The History of American
Education
Chapter 4
Colonial New England Education: God’s
Classrooms





Schools to save souls…a path to heaven
Reading, to read the Bible, to do battle
against Satan
Old Deluder Satan Law (1647)
Latin Grammar School (1635) Boston
Harvard College (1636) to prepare ministers
in the Colonies---for the Colonies
The Middle Colonies


A wider range of religions and ethnic groups
Private schools in Philadelphia and New York
by early decades of the 1700s, teaching
practical knowledge and skills e.g.
accounting, navigation, foreign languages
(seaports)
The Southern Colonies



Rural, sparsely populated
Plantation society…wealthy young men sent
to Europe to be educated
Wealthy females had little schooling, but
focused on social responsibilities
A New Nation Shapes Education


Thomas Jefferson…wanted to go beyond
educating a small elite class
Benjamin Franklin Proposals Relating to the
Youth of Pennsylvania (1749), suggesting a
new kind of secondary school…the
Academy accepted both boys and girls, a
variety of practical subjects, became the most
important secondary school in America
The Common School Movement





Town schools and Dame schools not as able to
respond to the growing cry for schooling for the
masses
Horace Mann “the father of the public school”
argued for the benefits of an educated citizenry and
working class
Common and humane values would ameliorate the
rifts between rich and poor
Practical, useful courses of study
The Common School and the Teaching Profession
(video segment 12, 13, 14)
The Secondary School Movement



In 1880, about 10 million in elementary
schools
High numbers of wealthy in private and public
colleges
Kalamazoo Case (1874) establishing the link
between elementary schools and colleges
School Reform Efforts








Committee of Ten (1892)
Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education (1918)
National Defense Education Act (1958)
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965)
Title IX of the Education Amendments (1972)
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1975,
1991, 1997)
A Nation at Risk: the Imperative for Educational
Reform (1983)
No Child Left Behind Act (2001)
Hall of Fame: Profiles in Education




Comenius…developmental stages and
support for universal education (1592-1670)
Rousseau…stages of development,
schooling versus education (1712-1778)
Pestalozzi…special needs of the
disadvantaged and curricular development
(1746-1827)
Froebel…kindergarten (1782-1852)
Hall of Fame




Herbart…moral development and structured
methodology (1776-1841)
Willard…higher education for women,
professional teacher preparation (1787-1870)
Mann…expanding opportunities for the poor,
central role of education for improving life
(1796-1859)
Prudence Crandall…education for African
American girls (1803-1889)
Hall of Fame




Montessori…potential of young children,
environment for learning (1870-1952)
Dewey…progressive education, democracy
and education (1859-1952)
Mary McLeod Bethune…from intellectual
slavery to education (1875-1955)
Piaget…theory of cognitive development
(1896-1980)
Hall of Fame





Skinner…technology of teaching (1904-1990)
Sylvia Ashton-Warner…children at the center
of the curriculum (1908-1984)
Kenneth Clark…the crippling effects of
racism (1914-2005)
Bruner…cognitive psychology in shaping
curriculum (1915- )
Paulo Freire…education for social justice
(1921-1997)