Education and Society

Drawing on current scholarship, Education and Society takes students on a journey through the many roles that education plays in contemporary societies. Addressing students’ own experience of education before expanding to larger sociological conversations, Education and Society helps readers understand and engage with such topics as peer groups, gender and identity, social class, the racialization of achievement, the treatment of immigrant children, special education, school choice, accountability, discipline, global perspectives, and schooling as a social institution. The book prompts students to evaluate how schools organize our society and how society organizes our schools. Moving from students to schooling to social forces, Education and Society provides a lively and engaging introduction to theory and research and will serve as a cornerstone for courses such as sociology of education, foundations of education, critical issues in education, and school and society.

Thurston Domina is Associate Professor of Educational Policy and Sociology in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He works in partnership with educational practitioners to better understand the relationship between education and social inequality in the contemporary United States.
 
Benjamin G. Gibbs is Associate Professor of Sociology at Brigham Young University. He researches the origins of inequality in the life course and is currently focusing on the relationship between screen time and adolescent development.
 
Lisa Nunn is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of San Diego. She is the author of 33 Simple Strategies for Faculty and Defining Student Success as well as past president of the Sociology of Education Association.
 
Andrew Penner is Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Irvine. Penner’s research uses administrative data to understand questions related to inequality, social categorization, and educational policy.

Editors’ Introduction

Part 1
Theoretical Orientations in the Sociology of Education
1 The Growth of Schooling in Global Perspective Evan Schofer
2 A Contextual Understanding of Schools’ Role in the Stratification System: Are Schools a Compensatory, Neutral, or Exacerbatory Institution? Douglas Downey

Part 2
Student Experiences in Education
3 Gender Inequality in Education: Outcomes and Experiences Catherine Riegle-Crumb
4 Hidden in Plain Sight: Rethinking Race in Education Rob Eschmann and Charles M. Payne
5 Immigrant Children and Children of Immigrants in American Schools: Shifting Demographics Edelina M. Burciaga

CASE STUDY 1
Sexualities in Education C. J. Pascoe and Tony Silva

6 Social Class and Student-Teacher Interactions Jessica Calarco
7 First-Generation College Students Lisa M. Nunn
8 Peer Sorting, Peer Influence, and Student Outcomes William Carbonaro

CASE STUDY 2
The “Asian F” and the Racialization of Achievement Jennifer Lee, Sean Drake, and Min Zhou

Part 3
Schools and Other Educational Organizations
9 Creating the Canon: The Meaning and Effects of Textbooks and Curricula Patricia Bromley and Daniel Scott Smith
10 Sorting Students for Learning: Eight Questions about Secondary-School Tracking Sean Kelly
11 Special Education and Social Inequality Jacob Hibel
12 A Sociology of School Discipline Richard Arum, E. Christine Baker-Smith, and Jessica Lipschultz

CASE STUDY 3
Within Elite Academic Walls: Inequity and Student Experience on Campus Megan Thiele and Karen Jeong Robinson

13 School Segregation by Race/Ethnicity and Economic Status Ann Owens
14 Sociological Perspectives on Leading and Teaching for School Change Sarah L. Woulfin
15 School Choice: Policy and Perspectives Linda Renzulli and Maria Paino
16 Higher Education and the Labor Market Eric Grodsky and Julie Posselt

CASE STUDY 4
Importing School Forms across Professional Fields: An Understudied Phenomenon in the Sociology of Education Amy Binder and Scott Davies

Index