What does a sociological perspective tell us about education in the United States?

A recent study by Dr. David Norton of the University of Kentucky highlights what does a sociological perspective tell us about education in the United States. This study contends, “A more social-capitalistic culture, characterized by financial and cultural opportunities for the majority of Americans, is correlated with economic growth.” However, does this mean that education is necessarily linked to economic prosperity? Does it mean that students from lower socio-economic status families will necessarily fail to achieve the same opportunities as those from higher socio-economic status families? Does the quality of education that students from lower socio-economic status families receive have any bearing on their ability to attain the same levels of prosperity as students from higher socio-economic status families?

The answers to these questions are complicated. The fact is that education is important to all of us, but the nature of schooling today is such that opportunity is more frequently distributed unequally than it was not so long ago. For instance, it is likely that a high percentage of students in our schools today do not live in poverty and yet, only a relatively small minority of our children go on to live what would be considered a typical middle class life. What does this mean for education? It means that we must pay more attention to the nature of the relationships that we have with our students, especially as we enter into the school years.

Our educational system in the United States is geared more towards producing what is known as a highly sociable and outgoing person. In other words, in today’s system, the educational emphasis tends to be more on cultivating the ability of the student to socialize with others outside of the classroom. Is this good or bad? On the one hand, if we want our children to be happy, they need to be able to form close relationships with their peers and other adults. On the other hand, if we want our children to be successful in life and to become socially competent individuals who can contribute to society in a positive way, then we must also give them an extensive amount of educational opportunities.

In today’s climate, what does a sociological perspective tell us about education in the United States? Given the kinds of social experiences that are available through schools, it appears that American school kids are socialized to the extreme. They spend their days in school, taking part in activities that relate to their socialization in the world, and then go home to their families to participate in more activities that relate to their family life. It appears that during the school years, children literally grow up inside the school, coming to think of school as a place where they learn what they need to know in order to survive and succeed

However, what does a sociological perspective tell us about education in the United States?

There are two major ways to look at what does a sociological perspective tell us about education in the United States. One way is to look at what we know about the different kinds of students that end up being attracted to the United States. We know that, compared to other countries around the world, the US has the highest average number of foreign students. Also, we know that students from the Asian countries, specifically India and China, typically score higher on the international test than students from any other country. Finally, we know that students from Mexico are particularly high achievers, statistically speaking.

Now, what does a sociological perspective tell us about education in the United States? That is largely unknown. What we do know is that there is a strong correlation between poverty and student achievement. The lower the average family income is, the more likely you are to find students who are academically qualified. Also, the lower the amount of poverty and the more successful the students from disadvantaged families, the higher the average test scores they tend to earn throughout their academic careers.