State
University of New York
G
S
E
FALL 2013
Professor: Adam Laats Class Times: Mon. 4:25-7:00 PM
Office: AB 231 Meeting Place: AB 234
Phone: 777-3329 Office Hours: Mondays 9:30-11:30
E-Mail: alaats@binghamton.edu
and by appt.
This course will allow the student to explore the historical complexity of American education. In addition to discussing various historical issues, students will consider the ways these historical events have determined current educational policy and practice.
Some of the issues that will be considered are early history of schooling, the experiences of ethnic minority groups, the political battles that have raged over education, and the history of various reform movements in education.
The format of the class will be a reading seminar. It will require active participation by all students.

LIST OF REQUIRED BOOKS
1.
Thomas Hine, The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager
2.
W.J. Rorabaugh, The Craft Apprentice
3.
Carl Kaestle, Pillars of the Republic: Common Schools and the American
Republic, 1780-1860
4.
James Anderson, The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935
5.
David Wallace Adams, Education for Extinction: American Indians and the
Boarding-School Experience
6.
David Nasaw, Children of the City
7.
David Tyack, One Best System
8.
Larry Cuban and David Tyack, Tinkering Toward Utopia
9.
Jonathan Zimmerman, Whose America? Culture Wars in the Public Schools
10.
William J. Reese, Testing Wars in the Public Schools: A Forgotten History
11.
Nancy Beadie, Education and the Creation of Capital in the Early American
Republic
12.
Linda Eisenmann, Higher Education for Women in Postwar America
13.
John Dewey, Education and Experience
–OR- E.H. Carr,
What is History (see below)
I. CLASS MEETINGS
The class meets on Monday afternoons from 4:25-7:00 pm in AB 234. This is a discussion-based course. The assigned readings are the basis for the discussions, and students are expected to carry the bulk of our conversations. Students should come to class prepared to critique the readings assigned for that afternoon's meeting. A high level of participation is expected.
Attendance: Due to the fact that our class meets only once per week, attendance at all class meetings is mandatory. If an emergency occurs and a student must miss a class, she or he must meet with me at a convenient time to discuss the class proceedings. If a second class is missed, the student must write a five-six page review essay of that week’s reading AND meet with me to discuss it. If more than two classes are missed, or if a student does not make up missed classes, there will be a grade penalty on the student’s participation grade. Penalties may range from a severe grade penalty on the participation grade to a grade of incomplete for the entire course, at the discretion of the instructor.
II. COURSE DETAILS
Readings/Discussions: The goal of assigned readings (indicated in schedule of class meetings) is for students to engage one another with regard to the material at hand and unpack the ways in which historians practice their craft through the use of evidence, argument, theoretical paradigm, and methodology. Students must commit to open and respectful discussions. See Student Handbook for details: http://studenthandbook.binghamton.edu/

III. STUDENT REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING
Class participation: 15% of the course grade :
This is a discussion-based course. The assigned readings are the basis for the discussions, and students are expected to carry the bulk of our conversations. Students should come to class prepared to critique the readings assigned for that afternoon's meeting. A high level of participation is expected. The goals of each book discussion are to challenge our ideas about the reading and about the topic at hand.
Discussion Reading comments/questions: 20% of the course grade:
Every seminar participant will submit by email one short paragraph about the reading. It must include a topic or question for discussion. Our discussions will be built around these paragraphs, distributed anonymously.
Paper: 65% of the course grade
Students will write an article-length (25-35 pp.) historical research paper. This paper can take one of two forms. Papers can either delve deeply into a single, specific topic such as
Endicott-Johnson’s “Americanization” education program in the early twentieth century, or treat more broadly the history of a specific area of education, such as the development of special-education policy in the United States. Students will present their papers in several required steps. The goal of each step is to improve and polish the research and prose. See appendix for details.
IV. CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
The faculty and staff in the School of Education are committed to serving all enrolled students. The intention is to create an intellectually stimulating, safe, and respectful class atmosphere. In return it is expected that each of you will honor and respect the opinions and feelings of others.
V. ACCOMMODATIONS
If you are a student with a disability and wish to request accommodations, please notify the instructor by the second week of class. You are also encouraged to contact the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) AT 777-2686. Their office is in LH-B51.
The SSD office makes formal recommendations regarding necessary and appropriate accommodations based on specifically diagnosed disabilities. Information regarding disabilities is treated in a confidential manner.
VI. ACADEMIC HONESTY
"All members of the university community have the responsibility to maintain and foster a condition and an atmosphere of academic integrity. Specifically, this requires that all classroom, laboratory, and written work for which a person claims credit is in fact that person's own work." The annual university Student Handbook publication has detailed

information on academic integrity. Binghamton University has obtained a license with
Turnitin.com to facilitate faculty review for potential plagiarism of papers and projects in their courses, which they are encouraged to do. "Students assume responsibility of the content and integrity of the academic work they submit. Students are in violation of academic honesty if they incorporate into their written or oral reports any unacknowledged published or unpublished or oral material from the work of another
(plagiarism); or if they use, request, or give unauthorized assistance in any academic work (cheating)." (SOE Academic Honesty Policies) Neither plagiarism nor cheating will be tolerated in this class. Incidents of either will result in a failing grade for the assignment in question, at the minimum. If you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism or cheating, PLEASE ASK ME! See also http://www2.binghamton.edu:8080/exist6/rest/lists2010-
11/2_academic_policies_and_procedures_all_students/academicPoliciesAndProcedureAl lStudents.xml?_xsl=/db/xsl/compose.xsl
SCHEDULE OF CLASS MEETINGS
August 26: Introductions

Our educational histories

History, memory, education and policy: the history of a hoax
September 2: No class meeting: Labor Day
September 16: History & Education
ESSAY TOPIC DUE
Required reading: Historiography articles: articles available via Electronic Course
Reserves—find via class Blackboard site.
 John L. Rury, “The Curious Status of the History of Education: A parallel
Perspective” in History of Education Quarterly 46 (Winter 2006): 571-598.

Sol Cohen, “The History of the History of American Education, 1900-1976: The
Uses of the Past,”
Harvard Educational Review , 46:3 (August 1976): 298-330.
 Jurgen Herbst, “The history of education: state of the art at the turn of the century in Europe and North America” in
Paedagogica Historica 35, no. 3 (1999): 737-
747.

Kathleen Weiler,
“‘What Happens in the Historian’s Head?’”
History of
Education Quarterly 51:2 (May 2011): 247-253.
Required reading: E.H. Carr, What is History?
(Note: for those who have not previously
-ORread this title in seminar.)
John Dewey, Experience and Education
September 16: Reform and Slinkies
Required reading: Larry Cuban and David Tyack, Tinkering Toward Utopia
*In-class activity: Kids these days: the view from 1925

*Change and School: What has stayed the same? Why? http://www.oldkewgardens.com/ps99.html
September 23: Youth, Education, and History
Required reading: Thomas Hine, The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager
September 30: The Colonial Approach
Required reading: W.J. Rorabaugh, The Craft Apprentice
*Documents and history: what was colonial education? For whom ? Why was it?
October 7: Founding, Financing, and Schooling
Required reading: Nancy Beadie, Education and the Creation of Capital in the Early
American Republic
October 14: The Nineteenth Century Model
Required reading: Carl Kaestle, Pillars of the Republic: Common Schools and the
American Republic, 1780-1860
* Historical research workshop. How can I find what I want?
* What lingers in our current educational system from its early years?
Tom Sawyer and the culture of coercive schooling
The Lancastrian System and its long hangover
October 21: The Roots of America’s Testing Wars
Required reading: William Reese, Testing Wars
*Document analysis: Old-school conservatives: Boston School Masters
What are our biases?
What does this source tell me?
What does it leave out?
What else do I need to know to understand this document?
October 28: African-Americans and Schooling: the Legacy of Self-Help
Required reading: James Anderson, The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935
*Reconstruction, revision and historiography
Scalawags, Carpetbaggers, “Negro Rule,” Thomas Nast, William Dunning,
Woodrow Wilson, WEB Dubois, and Eric Foner
How can we trust historians?
November 4: Native American Indians and Schooling: Schools as Imperial
Impositions
RESEARCH UPDATES
Required reading: David Wallace Adams, Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding-School Experience
*Connections: How do historical racial issues determine current educational practice?

November 11: Adolescence and Urban Life
Required reading: David Nasaw, Children of the City
*Children in an industrial age http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?st=grid&co=nclc
November 18: The Rise of Administrative Professionals
Required reading: David Tyack, One Best System.
This class will be held on-line, in an asynchronous discussion format. Details
TBA. Seminar members are all invited, but not forced, to attend an EVoS talk this evening about creationism in American schools. Details TBA.
November 25:
ESSAY PANEL PRESENTATION
December 2: New Generations and Americanism
Required reading: Linda Eisenmann, Higher Education for Women in Postwar America
December 9: Schooling as Cultural Competition
Required reading: Jonathan Zimmerman, Whose America? Culture Wars in the Public
Schools
DECEMBER 16: FINAL DRAFTS OF ESSAYS DUE.

This essay is intended to accomplish one of two goals:
Option 1.) Archival research paper; or
Option 2.) Secondary-source issue analysis.
If you choose to write an archival research essay , you should choose a research topic for which you have access to archival sources. Some topics may include local subjects such as Endicott-Johnson’s educational programs or Binghamton University’s “Bermuda
Revolt” of the early 1960s. Both the Binghamton University archives and the Broome
County Historical Society have rich collections of such document collections. The archives of the American Book Company are nearby in Syracuse. If you have access to and interest in other research topics, first check to make sure enough archival material exists to support your research.
If you choose to write a secondary-source issue analysis , you should consult the historical literature of your topic. For instance, if you choose to write a history of special-education policy in the United States, you should dig up a library of material discussing the topic. Your goal will be to synthesize the material into a clear thesis supported by ample evidence from your secondary sources.
Whichever option you choose, you will need to prepare and submit your essay in four distinct stages.
Stage one (ungraded), September 16: Research topic due.
You will submit and present a brief (two-minute) description of your planned essay topic. Your topic must include a thesis statement, a rough outline of your essay, and a list of sources.
Stage two (ungraded), November 4: Research update.
You will describe orally your progress to date. You do not need to submit any written documentation of this progress. The seminar will offer questions and suggestions about your research.
Stage three (graded), November 25: Paper presentations.
You will present and submit your essay on this date. Each panel participant will be strictly limited to a ten-minute presentation of her or his argument, sources, and evidence. You will turn in your essay on this date for a grade .
Stage four (graded), December 16: Paper submission.
You will turn in a revised essay on this date. Your grade for this essay will supersede the grade given for the original submission.