Soc 339: Diversity and the U.S. Educational System Online Course Summer 2009, June 23 to August 2 Instructor: Dr. Gonzalo F. Santos = santos_class@csub.edu Office Phone: 661-654-2191 Office: DDH-AA205 Teaching Assistant: Ms. Melanie Hartfield =  melhat@csufresno.edu

• Multicultural Education in a Pluralistic Society, 8th. ed., by Donna M. Gollnick and Philip C. Chinn, 2009. Packaged with MyEducationLab Student Access Code Card. Pearson Custom Publishing. Package ISBN: 0558311601 - This package is only available at the Runner Bookstore, CSUB. Bookstore summer hours: M & W: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm; Tu & Th: 11:00 am - 4:00 pm (F., Sa., Su. closed).
• Accompanying activity web site to the textbook: http://www.myeducationlab.com/
• Dr. Santos's web site: http://www.csub.edu/~gsantos/ To see the syllabus link click "Courses."
  
• CSUB WebCT/Blackboard web site: http://webct.csub.edu/webct/public/home.pl
  

The class is entirely online. It will be structured around the first six chapters of the textbook (the seventh is just a glossary). Each week, students will be asked do a wide variety of web-based activities at both web site, around a given chapter:

   (1) Most of the activities will be at the MyEducationLab web site that accompanies the textbook; students will have to register using their MyEducationLab Student Access Code Card that came with the textbook. Instructions are in the card. The first time you go to the web site, click "Register". IMPORTANT: When registering students are prompted for the "Class ID" they should enter cm577779 . Registering students will then be asked to enter a User ID and a Password -- choose easy to remember, easy to type access codes and write them down somewhere safe. DO NOT SHARE YOUR ACCESS CODES WITH ANYONE. The next time you go to the MyEducationLab web site, simply click "Log in" and enter your personal access codes. Once in the course, simply click the tab "CHAPTERS" and then chose a chapter to get to the chapter activities you need to do.

   (2) The other web site is CSUB's WebCT/Blackboard testing site, where students will take their six Chapter Tests. Students will need to know their "WebCT ID" and Password (see below). Once you are in the course, click "Tests" and then the appropriate chapter test to begin to take a test.

THE DEADLINE FOR COMPLETING ALL WEEKLY ACTIVITIES, AND WHICH ACTIVITIES WILL BE COUNTED: The deadline for completing each and every activity assigned in either web site will be the Sunday midnight of the week in which each is assigned. Please refer to the schedule of activities below. The only activities that will count for a given student will be his/her FIRST attempts made; all subsequent attempts on the same exact activity will NOT go into his/her final grade record. So students are discouraged from making more than one attempt on any give activity (in the vain hope of improving its score) - much better to focus on getting good grades in all subsequent activities. Here are the description of all the types of activities, grouped around the two web sites we will be using:

I. Activities at the MyEducationLab site:

At the MyEducationLab site for the textbook Multicultural Education in a Pluralistic Society, 8th ed.,  the following resources will be made available to registered students for each of the six chapters we will cover in this class (1 through 6):

   A. Study Plan: You start in this area, which contains the following preparatory sections:

•  Chapter Objectives: Give you targets to shoot for as you read and study.
•  Pretest: Help you assess your initial comprehension of chapter content after you have read and studied it thoroughly.
  
•  Study Plan Remediation: Deepen your understanding of particular concepts and principles in the chapter with these exercises.
•  Posttest: Allows you to test your mastery of each chapter objective before you take the Chapter Test at the CSUB testing site WebCT/Blackboard.
  

   B. Homework and Exercises: These activities offer opportunities to understand content more deeply and to practice applying content. Each Homework Exercise is explicitly connected to chapter content. The following book features are located in this section:

• Pause to Reflect: Questions and activities promote self-awareness and ownership of your past experiences and help you consider how they can influence your current and future teaching practice in diverse classrooms.
  
• Focus Your Cultural Lens: Debate: This feature asks you to take a position on controversial school issues with for and against statements for your consideration.
  
• Observe and Learn: Lessons In Action: Learn from lesson plans brought to life in real classrooms across the country illustrating chapter concepts.
  

PLEASE IGNORE THE FOLLOWING ACTIVITIES IN EACH OF THE CHAPTERS:

• Video Insights
• Licensure Test Prep Activities
• Building Teaching Skills
  

II. Activities at the CSUB WebCT/Blackboard testing site:

At this site students will take six Chapter Tests. ALWAYS TAKE THESE CHAPTER TESTS AFTER YOU HAVE COMPLETED ALL THE CORRESPONDING ACTIVITIES IN MyEducationLab. Each chapter test at WebCT is composed of 20 multiple-choice or truth/false questions and can only be taken once, and must be completed before its corresponding Sunday midnight deadline (see schedule below). Students have one hour to complete the test once they begin taking it. Instructions on how to access and test at WebCT follow:

Schedule of Chapter Tests at WebCT: (The deadline for each Chapter Test is the Sunday mid-night of the week it is assigned) WEEK ONE: JUNE 23-28 CHAPTER ONE WEEK TWO: JUNE 29 - JULY 5 CHAPTER TWO WEEK THREE: JULY 6 - 12 CHAPTER THREE WEEK FOUR: JULY 13 - 19 CHAPTER FOUR WEEK FIVE: JULY 20 - 26 CHAPTER FIVE WEEK SIX: JULY 27 - AUGUST 2 CHAPTER SIX Instructions on Taking Chapter Tests at CSUB's WebCT: To gain access: go to the CSUB WebCT site: click and bookmark the following URL address: http://webct.csub.edu/webct/public/home.pl If you are testing from an off campus computer, make sure your browser is properly configured (click around WebCT support links and read how you can ensure your browser is properly configured). You will need to know your WebCT ID and Password.  All CSUB enrolled students have a "Runner" email account. Your WebCT ID is the same as your Runner Mail Logon ID -- that is, whatever prefix goes before the "@runner.csub.edu" domain.  For example, the WebCT ID for John Smith (jsmith4@runner.csub.edu) would be jsmith4. Your initial WebCT password is the last five digits of your CSUB ID Number. Once logged on to WebCT, you will be asked to change it immediately (if you have used WebCT before you'll need to enter your old password). Choose an easy to remember, easy to type new password. We also suggest that you set up your login hint immediately - and write all these codes somewhere where you will not loose them, nor expose them to theft by others. If you need help: For any WebCT-related problem, call Student Technology Help Desk at (661) 654-2315, Monday through Thursday; any other computer related problem, such as if you don't know your CSUB RunnerMail Logon ID, or if you've changed your password and have forgotten it, call (661) 654-2307, same days.  Be prepared!  The maximum duration for each chapter test is 60 minutes. After each weekly Sunday midnight deadline, access to any given chapter test will be closed and no late testing will be possible. So make sure you have prepared well in advance of each Sunday during the next six weeks. Choose a day, time & place to do well; give yourself ample time and have tranquility (with no distractions) when you begin testing; take time to read carefully each question before you answer it - do not rush! (a common mistake). You may take the test with the open book, but exclusively on your own, please. Never plan to take a test in two or more sittings; plan always to take each test in a single session (the computer usually freezes incomplete tests). Save your answers every time. If you change your mind on a specific answer, don't forget to save it again! And don't forget to send your quiz/test to grade when you are done (students sometime forget this last step and their scores are not computed). Security precaution: If you are using a public computer, always quit both the WebCT site and the browser (Netscape or Explorer) after you are done with testing  -- otherwise, someone may access your own WebCT account and "try out" some tests! This is because your access codes stay active until you quit the browser. And remember, never share your testing access codes with anyone! Cheating Warning: Students are hereby formally forewarned that anybody caught cheating on the tests will automatically fail the course. WebCT has a monitoring capability that automatically "flags" for instructors a variety of potential cheating cases and situations  -- including comparing student answers, times of testing, etc.

III. GRADING: The six Chapter Tests from WebCT will count for 30% of the final grade (5% per test). All the MyEducationLab activities will count for 70% of the final grade (11.67% per chapter complete set of graded activities. Please note: any missed activity will be assigned a grade of zero.) The final letter grade will be assigned, on a scale of 0 to 100, as follows:

94-100 = A	87-89 = B+	77-79 = C+	65-69 = D
90-93 = A-	84-86 = B	74-76 = C	< 65 = F
	80-83 = B-	70-73 = C-

IV. EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS: All students are encouraged to email Dr. Santos and/or Ms. Melanie Hatfield at the addresses above with their concerns, questions, and problems. Expect very brief answers. The "Santos_Class" email address will be read by both instructor and TA; Ms. Hatfield's email address will be read only by her.

WEEK ONE, JUNE 23 - 28: Chapter 1: Foundations of Multicultural Education

Chapter Objectives

    * Objective 1.1: Define multicultural education as an educational strategy that incorporates cultural differences and provides equality and social justice in schools
    * Objective 1.2: Explain the role of culture in people's lives.
    * Objective 1.3: Recognize that U.S. political and social institutions have developed from a Western European and Protestant tradition, and analyze the influence of that tradition in schools.
    * Objective 1.4: Explain the tension between egalitarianism and equality in a democracy.

Study Plan

    * Pretest

    * Study Plan Remediation

WEEK TWO, JUNE 29 - JULY 5: Chapter 2: Ethnicity and Race

Chapter Objectives

    * Objective 2.1: Recognize the pluralistic nature of U.S. society.
    * Objective 2.2: Examine the civil rights struggles of oppressed groups in the United States, especially during the 1950s and 1960s.
    * Objective 2.3: Understand the distinction between the concepts of ethnicity and race.
    * Objective 2.4: Recognize the role of the dominant culture in school curriculum and examine the approaches developed in response to that dominant role.

    * Pretest

    * Study Plan Remediation

Chapter Objectives

    * Objective 3.1: Define socioeconomic status (SES) as a composite of the economic status of a family and describe the various characteristics related to each class level.
    * Objective 3.2: Explain the interaction of class with race and ethnicity, gender, and age.
    * Objective 3.3: Analyze schools, curriculum, and assessment for class bias.
    * Objective 3.4: Explore the inequities of school funding.

Study Plan

    * Pretest

    * Study Plan Remediation

Chapter Objectives

    * Objective 4.1: Explain the disagreements about the importance of biology on the differences between males and females.
    * Objective 4.2: Explore how gender identity is developed.
    * Objective 4.3: Analyze the role of gender discrimination in our society.
    * Objective 4.4: Examine how gender influences schooling and classrooms.

Study Plan

    * Pretest

    * Study Plan Remediation

WEEK FIVE, JULY 20 - 26: Chapter 5: Exceptionality

Chapter Objectives

    * Objective 5.1: Explain the litigation and legislation involved in the movement toward inclusion and freedom from discrimination for individuals with disabilities.
    * Objective 5.2: Explore how adults with disabilities become part of a cultural group for individuals with disabilities by ascription or by individual choice.
    * Objective 5.3: Analyze the disproportionate placement of ethnic minorities, males, and students from low-income families in special education programs.
    * Objective 5.4: Examine how exceptionality influences schooling and classrooms.

Study Plan

    * Pretest

    * Study Plan Remediation

Chapter Objectives

    * Objective 6.1: Explore the connection between language and culture.
    * Objective 6.2: Recognize the linguistic diversity of the United States.
    * Objective 6.3: Analyze the role of bilingualism and bidalecticism in the United States.
    * Objective 6.4: Examine how language use influences schooling and classrooms.

Study Plan

    * Pretest

    * Study Plan Remediation