D)knowledge intensive

Question 24

A self-fulfilling prophecy begins with

A)an accurate assessment of a situation.
B)a hidden curriculum.
C)misguided parenting.
D)a false definition of a situation.

Question 25

Shawn states "I'm dropping out of high school because I'm just not a good test taker. Both of my parents dropped out of high school-my family just isn't cut out for school." This statement speaks to the process known as

A)white flight.
B)social positioning.
C)social reproduction.
D)no child left behind.

Question 26

Coleman believes that __________ is one of the major avenues open to adolescents, especially males, in which participants are considered important to the status of the school.

A)reading
B)after-school employment
C)academics
D)athletics

Question 27

The statement "If people define their situations as real, they are, in fact, real in their consequences" best describes the dynamics underlying

A)informal education.
B)the self-fulfilling prophecy.
C)schooling.
D)hidden curriculum.

Question 28

Knowledge-dominated economies are symbolized by

A)graphs.
B)glasses.
C)smart technologies.
D)standardized products

Question 29

The essential content of the various academic subjects make up the _________ curriculum.

A)core
B)hidden
C)formal
D)manifest

Question 30

The Coleman report and other studies have found that ______ is the most powerful factor in determining students' level of school achievement.

A)race
B)social class
C)neighborhood and peer environment
D)gender

Question 31

______________ includes a person's educational credentials, the kinds of knowledge acquired, social skills, and aesthetic tastes.

A)Cultural capital
B)Economic capital
C)Social position
D)Social reproduction

Question 32

The emergence of an adolescent society can be traced to

A)Brown vs. Board of Education .
B)tracking.
C)industrialization.
D)the rise of TV.

Question 33

Sociologist James Coleman was interested in the adolescent ______________, or those achievements resulting in acceptance into the crowd.

A)status system
B)self-fulfilling prophecy
C)tracking
D)academic achievement

Question 34

The latest data in the United States showed that, as a group, ______________ students tend to score highest on standardized tests.

A)Asian
B)white
C)Hispanic
D)black

Question 35

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)is a famous Supreme Court case dealing with

A)racial desegregation.
B)no pass-no play (sports)policies.
C)school prayer.
D)school choice.

Question 36

Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu found that the perceptual schemes people draw upon are shaped in large part by their

A)social class position.
B)hidden curriculum.
C)tracking group.
D)credentials.

Question 37

Teaching method, tone of teacher's voice, and frequency of teacher's absences fall under the category of __________ curriculum.

A)formal
B)hidden
C)unintended
D)planned

Question 38

The Coleman study of adolescent societies found that _____ is/are extremely important to boys and ______ is/are extremely important to girls.

A)athletics; social success with boys
B)social success with girls; social success with boys
C)being good looking; good grades
D)good grades; athletics

Question 39

Sociologist James Coleman argues that __________ cut adolescents off from the rest of society and forced them to spend the majority of the day with their own age group.

A)the historical shift in job training (from the family to the school)
B)the emergence of a consumer-oriented society
C)the breakdown of the family
D)the widespread use of the automobile

Question 40

The __________ curriculum includes all the things students learn in addition to the subject matter.

A)formal
B)unintended
C)hidden
D)planned

Question 41

Researchers studying preschools in China and the United States concluded that preschoolers in China (relative to preschoolers in the U.S.)are taught to downplay interpersonal conflicts and play cooperatively.  This is accomplished through

A)schooling.
B)formal curriculum
C)the hidden curriculum.
D)tracking.

Question 42

Which one of the following skills is least valuable in a knowledge economy?

A)social networking
B)adaptability
C)encyclopedic-like knowledge
D)entrepreneurship

Question 43

Use concepts from the chapter to describe how you see the rewards and costs of attending college.

Question 44

Children whose parents have the economic resources to send them to science or journalism camps over summer break acquire a set of social skills and aesthetic tastes that

A)make them unpopular.
B)puts them at a social disadvantage.
C)builds cultural capital.
D)make them elitist.

Question 45

Bourdieu maintains that the __________ is the clearest expression of academic values.

A)formal curriculum
B)tracking
C)exam
D)hidden curriculum

Question 46

Which one of the following countries has the lowest percentage of disadvantaged students counted as resilient?

A)Korea
B)Hong Kong
C)United States
D)Finland

Question 47

Think back to your primary and secondary school experiences. Relate your experiences to three ideas, concepts, and/or theories presented in Chapter 13. Your experiences do not have to support information in Chapter 13, but you do need to explain why you think your experiences do not correspond with the textbook.

Question 48

____________ focus on the meanings that are embedded and conveyed in the way the school day and activities are organized.

A)Conflict theorists
B)Functionalists
C)Symbolic interactionists
D)Social action theorists

Question 49

Students whose parents studied abroad, who have traveled abroad and who have friends who travel abroad are more likely to also study abroad.  These dynamics relate to the concept

A)adolescent status system.
B)self-fulfilling prophecy.
C)social reproduction.
D)informal education.

Question 50

From a global perspective, __________________ of students default on student loans.

A)a unknown percentage
B)a low percentage
C)a high percentage
D)about 2 percent

Question 51

Approximately 30 percent of ninth graders enrolled in public schools graduate from high school four years later. Use concepts from this chapter to explain this phenomenon.

Question 52

The ongoing nature of educational crises in the United States and elsewhere in the world suggests that schools are

A) ineffective.
B)obsolete systems of learning.
C) a stage in which a lot of educational crises get played out.
D)the only hope for change.

Question 53

Sociologist Randall Collins argued that there have been few, if any systematic studies examining the role education by itself plays in occupational success.  He uses this fact to critique the rise of the

A)tracking.
B)illiteracy.
C)credential society.
D)self-fulfilling prophecy.

Question 54

Which perspective on education -- functionalist, conflict, or symbolic interactionist -- best captures how you view your educational experiences? Explain.

Question 55

Sociologist Jenny M. Stuber found that students' social class background plays an important role in shaping a a number of key decisions such as whether to become involved on campus.  This research relates to the concept of

A)knowledge economy.
B)self-fulfilling prophecy.
C)social reproduction.
D)hidden curriculum.

Question 56

In the United States preschool teachers tend to believe that their job is to protect and support children's self-esteem. Therefore it is unlikely that an American preschool teacher would ever criticize a student in front of others.  These beliefs are conveyed through the

A)formal curriculum.
B)self-fulfilling prophecy.
C)hidden curriculum.
D)credentialism.

Question 57

After attending college for one year in the United States, a German exchange student drew the conclusion that American students are all about memorizing.  The observation was acquired through

A)schooling.
B)formal curriculum.
C)the hidden curriculum.
D)social reproduction.