Seminars (392-0-20)
Topic
Science in Crisis?
Instructors
Gershwin Joseph Penn
Meeting Info
Locy Hall 106: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM
Overview of class
"Racial Inequalities in American Schooling"
What are the racial inequalities in K-12 schooling in the United States? Why do these racial disparities persist? In this course, we critically examine the last 25 years of scholarship on race and schooling to consider how racial inequality is defined and measured, and how education scholars explain the causes of racial disparities in education. As a starting point, we look at racial disparities in academic achievement and discipline. Then, we focus on different approaches scholars use to explain why racial inequality continues to persist in K-12 education. In particular, we focus on key debates such as the extent to which schools compensate or exacerbate differences in achievement, how policy interventions impact inequality in schools, and how racial hierarchies are embedded in school structures and practices. In the final portion of this course, we consider what should come next in the study of race and inequality in schools.
Learning Objectives
At the end of this course, students should be able to:
• Identify definitions for racial inequality and how it gets deployed in research on K-12 schools.
• Understand the theoretical and epistemological approaches to studying racial inequality in K-12 schools.
• Critically discuss approaches to studying race and schooling, informed by research and debates in the sociology of education field.
• Understand a variety of interventions that have been used to contend with inequality in schools and apply that knowledge to the creation of their own intervention.
• Develop and write a research paper, drawing on sources from the syllabus and from their own research, about future research directions on race and schooling.
Teaching Method
Discussion; Small Group-Work; Lectures
Evaluation Method
Participation and attendance, two short papers, final paper, and final paper presentation.
Class Materials (Required)
All materials for this course will be made available on Canvas - no purchase necessary.
Class Attributes
Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl
Social & Behavioral Sciences Distro Area