Chapter Three
An Overview of Schooling in America
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“Social Capital”
• Connections among individuals that give access
to cultural & civic experiences
– Kids get libraries, travel, concerts, museums
– Parents know how to get the best education for
kids (have info., negotiation skills)
• First 150 years of our nation:
– High-quality ed. only for rich white males
– Few schooling options for girls, Native
Americans, African Americans, the poor
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Evolution of Schools
• Consider:
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Role of wealth, privilege, & social capital
Effect of geographic location on access
Goals of education
Effects of immigration
Transmission of values & beliefs
Roles of local, state, federal governments
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Origins of Formal Education
• Old Deluder Satan Act (Mass., 1647):
• Why was it called that?
– A town of 50 households: Must appoint & pay a
teacher of reading & writing
– 100 households: Must offer a grammar school
• Result: The spread of Latin grammar schools
– Forerunner of American high school
– Run by town board
– Financed by students’ families
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Geography & Early Educational Access
• Northern colonies: Mostly Puritans, town schools
taught scripture, schools abundant after 1647
• Mid-Atlantic: Diverse population created range
of grammar & private schools, apprenticeship
programs
• South: Tutors & travel for the rich, fewer schools
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After Independence
• Congress set aside land for public schools
• One-room schoolhouses, multi-age class
• Common schools: Public, tax-supported
elementary schools (1820s)
• Academy: Private secondary school
– Broader, practical curriculum with electives
– For rich, some open to girls
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Rise of the Public School
• Jefferson, Franklin, Mann:
– Democracy needs informed citizens & an
education system that promotes meritocracy
• Immigration in 1830s-1840s created new tasks
for schools:
– Workforce training
– Assimilation of “morally dubious” immigrants into
dominant culture
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“Normal Schools”: Teacher Education
• Two-year programs in educational philosophy &
teaching methods (1830s)
– Catherine Beecher: Train women teachers
– Booker T. Washington: Train African American
teachers
– Was your college or school of education first a
normal school?
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Key Events in American Education
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“Essentialism”: William Bagley
• Core knowledge is essential to person’s life in
society, so schools should teach it
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A.k.a. “back-to-basics,” the “three Rs”
Math, science, literature, history
America should have a common culture
“Teacher knows best”
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“Progressivism”: John Dewey
• Active learning through problem solving,
projects, hands-on experiences
– School = laboratory driven by student curiosity
– Integrate subject matter & make connections to
real life experience
– Teach students to collaborate
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“Perennialism”: Mortimer Adler
• Single core curriculum focused on the enduring
ideas of the great thinkers
– A.k.a. the “Great Books” or “great ideas”
• Focus on classic Greco-Roman literature,
history, art, philosophy, moral instruction
– Curriculum inflexible and unchanging
– Emphasizes Socratic method
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Reform Philosophies
• Goal: Improve society by transforming
oppressive systems through education
– Social reconstructionism: Curriculum promotes
social reform
– Critical theory (Paulo Freire): Students should
challenge oppression
– Existentialism (Søren Kierkegaard): Truth lies
within individual, so students should choose
subjects & learning methods
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Philosophy in the Classroom
• Watch the TeachSource Video Case,
“Philosophical Foundations of American
Education: Four Philosophies in Action”
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Aesthetic education (Maxine Greene)
• Merges artistic expression with social justice
– Learn by doing
– Learn through inquiry (observation & analysis, the
scientific method)
– Focus: Equity, quality of school experience, use
of imagination to break down barriers
– The arts catalyze deeper understanding of ideas
& critical engagement with the world
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Addressing Inequities
• Landmarks in quest for educational opportunity
for all Americans regardless of race, gender, or
ethnicity:
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Brown vs. Bd. of Education (1954)
Civil Rights Act (1964)
Bilingual Education Acts (1968, 1974)
Title IX (1972)
Equal Educational Opportunities Act (1975)
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004)
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Elementary & Secondary Education Act
(ESEA)
• Federal $ to poorest schools (via states)
• Still single largest source of federal $ for K-12
• Title 1: Better opportunities for disadvantaged
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Early childhood education (Head Start)
Tutoring, other supplemental academic instruction
After-school centers
Computer labs for poor schools
Dropout prevention
Job training
Name changed to No Child left Behind Act in 2002
Name Changed back to ESEA in 2010
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Standards-based Reform
• “A nation at risk” (1983) calls for:
– More attention on academic skills & standards, less focus
on school’s role in building social understanding
• Content area standards for knowledge & skills set by
grade level for pre-K–12 (1989)
– National guidelines developed by scholars from each
discipline (math, language arts, science, social studies,
foreign languages, the arts)
• No Child Left Behind Act (2002)
– Accountability through standardized testing
• Race to the Top (2010)- to get big$$- states show
evidence of proposed reform to US Dept of Education
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Individuals with Disabilities Act
• Free, appropriate education for all students with
disabilities
– Before 1975, such students marginalized in
segregated classrooms w. inferior curricula
– Various approaches:
• Special education (students in separate class)
• Partial inclusion (with gen. ed. for part of day)
• Inclusion (class mixes students of all abilities)
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Schooling Today
• Structure & design influenced by:
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Geography
Legislation
Demographics
Educational philosophies of past & present
Global events
Technology
• We have many local & national standards but no
standard student!
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