Sociology of Education // Schedule

This schedule will evolve as the term proceeds. Watch regularly for more details. You can annotate any Medium page. Feel free to make comments or ask questions right on this page (or any other within our course site).

Here’s the general, planned flow of the term:

Weeks 1–3: Historical and Theoretical Perspectives

Weeks 4–8: Identities, Cultures, Inequalities

Weeks 9–12: Social Structures and School Practices (Between-School and Within-School Inequality)

Weeks 13–14: Organizational Environment

Week 15: Wrap-up

WEEK 1: August 24–30

Optional Synchronous Session with Sara & Alexis: Wednesday August 26 from 5:15- 6:00 pm. Join us for a casual get-to-know-you chat. For info on how to access this session on Zoom, go to our class Slack channel and look under #zooms . Can’t make it? We will record this session and post a link in Slack.

Read this:

1. Jeff Selingo, Colleges Are Deeply Unequal Workplaces
2. Ashley Fetters, There Are Other Options Besides Reopening Schools

Do this (by Sunday Aug 30):

1. Sign up for Medium and create a profile (see directions in the Syllabus).
2. Write your first Medium post (here’s how) reflecting on both readings. Title it “Week 1 reading” and tag your post (here is how to tag) with #TempleSocEd. Don’t forget to do this last bit, as it’s one of the main ways, we’ll be able to find each other’s work. Feel free to come at this reading from any direction — share your reactions, questions, comments — and if possible, discuss it in the context of other reading you’ve done about education and the pandemic.
3. Sign up for Slack (see directions in the Syllabus)
4. Sign up for our Slack channel by going to templesocofed.slack.com/signup and say hello in the #general channel, start getting your bearings, and share a link to your Medium post in the #medium channel.
5. Read the course website- start with Syllabus, and Schedule, and Grading Contract. Highlight and comment with any questions you have about these items, so we may respond and adapt if needed.
6. Watch the welcome video and complete the Welcome Survey, found in the #General channel on Slack.

Week 2: August 31- September 6

Optional Synchronous Session with Sara & Alexis: Friday September 4 from 11am-12 pm. Join us to discuss the first class project. We will share ideas for how to connect with students, parents, and teachers, and answer questions. Be sure to read the project info in advance! For info on how to access this session on Zoom, go to our class Slack channel and look under #zooms . Can’t make it? We will record this session and post a link in Slack in the #projects channel.

Read this first:

· Prudence Carter, Education’s Limitations and Its Radical Possibilities

· Irenee Beattie & Roger Wyan, Students and University Growing Up Together

Next, listen to this:

· Nikole Hannah-Jones, 1619 Podcast Episodes 1 and 2

Then do this (by Sunday September 6):

1. Search #TempleSocEd on Medium. Read at least 5 of last week’s Week 1 posts by other folks in the class and add thoughtful comments or annotations.
2. Write a new Medium post about this week’s reading and podcast. Focus your comments on the two issues below. Title it “Week 2 reading” and tag your post with #TempleSocEd. Share a link to your Medium post in the #medium channel .

• When you hear the phrase “educational inequality” what comes to mind? What data or stories do you think of? How did this week’s reading and podcast affect your thinking?
• What did you learn as a student in elementary school and high school about the origins of the United States and slavery in particular? How did the podcast align with what you were taught? What was different?

3. Write a 6-word story and make a short video introducing yourself to us. This can be super simple (shot on your phone, no editing, etc.). Share your six words and video together in the #who-are-we channel in Slack. Some tips:

· To share a video in Slack, go to the #who-are-we channel, click the little + next to the message box, select the video file you created, then add your 6-word story before you hit the upload button.

· Don’t tell us your major, unless you have a story about it

· Don’t tell us what you did over the Summer, unless it involves giant snakes, parachuting, a unicorn, a flash flood, or it was documented in a viral video

· Don’t tell us where you grew up, unless you’re going to show pictures

· Do tell us what moves you, what you care most about

· Do tell us what you hope to get from taking this course, but only if you can do so in a limerick

· Do tell us where you are

· Do give us random facts we can come to know you by

After posting your own introduction, check out those from your fellow students and engage each other.

4. Read about the first project you’ll do this term. If you can, attend our optional synchronous session (see details above under Week 2) to ask questions.

Week 3: September 7–13

Optional Synchronous Session with Sara Goldrick-Rab: Thursday September 10 from 11:00- 11:45 am. Discuss your questions and ideas from the first 3 weeks’ readings. Help us get started by sending Sara a DM in Slack with your preferred question/idea in advance. For info on how to access this session on Zoom, go to our class Slack channel and look under #zooms . Can’t make it? We will record this session and post a link in Slack.

Read this first:

• “Social and Cultural Mobility” by Pitirim Sorokin (this is a quick 4 page read)
• “Functional and Conflict Theories of Educational Stratification” by Randall Collins (this reading is intense; if you are struggling, focus on pp. 96–103 and skim the rest)
• “The Long Shadow of Work” by Samuel Bowles, Herbert Gintis, and Peter Mayer (read all of this, slowly)

Then do this (by Sunday September 13):

• Take this short 6 question diagnostic quiz — it is ungraded and is intended to help me understand where you might need more support
• Search #TempleSocEd on Medium. Read at least 5 of last week’s Week 2 posts by other folks in the class and add thoughtful comments drawing on the readings from this week. In other words, use insights gained from this week’s readings and see if you can apply them to what other people wrote about last week. For example, you might read someone’s post about inequality and say “X writer from this week might say …” or “Have you considered that, like X writer says, this might mean…” etc.

Week 4: September 14–20

Optional Synchronous Session with Special Guest, Nicole Lynn Lewis: Monday September 14 from 10am-11 am. Join us to learn from the CEO of Generation Hope about her experiences supporting college students with children during the pandemic. This is closely related to your midterm project, and will give you lots of ideas for it! For info on how to access this session on Zoom, go to our class Slack channel and look under #zooms .

Missed this opportunity? Here’s the video!

Read this first:

· Matt Desmond, How Home Ownership Became the Engine of American Inequality

· Eve Ewing, We Shall Not Be Moved: A Hunger Strike, Housing, and Education in Chicago

· Lora Kelley, Without Fixing Inequality, the Schools are Always Going to Struggle

· Andre Perry, Defund the Private Schools

Do this:

1. Write a new Medium post about this week’s reading. Focus your comments on the two issues below. Title it “Week 4 reading” (at least make that a subtitle) and tag your post with #TempleSocEd. Share a link to your Medium post in the #medium channel .

• How does housing inequality, and in particular residential segregation, affect inequality in schooling? Offer specific examples from the reading.
• Identify at least one policy recommendation/ solution from these readings that could address educational inequality. Describes reasons why you support and/or oppose this recommendation.

2. Work on the midterm project! Make sure you have people to interview for that project- if you need help finding people, go to the #projects channel in our Slack and find the link to the spreadsheet of volunteers. Sign up there for who you want to interview.

Week 5: September 21–27

Optional Synchronous Session with Sara & Alexis: Thursday September 24 from 8:00 pm-9:00 pm. Discuss the readings from Week 4 (last week’s readings) and catch up with classmates! (UPDATE 9/24: Canceled as so few students can make it!)

Read this first:

· Anthony Jack, I Was a Low-Income College Student

· The Hope Center, #RealCollege During the Pandemic and Food & Housing Insecurity Among Philadelphia College Students

· Michael Sorrell, Colleges Are Deluding Themselves

Next, listen to this:

· Tressie McMillan Cottom, What’s College Without a Campus?

If you want to learn more from Tressie, be sure to register ASAP for next week’s optional class activity!

Then do this:

• Review the final project assignment. Notice that many of this week’s readings relate to it. Write down some of your thoughts about the readings for yourself to reflect on when you do the final project — it will help you get a head start!
• Go to the #WhoWeAre channel in our Slack and watch videos from your classmates. Think about the different experiences your colleagues are having during the pandemic. Identify 2 fellow students to reach out to and send them a DM in Slack to see how things are going for them in their college education right now.
• Keep working on your midterm project

Week 6: September 28–October 4

Optional synchronous session: September 30 at 730 pm — Sociologists of Education Carla Shedd and Tressie McMillan Cottom will be in conversation with Cathy Davidson on the topic Making Education More Equitable. You must register in advance; watch live and join us for a class discussion on Slack.

Read this first:

· Andrew Bacher-Hicks et al. What Google Search Data Reveals About Learning During the Pandemic

· Jessica Calarco, Why Rich Kids are So Good at the Marshmallow Test, and What is Betsy DeVos Thinking?

· Caitlin Collins et al., COVID-19 and the Gender Gap in Work Hours

· Rick Hess, Trump Botches a Vital Back-to-School Message

· Whitney Pirtle, Racial Capitalism: A Fundamental Cause of Novel Coronavirus

Then do this:

• Complete this 1 question form to indicate when is a good time for class zooms
• Complete this 5 question quiz on the readings from Weeks 5 and 6 (there are 3 short-answer questions and 2 essays — it should take you 1–2 hours to do this). It’s required but ungraded and is intended to help me understand where you might need more support.
• Work on your midterm project

Week 7: October 5–October 11

Optional synchronous session: Sunday October 11 from 7–8 pm. Join Sara for an open discussion about this week’s readings and your efforts to explore the data in your community and at Temple. Come with ideas and questions!

Read this first to explore inequality between schools and sociology of education in action:

• (a) Skim this paper by sean reardon & colleagues: “Is Separate Still Unequal? New Evidence on School Segregation and Racial Academic Achievement Gaps” and then (b) explore the Educational Opportunity Project. Start by reading the text and watching the video, then (c ) scroll to the bottom of this page to explore data in your community.
• (a) Read this short piece by Raj Chetty et al: Mobility Report Cards: The Role of Colleges in Intergenerational Mobility. and then (b) explore data from the Opportunity Insights project using this tool to look at Temple’s data and other colleges you might be interested in.

Do this:

1. Write a new Medium post about this week’s reading. Focus your comments on the two issues below. Title it “Week 7 reading” (at least make that a subtitle) and tag your post with #TempleSocEd. Post it to our class publication and share a link to your Medium post in the #medium channel .

• What did you learn from exploring data on school segregation at the k-12 level (the sean reardon data) ? What trends did you observe? Provide some key examples from your own exploration of the data in your community.
• What did you learn from exploring data on social mobility at the higher education level (the Raj Chetty data) ? What trends did you observe? Provide some key examples from your own exploration of the data at Temple and elsewhere.

2. Work on the midterm project. Be sure your interviews are well underway!

Week 8: October 12–October 18

No optional zoom (other than Office Hours) or special reading this week!

What to do instead:

1. Work on your midterm project. Remember, it’s due October 25!

2. Write and submit a midterm self-reflection. Submit it on Canvas (see Assignments: Midterm Self-Reflection) no later than 6 pm EST on October 18. Do not begin working on this before October 10.

There is no prescribed length to this assignment (suggested length is around 500 words) but you must offer thoughtful answers to the following questions:

(a) What are you learning in class that is new to you? What else do you want to learn in this class? Be authentic about this- don’t pander to the instructor/

(b) How does what you are learning affect your thinking about your college experience? How does it affect the growth of your sociological imagination?

(c ) How would you assess the effort you are putting into learning from this class? What have been your best moments? Your biggest challenges?

Be honest as you write this letter, as it is intended to help you grow as a learner — this is not the time to posture or pretend, but rather to focus on what you are getting from the class and what your needs are. At the end of the letter, answer this question: What letter grade would you give yourself for your performance in this course so far, and why? Consider participation, preparedness, the strength of your work and other assignments, etc.

Week 9: October 19–October 25

Finish and submit your midterm project on K-12 During the Pandemic, due by 6 pm EST on October 25.

Week 10: October 26–November 1

Optional Synchronous Session : Friday October 30 from 3:00 pm- 4:30 pm. This session will be relevant for our final project. We’ll be joined by special guests from Rise and Edquity who are operating programs supporting college students around the nation, and learn about how they are seeing students affected during the pandemic. For info on how to access this session on Zoom, go to our class Slack channel and look under #zooms . Can’t make it? We will record this session and post a link in Slack.

Read this first:

· Sara Goldrick-Rab, America Sabotaged the Solution to Its New Higher Education Crisis

· Tressie McMillan Cottom, The Coded Language of For-Profit Colleges

Do this:

• Take notes on both of this week’s readings and think about their relevance to the final project. In particular, consider how institutional context matters for how college is affecting the pandemic.
• Read and comment on each other’s Midterm Projects. Find them all on our class Medium page under “latest stories.” Pick at least 5 to read (use #TempleSocEd to search for them) and provide thoughtful comments on at least 3 of them.
• Look ahead to Week 11 and plan to join our November 6 Zoom session!

Week 11: November 2–8

Optional Synchronous Session : Friday November 6 from 2:15 pm- 3:15 pm. We’ll consider this critical week in American history and the implications of the election for education going forward. For info on how to access this session on Zoom, go to our class Slack channel and look under #zooms . Can’t make it? We will record this session and post a link in Slack.

Listen to this:

• The full Nice White Parents podcast, episodes 1–5, from the New York Times. This was part of your Midterm Project assignment (just episodes 1 and 2 though) and I want to be certain you’ve listened to the entire thing, so you get to fully learn from sociological research by Eve Ewing and others. Note that the last episodes are about ways to diminish the power of “nice white parents!” Next week we will have a class Zoom session to discuss this podcast.

Do this:

• VOTE
• Catch up on any overdue work and get started on the final project. If you missed last week’s class zoom with speakers from Rise and Edquity, find the link in the #Zoom channel and watch it!
• Look ahead at Week 12 and plan to join our November 13 Zoom session!

Week 12: November 9–15

Optional Synchronous Session : Friday November 13 from 4:15 pm- 5:15 pm. At this session we’ll consider lessons from sociology on how to reduce the influence of “Nice White Parents” in today’s schools. Be sure to listen to the the full Nice White Parents podcast, episodes 1–5, from the New York Times in advance of this conversation. For info on how to access this session on Zoom, go to our class Slack channel and look under #zooms . Can’t make it? We will record this session and post a link in Slack.

Read this:

• Paying the Price, by Sara Goldrick-Rab, Introduction + Chapters 1–3 (this is about 100 pages). To access this book, go to the #Readings channel in our class Slack.

Do this:

1. Write a new Medium post about this week’s reading. Focus your comments on the two issues below. Title it “Week 12 reading” (at least make that a subtitle) and tag your post with #TempleSocEd. Post it to our class publication and share a link to your Medium post in the #medium channel

• When you picture a student who is receiving financial aid, what words and images come to mind? Are you part of that picture? How does that picture relate to the descriptions conveyed in this week’s readings?
• There is a lot of information in this week’s readings about the financial aid system and how college prices relate to students’ ability to pay. Identify one or two pieces of information that were new to you, and reflect on your thoughts and questions about what that information means for students.

2. Look ahead to Week 13 and plan to join the optional Zoom.

Week 13: November 16–22

Optional Synchronous Session: Friday November 20, 3:30–4:30 pm. Today is a “student choice” session. Join us to connect with other classmates, ask questions about your final project, or whatever else you’d like! For info on how to access this session on Zoom, go to our class Slack channel and look under #zooms . Can’t make it? We will record this session and post a link in Slack.

Read this:

• Paying the Price, by Sara Goldrick-Rab, Chapter 4, 6, and 8. To access this book, go to the #Readings channel in our class Slack.

Do this:

1. Write a new Medium post about this week’s reading. Pick at least 2 topics from the list below to write about. Title it “Week 13 reading” (at least make that a subtitle) and tag your post with #TempleSocEd. Post it to our class publication and share a link to your Medium post in the #medium channel

• How does working during college appear to affect the educational experience, according to the book and your own experience?
• The financial aid system assumes parents support children during college. How does that relationship work for students in the book? For you?
• There is a great deal of financial inequality structured in to how institutions and students are funded. How do you see this play out in Milwaukee in the book? In Philadelphia?

2. Look ahead to Week 14 and make plans to join our class Zoom!

HOLIDAY WEEK November 23–29

REST and ENJOY LIFE

Week 14: November 30–December 6

Optional Synchronous Session: Friday December 4, 3:00- 4:00 pm. Today we will discuss your thoughts and reactions to the chapters you read from Paying the Price, and how these relate to the work you’re doing on your final project. For info on how to access this session on Zoom, go to our class Slack channel and look under #zooms . Can’t make it? We will record this session and post a link in Slack.

Do this:

1. Review your classmates’ Medium posts for Weeks 12 and 13 and comment on at least 3 of them.
2. Work on your final project, and catch up on any missed assignments. You have until December 15 to submit any missed assignments. If you are behind on work and wish to request an Incomplete for the course, send Sara a DM on Slack ASAP.
3. Do the Temple University Student Feedback Form for the course.
4. Look ahead to Week 15 and plan to join us for the class Zoom!

Week 15: December 7–December 13

Optional Synchronous Session: Friday December 11, 3:30–4:30 pm. As part of the final project, you’re required to watch Hungry to Learn, a documentary from Soledad O’Brien Productions that is set in part at Temple, and includes Sara Goldrick-Rab. Join us in this session to discuss the documentary and get your sociological questions answered. For info on how to access this session on Zoom, go to our class Slack channel and look under #zooms . Can’t make it? We will record this session and post a link in Slack.

Do this:

• Finish and submit your final project on College During the Pandemic, no later than 6 pm EST on December 11.
• Write and submit a final self-reflection and submit it on Canvas no later than 6 pm EST on December 14. Do not begin working on this before December 7. There is no prescribed length to this assignment but you must offer thoughtful answers to the following questions: (a) Review the Grading Contract (on our Medium site). Based on the requirements, how do you believe you did this term? What grade would you give yourself and why? (b) This course is a work in progress. What worked well for you as a learner, and why? What didn’t work well for you and could be improved?
• Do the Temple University Student Feedback Form for the course if you haven’t already!