Define the term meritocracy. Discuss two findings of the Coleman Report, which was conducted in the 1960s. What does the Coleman Report suggest about meritocracy in the American educational system?
What will be an ideal response?
Correct answers vary but should include a definition of meritocracy as a system based on a dominant ideology involving the belief that all people have an equal chance of succeeding economically based on their hard work and skills. In a meritocracy, people's social origins and characteristics such as class, race, and gender are unrelated to their opportunity to move up in the system. The Coleman Report findings, however, show that there are differences in student learning that reflect inequalities in school quality and that this quality is not related to school funding or resources. Student achievement was most related to teacher quality and family background, including the racial composition of the students attending the school. Family background was the most important predictor. These findings demonstrate that American schools are not a meritocracy.
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The idea of a declining American family stems from
a. anxiety over the rising divorce rate. b. concern over children in single-parent households. c. evidence of family violence and dysfunction. d. all of the above
According to Max Weber,
a. the capitalist economy is the most beneficial to a culture b. culture is a source of power. c. culture influences other institutions. d. nonmaterial and material culture are equally important.
What is agency? How does Moore see agency in relation to the choice of motherhood?
What will be an ideal response?
From a dramaturgical sociology perspective, what is one of the primary functions of engagement proposals?
a. It communicates to each other and to secondary audiences that the couple is entering a new phase of their relationship, one that signifies greater commitment. b. It is an occasion for the couple to show materially what they can afford, compares themselves to others in the situation, and serves as a status symbol in society. c. It allows the couple to engage in premarital sex that some groups would find deviant if they were not engaged. d. It is a ceremony that had much meaning a hundred years ago, but in modern times it has very little significance in the romantic relationship of a couple.