Chapter 4


	Education and American Society Online Information About Education. What Does the Public Think About Its Schools? Education and Power. Paulo Freire: Education as Cultural Action for Freedom. Educational Colonialism. Education and Hegemony. Key Court Cases: The Pledge of Allegiance. Schools as Social Systems. What Are Education and Schooling Really About? Chapter 4 includes two boxed Internet features. They are included below with their links:

	Online Information About Education There any many outstanding online resources currently available to educators to help them conduct research on schools and the teaching profession. One of the best places to begin any general research is the National Center for Educational Statistics. National Center for Educational Statistics http://nces.ed.gov/ The purpose of the Center is to collect and report "...statistics and information showing the condition and progress of education in the United States and other nations in order to promote and accelerate the improvement of American education." Compendia put together by the Center include: The Digest of Education Statistics: 1997 (Includes more than 400 tables on a wide variety of education topics from numerous sources); The Condition of Education: 1997 (Education indicators summarizing the status and health of U.S. education); Youth Indicators 1996 (A statistical compilation of data on family structure, jobs, education, and other elements that comprise the world of young people); The Mini-Digest of Education Statistics: 1997 (A statistical portrait of education in the United States); and Projections of Education Statistics to 2007 (A collection of projections to the year 2007 related to education, including: enrollment, graduates, classroom teachers, and expenditures). Also worth consulting for educational information is the Statistical Abstract of the United States. Published each year, the Abstract is the country’s main national data book and contains statistics on the social and economic conditions in the United States, as well as related international data. It is also available online and is an invaluable resources for general information and data. Statistical Abstract of the United States http://www.census.gov/statab/www/

	What does the public think about its schools? Every September since 1969, Phi Delta Kappan magazine, together with the Gallup Organization, has published a poll of the American public’s attitudes towards their schools. Beginning in 1974 respondents to the education polls have been asked to grade the public schools in their communities on a scale of A to F. In 1981, people were first asked to rate the ''nation's public schools'' using the same scale. You can look at the results of the most recent Phi Delta Kappan/Gallup Poll by visiting the magazine’s web site at: *Phi Delta Kappan* http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/ktoclist.htm Look at the most recent September issue of the magazine to find the results for the poll. By comparing results from earlier surveys, you will be able to see historical trends in the public’s attitude towards education.

	Web sites dealing with Paulo Freire include: Paulo Freire (Brief Biography) http://nlu.nl.edu/ace/Resources/Freire.html Paulo Freire: A Homage http://nlu.nl.edu/ace/Homage.html Reviews of Paulo Freire http://fcis.oise.utoronto.ca/~daniel_schugurensky/freire/freirebooks.html Issues involving education and hegemony can be found at: Antonio Gramsci http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-gram.htm Hegemony http://www.socsci.mcmaster.ca/soc/courses/soc2r3/gramsci/gramheg.htm For information on Jurgen Habermas visit: Jurgen Habermas http://www.phy.nau.edu/~danmac/habcritthy.html The Jurgen Habermas Web Resource http://www.msu.edu/user/robins11/habermas/ Information on children and contemporary society can be found at: Children’s Defense Fund http://www.childrensdefense.org/

	NetQuest #5 Educational Organizations Nearly every major national educational organization has a web site. The web sites of professional organizations such as the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers can be visited, as well as private, state and federal organizations concerned with educational issues and research. Look at th following web sites to learn about what types of resources are available. National Education Association http://www.nea.org/ American Federation of Teachers http://www.aft.org/index.htm American Educational Research Association http://aera.net/