12'3 Conflict Perspective

1
12.3 Conflict Perspective

• Meritocracy a society in which social status is
  based on ability and achievement.
• -based on competition
• Is America really a meritocracy?
• -what about barriers such as gender, race and
  ethnicity?
• -schools in wealthy neighborhoods are
  significantly better than in economically
  disadvantaged areas.
• -social class clearly affects SAT performance.

2

• -SAT was originally used in 1926 to identify
  talented youth regardless of social class
  background. However, social class still plays a
  significant role in who goes to the best schools.
• Educational Equality condition in which
  schooling produces the same results for lower
  class and minority students as other children.
• Is Intelligence Inherited?
• The Bell Curve says humans inherit 60-70 of
  their intelligence level.

3

• Counterarguments
• Intelligence testing city dwellers score higher
  than rural areas, higher-status African Americans
  score higher than lower status African Americans,
  middle-class AA score about as high as
  middle-class whites.
• Cultural Bias the unfair measurement of the
  cognitive abilities of people in some social
  categories.
• A symphony is to composer as a book is to what
• A. paper
• B. a musician
• C. a sculptor
• D. a man
• E. an author

4

• -A recent SAT question used a Bentley in the
  question.
• -Low income students with poor diets may do less
  than their best on tests as well.
• School Desegregation the achievement of a racial
  balance in the classroom.
• -desegregated classrooms with an atmosphere of
  respect and acceptance improve academic
  performance.
• Multicultural Education
• Curriculum that emphasizes differences among
  gender, ethnic, and racial categories.