Ballantine
and Spade,
Schools
and
Society
5th
Edition
Instructor
Resource
1. Describe the ways in which the various levels of the school
organization might be connected to form one coherent production process
for the school?
2. Describe the difference between the formal and informal aspects of
schools giving two examples of each from your readings in Chapter 4.
3. Compare the five essential supports for school improvement
recommended by Bryk to the Open Systems Model in the introduction to
this book. What does this tell you about where efforts for successful
change must be focused in the larger context of schooling?
4. Discuss the choices for decision making responsibilities in schools.
Examine the arguments from Resnick and Bryant. What do they see as the
threats to school boards? Why do they believe they are still important?
Who should serve on school boards?
5. How does Gracey’s argument relate to sociological theories discussed
in Chapter 1? Select one theory that best fits with the description of
kindergarten that Gracey describes.
6. Explain the roles of routine and ritual as they relate to classroom
order.
7. An example of an informal goal for schools is:
8. An example of informal systems in schools is:
9. According to Barr and Dreeben, labor in school systems is:
10. A key point in Barr and Dreeben’s argument about how schools work
is that:
11. According to Barr and Dreeben,:
12. In his article on “Organizing Schools for Improvement,” Bryk argues
that schools cannot succeed in educating children if they lack
adequate:
13. For schools to improve, Bryk describes the dynamics of improvement
as:
14. According to Resnick and Bryant, the chronically weak performance
of several high–profile urban districts has led to:
15. Why do Resnick and Bryant feel that school boards are necessary?
16. According to Gracey, Kindergarten is generally seen as a time when
students learn:
17. Gracey describes the instances of teachers reinforcing school
routines as providing ________________
18. According to Diehl and Daniel, the best way to maintain classroom
order is by focusing on:
19. When looking at interactional order as a situated phenomenon, the
biggest threats to order are:
20. Diehl and Daniel found that:
21. A hierarchy of offices, such that some people have more power in
decision making than others, is an example of the informal structure of
schools.
22. What really happens in classrooms is part of the formal
organization of schools.
23. According to Barr and Dreeben, textbooks are productive resources
24. Bryk made his conclusions about what factors are important for
school improvement by a study of two schools in Chicago, both of which
made considerable improvements in students’ success.
25. When Bryk refers to “beating the odds,” he is talking about
students who manage to succeed despite attending substandard schools.
26. According to Resnick and Bryant, local mayors make better education
decisions than school boards.
27. According to Gracey, children begin learning the student role after
Kindergarten.
28. Gracey’s example of the children discussing the “spooky house” at
the zoo is an example of how teachers allow students to step outside of
the student role in Kindergarten.
29. Teachers are unwilling to change the expectations of a “common
script” even when students are resistant to it.
30. Demeaning a student’s character is an effective way to ensure and
maintain classroom order.
31. According to Diehl and McFarland , it’s unclear why some classes
are more orderly than others and why classes can even vary within the
same class period.