Spring 2027

Sociology of Education

Examines American schools through a sociological lens, focusing on social inequality and the intersection of class, race, and gender in student experiences.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Peter Rich

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Sara Goldrick-Rab

Readings were numerous but considered relevant and interesting. The student who provided this feedback rated the course difficulty as moderate.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Articulate the relationship between education and social inequality in the U.S. along various dimensions

  • Apply critical thinking skills to your understanding of educational institutions and individual educational experiences

  • Effectively communicate what you learned about the sociology of education both orally and in writing

  • Read and evaluate sociological research on education and schooling

  • Read and evaluate sociological research on education and schooling and relate to own methodological and theoretical backgrounds

Source: UW Guide 1 UW Guide 2

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Junior standing

  • Junior standing
EDPOL/SOC 648

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • Junior standing

Professors

Spring 2027
Historical instructors & teaching patterns

MICHAEL R. OLNECK is recorded teaching in Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2010. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 400
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 400

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Sara Goldrick-Rab

Students described the course as enjoyable and thought-provoking, with lectures that were well-organized and clear. The instructor was noted for being knowledgeable and able to tie various disciplines together.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2023: 3.91 GPA, 97.1% A/AB (n=35 letter grades); Spring 2024: 3.96 GPA, 97.2% A/AB (n=36 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.88 GPA, 94.1% A/AB (n=17 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Sara Goldrick-Rab

Readings were numerous but considered relevant and interesting. The student who provided this feedback rated the course difficulty as moderate.

Past student reviews · Sara Goldrick-Rab

Feedback on the instructor's demeanor was mixed; one student mentioned a large ego, while another encouraged attending office hours and rated the teaching highly.

Topics

  • Social inequality, class, race, and gender in education
  • Relationship between schools and broader social structures

Skills

  • Critical thinking regarding educational institutions
  • Evaluating sociological research on education
  • Oral and written communication of sociological concepts

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
EDPOL/SOC 648 · Spring 2027

Sociology of Education

Recorded 2026-10-14
EDPOL/SOC 648 · Spring 2027

Sociology of Education

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
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  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:310:006047",
    "course_id": "EDPOL/SOC 648",
    "course_uid": "course_3273da77c8e82cb72f65a9ea",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "006047",
    "source_subject_id": "310",
    "title": "Sociology of Education",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  },
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:900:006047",
    "course_id": "EDPOL/SOC 648",
    "course_uid": "course_3273da77c8e82cb72f65a9ea",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "006047",
    "source_subject_id": "900",
    "title": "Sociology of Education",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "05cdd374addd04bfcea09da470cf1ecf31b2ec6d9eac9d7392c16e73a15239e3",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}