Chapter 7 Notes
The History of American Education
Chapter Preview
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Understanding the history of American schools offers perspective
Will trace American education from colonial times forward
o Story of opening education to American citizens
Complex expectations surrounding schools (what is the purpose of school, etc.)
o Product of society for three centuries
o Individuals, groups and government agencies have all contributed to
making public schools accessible
 State laws, federal laws
Video: The Evolution of Educators Part I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiLgzZAzSJU&feature=related
Colonial New England Education: God’s Classrooms
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Religion played an important role
o Education provided a path to heaven and reading, writing and moral
development revolved around the Bible
Schooling began in the home
o Reading lessons
o Values, manners, vocational skills-taught by parents and grandparents
o Eventually some women began devoting time to teaching
 Converted their homes into schools
 Dame Schools: primary schools in colonial America and other
early periods in which students were taught by untrained women in
the women’s homes
 Sometimes became the “community teacher”
Apprenticeship programs:
o Boys were sent to live with masters who taught them a trade (Ex: welding,
managing farms and shops)
 Sometimes learned reading and writing from masters
 In place of the parent
o Girls learned homemaking skills from their mothers
o Led to uneven teaching/learning
 Beginning of more structured schooling laws/environments
Old Deluder Satan Law (1647):
o Every town of 50 households must appoint and pay a teacher of reading
and writing
o Every town of 100 households must provide a Latin grammar school to
prepare children for university (boys)
o Was uncomplicated to establish these schools
Latin Grammar School (first established in Boston in 1635): prep school
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Served boys ages 7-14, for children of wealthy families
Reading and Latin recitation
By the 1700s, curriculum included math, science and modern languages
Considered the first high schools in America
Most graduates went on to college
A New Nation Shapes Education
o European beliefs and practices were gradually being abandoned
o New national “character” was being formed
o Before, Puritan religion was a foundation in schools-they had no desire to
separate the two
 Designed to teach children how to read and understand the Bible
o During the 1700s: education was reconstructed to meet more nonsectarian goals
o Thomas Jefferson: wanted to go beyond educating a small elite class or
providing only religious instruction
 Maintained that education should be more widely available to
Caucasian children of all economic classes
 People began questioning the value of teaching Greek and
Latin
 People argued that practical skills were needed!
o Benjamin Franklin: proposed a new secondary school (high school) to
replace the Latin Grammar Schools
 Suggested establishing the academy: the Franklin Academy: no
religion, offered more practical subjects (such as math, astronomy,
athletics, navigation, drama, bookkeeping)
 Students could choose courses (electives)
 Considered the most important secondary school in
America at the time (replaced the long-standing Latin
Grammar School in importance)
 Accepted both boys and girls (tuition-based)
The Common School Movement
o Early 19th century “common men” began advocating for more access to education
o Horace Mann: leading advocate for establishment of common schools:
o School open to all (Caucasians of any economic status)
o Today called “public elementary school”
o “Father of public school”
o Believed public education should serve both practical and idealistic goals
 Practical: business and industry would benefit
 Idealistic: public schools should help us assuage differences in
people
 Reduce social disharmony
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Moral programs that he wanted to institute offended people
of different religions (battles of the role of religion in
school)
o Disputes:
 1. Labor pool reduced if children are in school
 2. Competition between private and religious schools
 3. Overeducated population: question authority and promote selfinterest?
o Horace Mann-Worked to promote educated teachers:
 Normal schools: The first teacher-education schools
 Teach educators pedagogy (teaching methodology)
 Teach ways to improve and modernize instruction
 Opposed corporal punishment
 Sought ways to positively motivate children
 Emphasized teaching practical subjects
 Saw education as a great investment in individuals and the country
Spinsters, Bachelors and Gender Barriers in Teaching
o Into the mid-1800’s males dominated the teaching field
o A gendered career: A term applied to the gender stereotyping of career and
occupational fields
o The demand for more and inexpensive teachers created by common
schools (public elementary schools) made hiring teachers inevitable
o By the early 1900s women constituted 90%
 Preferred to hire unmarried women (not obligated to home and
work)
 School districts began actively recruiting men
 Men taught secondary education
 Science and math education
o Objects of ridicule:
 Began to associate women as spiteful, bitter, hateful, frustrated,
unpleasant; choose teaching over motherhood (unnatural)-could
cause boys to become effeminate
 Began to associate men as effeminate (married men with children
were preferred)-could endanger the children
The Secondary School Movement
o Up to 10 million students were enrolled in elementary schools and many public
and private universities were established
o English Classical School: first public high school (slow to take off in popularity)
o Most were tuition based, private schools
o Were not viewed as an extension of elementary school
 Most people did not want to pay additional taxes to support public
high schools
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Toward the end of the 1800s, the nation became more urban and
industrial
 Elementary schools were seen as inadequate to meet the
needs more a more sophisticated society
 High school became viewed as an important stepping-stone
to better jobs
o College preparatory and vocational training
The Evolution of Educators Part II Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvI6ODUAMek&feature=fvw
John Dewey and Progressive Education
o John Dewey-one of the most influential educators of the 1900s
o Closely associated with the progressivism movement
 Broadens schools to include:
 1. health concerns, family and community life issues,
concern for vocational education
 2. applied new research in psychology and social sciences
to classroom practices
 3. emphasized a more democratic educational approach,
accepting the interests and needs of an increasingly diverse
body of students
 Model assumes that students learn best when their learning follows
their interests
 Today’s Progressivism
o Seeks to make education practical and applicable to the needs of
students and society
 Making knowledge and skills meaningful
 Progressivism Theories
o Believe education should be a perpetually enriching process of
ongoing growth
o Not only preparation for adulthood
o Center education on experiences, interests and abilities of the
student
 Teachers:
 Plan lessons that encourage curiosity and guide
students’ great levels of learning
 Use games and hands-on-experiences
o Children work together to solve problems, generate ideas, and create
new knowledge
 Criticism of Dewey and the progressive education movement
o Students had too much independence to explore and question
 Traditional values were not being met
o School curriculum was not being met
 End “student-centered, life-adjustment” subjects
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Argue for a more rigorous curriculum (math, science)
 Launch of Sputnik
Eight year study of students of progressive education approaches
o 1. Earned a slightly higher GPA
o 2. Earned higher grades in all fields except foreign language
o 3. Tended to specialize in the same fields as more traditional students
o 4. Received slightly more academic honors
o 5. Were judged to be more objective and more precise thinkers
o 6. Were judged to possess higher intellectual curiosity and greater
drive
The Federal Government
o After WWII, the US was seen as the most powerful country in the world
o Launch of Sputnik-“back to basics;” include more math and science into
the curriculum
o Establishment of National Defense Education Act (NDEA) (1958):
Enhance the security of the nation;
 “Develop the mental resources and technical skills of its young
men and women.”
 Provide college loans and scholarships for degrees/subjects they
deemed important to helping the nation (including teaching)
 Was the establishment of the NDEA legal?
o Tenth Amendment: any area not specifically stated in the Constitution as a
federal responsibility is automatically assigned to the states
o “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to
the people.”
o Beliefs:
 Since the individual colonies had already established disparate
education systems, the framers of the Constitution did not want to
create dissension by forcing the states to accept a single
educational system
 It was purposely left out of the Constitution because they did not
want schools run by a central government
 The central government could be seen as a possible threat
to freedom
 Others argue they forgot to include education (!)
o Each state created its own educational system and methods for educating
teachers
 Arguments: Smaller communities know their students best!
Black Americans: The Struggle for a Chance to Learn
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Law prohibiting education of slaves: 1740-South Carolina, other states followed
and passed similar laws
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o Risked the penalties of these laws
o Risked dangers of violence for a chance to learn
o Formed clandestine schools
Civil war ended compulsory ignorance laws
Brought an affirmation of the belief in education
o Schooling post-Civil War: schooling supported by philanthropic societies
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): Supreme Court decision:
o Legalized segregated American life
o Separate but equal: initially legalized separate passenger train cars but
was used to legally separate schools (among other things)
o Separate but equal was not equal
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas (1954)
o Supreme Court unanimously ruled that “separate but equal has no place”
o Even almost 10 years after Brown v. Board, African American students
still attended all-black schools in the South
Civil Rights Act (1964)
o Gave the federal government power to help local school districts
desegregate and when necessary initiate law suits to withhold federal
funds to foce desegregation
Video: Brown v. Board of Education:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTGHLdr-iak
Hispanics: Growing School Impact
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Over 45 million Hispanics live in the United States (up more than 75% since
1980)-statistic from textbook
o Make up 15% of the nation’s population; the largest minority group in the
nation
o Population numbers may be underestimated
Youngest and fastest growing school-age population in the United States
o ¼ of all kindergarteners
o By 2020, ¼ of all school-age children
Consist of several subgroups
o Share similar language but differ in other ways such as race, location, age,
income and educational attainment
o Three largest subgroups:
 Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans
 Next largest subgroups:
 Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras
o Some people’s ancestors are recent immigrants while others’ have been
living in the Southwest (Texas, California, New Mexico, Arizona) and
Southeast (Florida) for centuries
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: The Magnitude of Diversity
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Includes people from very diverse backgrounds and countries
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o India, Vietnam, Chine, Pakistan, Korea, Samoa, Japan, Native Hawaii
People from these countries make up about ½ of the world’s population
o Over 15 million people in America have roots in Asia
o Numbers are predicted to increase by 2050
Many of these cultures hold education in high esteem, are well-mannered and
respectful of adults
o In the US, kindergarteners of Asian descent outscore peers in reading and
math
o 50% of Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders graduate from college
o After one year of graduation, they have a higher starting salary than any
other racial or ethnic group (not just minority group)
Often grouped together, but they represent great ethnic and cultural diversity
Arab Americans: Moving Beyond the Stereotype
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Often misunderstood and often experience intolerance
Arab Americans’ quality of life is often influenced by events that take place in
other parts of the world
o 9/11
o Israeli/Palestine
o Iraq
The challenge to educators: students and teachers need to learn about Arab
Americans and the Arab world
Waves of immigration: came in search of political freedom and economic
prosperity (which is the same as many immigrants)
o Often settle in major urban centers: Detroit, Toledo, New York City
Many Americans often confuse Arab and Islam
o Islam is the predominant religion of the Middle East
o Many do not practice Islam (Christian, Jewish, Druse)
o Most (not all!) share the same culture and speak the same language
As a whole, Arab Americans do well in schools and attend colleges
o Graduation rates are higher than the American average
Women and Education: A History of Sexism
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For almost two centuries, girls were not allowed to attend American schools
o Fewer than 1/3 of women could even sign their own name in colonial
times
o Female seminaries: wealthy families could education daughters beyond
elementary school
 Paradox: educating women beyond elementary school for a world
not ready to accept educated women
 “Professionalizing motherhood”
o Sex in Education (1873)
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Women attending high school and college were at risk because the
blood destined for the development and health of their ovaries
would be redirected to their brains
 Read description on page 264
 Parents feared for the health of their daughters
 Sent them to less demanding programs for females
 Kept them out of advanced education entirely
Up until the 1970s that gender segregation was common
o Learned commercial trades
Title IX
o “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded
from participation, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to
discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal
financial assistance.”
o Most think it’s for athletics, but it applies to many things
o Ignorance in the law is widespread; it’s therefore rarely enforced
Glass wall/Glass ceiling