Locating the State of High School Sociology on the Academic Map

by Michael A. DeCesare, University of Massachusetts

The topic of my PhD dissertation is sociology in public high schools. During the course of my work thus far, I have become convinced of the importance of sociology faculty working with high school teachers.

Let me begin by pointing out that sociology in American high schools is in disarray and has been for much of its 90-year history. The most commonly cited problem with the courses is the uneven sociological training of the teachers who offer them (see Dennick-Brecht 2000; Dorn 1986; Dykstra 1967; Friedman and Howery 1995; Gray 1993; Grupp 1961; Howery 1985; Lashbrook 2001; Short and Matlock 1982; Short et al. 1986; Weber 1978). In addition, the courses have often lacked clear objectives (Grupp 1962; Kraft 1981; Weber 1978), included debatable content (Dorn 1986; Dykstra 1967; Grupp 1962; Kraft 1981; Weber 1978), and utilized poor instructional materials (Dykstra 1967; Grupp 1961, 1962). Despite these long-standing problems, sociology faculty have shown little interest in the high school course.

But the quality of the high school course does affect academic sociologists and sociology. For instance, the quality of high school sociology courses directly affects the number of incoming college students who declare sociology as a major. The better and more interesting the secondary school courses, the more students are attracted to college sociology courses. Having a more robust pipeline into college could lead to more majors, more courses, and even more faculty!

The eventual implementation of an Advanced Placement (AP) course and exam in high school sociology could also cause a change in the enrollment of undergraduate introductory courses (see Persell [2001] for details regarding the work to date of the ASA Task Force on the Advanced Placement [AP] Course in Sociology). By passing the AP sociology course and exam in high school, students would be able to “test out” of the introductory college course and to consider other lower division courses.

The condition of the high school sociology course affects not only what we teach in college, and how many of us teach it, but also who we teach. More rigorous and consistent high school sociology courses could produce better sociology students. One way to improve the quality of our majors is to introduce them at an earlier age to a better introductory sociology course (Levine 1997).

It is also more beneficial to students themselves to first introduce sociology in high school rather than in college. For example, with its typically smaller class sizes, and more personal relationships between teachers and students, high school may provide the most fertile ground for sowing the seeds of the sociological imagination. Further, the discipline as a whole may benefit if it were to be first introduced to high school students rather than to college students. High school students constitute one of sociology’s largest public audiences. In front of what better audience can we begin to correct the public’s misperceptions about what sociology is and what sociologists do? Many high school students do not pursue college and might be best served by some of the insights of our discipline.

Like most of our undergraduate students, many of us are interested only in that which we feel is directly relevant to our own lives. I am arguing that the condition of high school sociology is directly relevant to each of our professional lives. Having seen this, I think the next step is for academic sociologists to begin paying consistent and serious attention to changing the secondary sociology course for the better. Doing so will not only positively affect each of us as individual sociologists, but also the collective sociological enterprise.

References

DeCesare, Michael A. Forthcoming. “The Lesson to be Learned: The Past Troubles and Future Promise of Teaching High School Sociology.” Teaching Sociology.

Dennick-Brecht, M. K. 2000. “A Status Report on Introductory Sociology Courses in Public High Schools in Pennsylvania.” EdD dissertation, School of Education, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA.

Dorn, Dean S. 1986. “High School Sociology: A View from California.” Footnotes 14(4):13-14.

Dykstra, John W. 1967. “The High School Sociology Course.” Social Education 31:487-89.

Friedman, Simone and Carla B. Howery. 1995. “Report on a Survey of State Credentialling Standards and Textbook Selection in High Schools.” American Sociological Association Committee on Sociology in the Elementary and Secondary Schools, Washington, DC.

Gray, Paul S. 1993. “Sociology in the Schools.” Pp. 187-200 in Teaching Social Studies: Handbook of Trends, Issues, and Implications for the Future, edited by V. S. Wilson, J. A. Litle, and G. L. Wilson. Westport, CT: Greenwood.

Grupp, Stanley E. 1961. “The Status of Teaching Sociology in High Schools.” Sociology and Social Research 45:327-31.

Grupp, Stanley E. 1962. “High School Sociology: A Challenge.” The High School Journal 46:42-46.

Howery, Carla B. 1985. “Sociology in High School.” Footnotes 13(1):4.

Kraft, James D. 1981. “High School Sociology in Wisconsin: A Troubled Discipline.” Wisconsin Sociologist 18:65-71.

Lashbrook, Jeff. 2001 “Sociology in High School: A Profile of New York State.” Teaching Sociology 29:354-59.

Levine, Felice J. 1997. “The K-12 Pipeline in Sociology.” Footnotes 25(1):2.

Persell, Caroline H. 2001. “ASA Task Force on AP Course in Sociology Gets Down to Work.” Footnotes 29(9):4.

Short, Alvin P. and Donald T. Matlock. 1982. “Sociology Programs in U.S. High Schools: Current Findings with a National Sample.” Teaching Sociology 9:313-22.

Short, Alvin P., W. David Watts, and Donald T. Matlock. 1986. “Sociology in the High School: Perceptions of Those Who Teach It.” Sociological Spectrum 6:211-19.