1. Apply structural/functional, conflict/critical, and inter/actionist approaches to the social institution of education.
    
2. Discuss the relationship among education, commercialization, and consumption.
    
3. Describe inequality in education, its sources, and its effects.
    
4. Compare the position of the educational system in United States to those in other countries around the world.

Summary

Education is closely related to the process of socialization, although it most often takes place more formally in schools. Structural/functionalists view education as a social structure functional for both individuals and society. Conflict/critical theorists believe education serves to reproduce social inequalities and reinforce social stratification. Symbolic interactionists focus on the micro aspects of education and often analyze how social inequality is reinforced at this level. Coleman found that teacher quality, family background, and racial composition of the student body were the most important factors affecting student achievement. Herrnstein and Murray later argued that inherited differences account for different levels of achievement. However, other researchers have convincingly shown that differences in the home environments of very young children better explain differences in educational ability and attainment. The use of tracking in schools often leads to cumulative advantage for students placed in higher tracks. These most advantaged students are consequently awarded the best opportunities for learning, which in turn increases inequality over time. Further increasing inequality is the fact that students from higher-SES families are more often placed in higher tracks than their low-SES peers, regardless of ability. Differences in SES also affect college attainment. Three alternatives to public school have emerged in the past few decades: vouchers, unschooling and homeschooling, and charter schools. Students with more advantaged family backgrounds are more likely to graduate from high school and to enroll in and graduate from college. Great educational inequality exists around the world. Countries across the globe vary greatly in their ability to educate students and educate them well. Students in United States fall near the bottom in PISA rankings on math, reading, and science.