This comprehensive reader in the sociology of education examines important topics and exposes students to examples of sociological research on schools. Drawing from classic and contemporary scholarship, the editors have chosen readings that examine current issues and reflect diverse theoretical approaches to studying the effects of schooling on individuals and society.

Table of Contents:
I. Theoretical and Historical Perspectives A. Status Attainment and Social Mobility Reading 1: The “Rationalization” of Education and Training by Max Weber Reading 2: Social and Cultural Mobility by Pitirim Sorokin Reading 3: Sponsored and Contest Mobility and the School System by Ralph H. Turner Reading 4: Status Attainment Processes by Archibald O. Haller and Alejandro Portes B. Human Capital, Cultural Capital, and Social Capital Reading 5: Human Capital by Gary S. Becker Reading 6: Cultural Capital: Allusions, Gaps, and Glissandos in Recent Theoretical Developments by Michele Lamont and Annette Lareau Reading 7: Schools, Families, and Communities by James Coleman and Thomas Hoffer C. Changing Theories of Education Systems Reading 8: The First Element of Morality: The Spirit of Discipline by Emile Durkheim Reading 9: The School and the Community by Willard Waller Reading 10: Functional and Conflict Theories of Educational Stratification by Randall Collins Reading 11: The Long Shadow of Work by Samuel Bowles, Herbert Gintis and Meyers II. Stratification Within and Between Schools A. Resource Inequality and Racial Segregation Reading 12: Privilege by Shamus Khan Reading 13: Equality of Educational Opportunity: The Coleman Report by James Coleman, Ernest Campbell, Carol Hobson, James McPartland, Alexander Mood, Frederic Weinfeld, and Robert York Reading 14: The Effects of High Schools on Their Students by Christopher S. Jencks and Marsha D. Brown Reading 15: E Pluribus...Separation by Gary Orfield, John Kucsera and Genevieve Siegel-Hawley Reading 16: The Nature of Schooling by Doris R. Entwisle, Karl L. Alexander, and Linda Olson Reading 17:Desegregation Without Integration: Tracking, Black Students, and Acting White After Brown by Karolyn Tyson Reading 18: The Distribution of Knowledge by Jeannie Oakes III. Class, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Sexuality A. Class Reading 19: Persisting Barriers: Changes in Educational Opportunities in Thirteen Countries by Hans-Peter Blossfeld and Yossi Shavit Reading 20: The Widening Income Achievement Gap by Sean Reardon Reading 21: More Inclusion Than Diversion: Expansion, Differentiation, and Market Structure in Higher Education by Richard Arum, Adam Gamoran and Yossi Shavit Reading 22: Learning to Labor by Paul Willis Reading 23: Invisible Inequality: Social Class and Childrearing in Black Families and White Families by Annette Lareau Reading 24: Exceptions to the Rule: Upwardly Mobile White and Mexican American High School Girls by Julie Bettie B. Race and Ethnicity Reading 25: Black Students’ School Success: Coping With the “Burden of ‘Acting White’” by Signithia Fordham and John U. Ogbu Reading 26: It’s Not “a Black Thing”: Understanding the Burden of Acting White and Other Dilemmas of High Achievement by Karolyn Tyson, Domini R. Castellino, and William Darity, Jr. Reading 27: Straddling Boundaries: Identity, Culture, and School by Prudence L. Carter Reading 28: The Young and the Digital or Digital Divide: Navigating the Digital Edge by Craig Watkins Reading 29: Race in the Schoolyard: Negotiating the Color Line in Classrooms and Communities by Amanda Lewis Reading 30: Shades of White: White Kids and Racial Identity in High Schools by Pamela Perry Reading 31: The New Second Generation: Segmented Assimilation and Its Variants by Alejandro Portes and Min Zhou C. Gender and Sexuality Reading 32: Boys and Girls Together...But Mostly Apart by Barrie Thorne Reading 33: Teaching and “Women’s Work”: A Comparative and Historical Analysis by Michael Apple Reading 34: Rewriting Race and Gender High School Lessons: Second-Generation Dominicans in New York City by Nancy Lopez Reading 35: Gender, Race, and Justifications for Group Exclusion: Urban Black Students Bussed to Affluent Suburban Schools" by Ispa-Landa Reading 36: Notes on a Sociology of Bullying: Young Men’s Homophobia as Gender Socialization by C. J. Pascoe Reading 37: Bullying and Masculinity by Kimmel and Mahler IV. Student Behavior and Adolescent Subcultures Reading 38: The Adolescent Culture by James Coleman Reading 39: Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Findings from the Digital Youth Project by Mimi Ito Reading 40: Resistance as a Social Drama: A Study of Change-Oriented Encounters by Daniel A. McFarland Reading 41: The (Mis)Education of Karen and Monica by Armstrong and Hamilton Reading 42: College Life Through the Eyes of Students by Mary Grigsby V. The Organizational Environment A. The Cultural and Institutional Environment Reading 43: Do Employers Really Need More Educated Youth? by James E. Rosenbaum and Amy Binder Reading 44: The Effects of Education as an Institution by John W. Meyer Reading 45: Community Colleges and the American Social Order by Stephen Brint and Jerome Karabel Reading 46: Judging School Discipline: A Crisis of Moral Authority by Richard Arum Reading 47: Creating a Class: College Admissions and the Education of Elites by Mitchell Stevens Reading 48: Learning to Be Illegal: Undocumented Youth and Shifting Legal Contexts by Alberto Gonzales B. Education Policy and School Reform Reading 49: English-Only Triumphs, But the Costs Are High by Alejandro Portes Reading 50: School Choice or School’s choice? by Jennifer Jennings Reading 51: Becoming Right by Amy Binder Reading 52: The State of Undergraduate Learning by Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa Reading 53: Education Research That Matters: Influence, Scientific Rigor, and Policy Making by Pamela Barnhouse Walters and Annette Lareau