History of American Public Education

Created by High School Learners Curriculum Class Winter, 2009

Dr. Gayle Thieman

1600-1649Apprenticeship was the early form of education in the American colonies. England’s “Poor Law”, which systematized the training of immigrant workers, was transferred to America in 1601.

During this period, social harmony was sought via religion and literacy. Traveling schoolmasters and Kitchen “Dame” classrooms for young children were common. Literacy was desirable in order to be able to read the Bible.

In 1636 Harvard College was established “to advance Learning and perpetuate it to Posterity; dreading to leave an illiterate Ministry to the Churches.”

In Massachussetts, The earliest laws addressed, in the interest of the state and the Christian church, the negligence parents and masters in the education of their apprentices. The “Law of 1642” required that children (apprentices) be taught religion and capital laws of the commonwealth. The “Law of 1647”required that towns of 50 families to hire a schoolmaster to teach reading and writing, and towns of 100 families to hire a grammar schoolmaster to prepare children for Harvard.

(Source: Barger, R. N. 2004. History of American Education Web Project. Accessed at http://www.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/ on 1/25/09. Hosted by University of Notre Dame.)

PUBLIC EDUCATION 1650-1699

AS THERE WAS NO SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE AT THIS POINT, ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS WERE EITHER PURITAN OR CONGREGATIONALIST. THESE SCHOOLS WERE LOCATED IN THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES OF MASSACHUSETTS, CONNECTICUT, AND NEW HAMPSHIRE. THE MAIN PURPOSE OF EDUCATION WAS TO TEACH CHILDREN TO READ AND WRITE SO THEY COULD STUDY THE SCRIPTURES. THE REQUIREMENTS FOR TEACHERS WERE MINIMAL: TEACHERS HAD TO BE ABLE TO READ AND WRITE, HAD TO BE MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH, LOYAL TO THE CROWN, AND HAD TO BE GOOD CITIZENS. THE JOB OF SCHOOL MASTER OFTEN INCLUDED ODD JOBS AROUND TOWN AND HE WAS OFTEN PAID IN TRADE. MANY NEW IMMIGRANTS WERE NOT SATISFIED WITH THIS SORT OF SCHOOLING; THEY WANTED OTHER LANGUAGES BESIDES ENGLISH TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS AND BELIEVED RELIGION DID NOT HAVE A PLACE IN PUBLIC EDUCATION. IT WAS THIS DESIRE TO REMOVE RELIGION FROM EDUCATION AND TEACH IN LANGUAGES OTHER THAN ENGLISH THAT LEAD TO PRIVATE SCHOOLING.

LASTING EFFECTS1650-1700165165165

TEACHERS CONTINUE TO “GET THE SHAFT” WHEN IT COMES TO PROPER COMPENSATION FOR THEIR HARD WORK.

PEOPLE STILL TURN TO PRIVATE SCHOOLS OR CHARTER SCHOOLS WHEN THEY ARE NOT SATISFIED WITH PUBLIC EDUCAITON. THE IMPORTANCE OF A RELIGIOUS EDUCATION CONTINUES FOR MANY, BUT NOW RELIGION IS “ONLY FOUND IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS.”

SOME IMMIGRANTS WANT THEIR CHILDREN TO BE TAUGHT IN ENGLISH AND THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE SO SOME SCHOOLS OFFER LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMS. WE HAVE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS THAT OFFER INSTRUCTION IN TWO LANGUAGES FOR STUDENTS WHO WANT TO STAY FLUENT IN THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE (OTHER THAN ENGLISH) OR STUDENTS WHO WANT TO BECOME BILINGUAL.

1700 - 1749 Like today, primary education was shifting focus due to the

rapidly changing needs of the day Instruction was mainly in reading, writing, math and religion Colonies still under British rule and influence Large population growth and the expansion of manufacturing and trade led to more and better schools Shift from only the wealthy educating their children with private tutors to the need for clerks and literate working people The colonies underwent religious revivalism but were also influenced by the Enlightenment, adding more science to children’s studies

Young boys and girls attended Dame Schools, like daycare Only boys went on to grammar school Rural areas had 1-room schoolhouses Most schools were in the Northern colonies There were few schools in the South, where families educated their own children or hired tutors Native American children were taught by missionaries to assimilate them into Anglo-American Christian culture African American children received little or no education JUSTI

Paper was expensive; most schools used Hornbooks, shown above

The first widely used schoolbook was the New England Primer

American Education1750-1799

• Schooling was mostly done at home.

• Elite could pay for private schooling.– 1751 – Ben Franklin founds

first American “English Academy.”

• Poor could attend church-run “charity schools.”– 1752 – First Lutheran school in

NYC.

• 1778 – Adam Smith argues for parent control of education through voucher system.

• 1798 – Thomas Payne supports voucher idea as a way to provide public education for all children.

Ken

1800-1824

• Colonial style of education: mainly wealthy, white males were educated; women learned how to take care of a household

• Thomas Jefferson advocated for free public education

Allison

The Charity School

• Usually related to a church

• Small operating budget

• Goal: reach as many children as possible

• Taught: grammar and bookkeeping

Significant US History 1800-1824

• Second Great Awakening: religious revival

• 1803 Louisiana Purchase

• War of 1812 with Britain

• Missouri Compromise

Education: 1825-1849Education: 1825-1849Education in the United States during this time was not publicly funded or

regulated by the government. The availability of schools depended on region and location, and schools were generally private and locally

organized.1 As a result, it was typically the children of the white population, who could better afford the costs of education, that received the benefits. In fact, “the first national census conducted in 1840 indicated that near-universal (about 97%) literacy among the white population had been

achieved.”2

However, the drive for the creation of public education, particularly at the elementary level, was in full swing by the 1840s. Educators like Horace Mann, who became the Massachusetts Secretary of Education in 1837,

were actively advocating for “common,” or public schools.3 This ultimately led to the creation of public school systems and compulsory

attendance laws by several states by the late 1800s.

1. Wikipedia. “History of Education in the United States.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Education_in_the_United_States2. Wikipedia. “History of Education in the United States.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Education_in_the_United_States,

citing http://books.google.com/books?id=xMj-8u5DsgsC&pg=PR5&dq=census+%22United+States%22+1800&as_brr=1#PPA144,M1/

3. Wikipedia. “History of Education in the United States.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Education_in_the_United_States

Created by Alyssa Tormala

Connecting the Early 1800s to the Present

• Education is now free for all citizens but is still unequal

• Most schools are not run by churches, instead they are run by government

• Slavery is no longer around, but many schools are still divided by race

Public Schools 1850-1879 • 1851 - The New York State Asylum for Idiots opens.• 1852 - Horace Mann supports Edward Everett, governor of

Massachusetts, with the legislation that enacted the first compulsory education law requiring every child to get an education.

• 1853 - New York follows the lead of Massachusetts and passes its own compulsory education law.

• 1853 - Pennsylvania begins funding the Pennsylvania Training School for Feeble-Minded Children, a private school for children with intellectual disabilities.

• 1856 – The first kindergarten in the U.S. is started in Watertown, Wisconsin, founded by Margarethe Schurz.

• 1857 – The National Teachers Association, now the National Education Association, is founded by forty-three educators in Philadelphia

• 1860 - Elizabeth Palmer Peabody opens the first "formal" kindergarten in Boston, MA.

• 1865 - By the end of the Civil War, most state constitutions guaranteed public support for public education.

• 1867 - After hearing of the desperate situation faced schools in the south, George Peabody funds the two-million-dollar Peabody Education Fund to aid public education in southern states.

• 1874 - The Michigan State Supreme Court rules that Kalamazoo may levi taxes to support a public high school. Setting an important precedent for similar rulings in other states

• 1874 - Michigan Supreme Court rules that communities could use local property taxes to fund secondary schools.. Horace Mann

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e0/HMann.jpg

http://www.cloudnet.com/~edrbsass/educationhistorytimeline.html

http://www.goodschoolspa.org/pdf/learn_factsheets/Timeline_PublicEducation_America.pdf

Dan

1875-1899

• 1875- The Civil Rights Act is passed, banning segregation in all public accommodations. The Supreme Court rules it unconstitutional in 1883

• 1877- Reconstruction formally ends as President Rutherford B. Hayes removes the last federal troops from the south. The foundation for a system of legal segregation and discrimination is quickly established. Many African Americans flee the south.

• 1896- The Supreme Court ruling in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson makes “separate but equal” policies legal. It becomes a legal precedent used to justify many other segregation laws, including “separate but equal” education.

-bullets from (http://www.cloudnet.com/~edrbsass/educationhistorytimeline.html)

The film we watched in class does not give much attention to this post Civil War era. However the education system in the United States is largely localized. The film characterizes the period by describing the community involvement of the families. Textbooks and curriculum were not yet centralized and students would bring books from home. A closer look at the contextual implications of the latter half of the century suggests deeply rooted foundations being poured for systemic racism which we are still feeling the effects of today (see bullet points).

1900-1919• During this time period, public schools began to be seen as a

place to train people to be Americans--including immigrants.  At school, newly immigrated children could learn to speak, read and write in English.

• Vocational training became important as a response to dead end jobs.

• Population growth made the "factory schools" we know today necessary.  Students would go from one specialized teacher to another throughout the day rather than stay with one general education teacher.

•  1916-John Dewey published Democracy and Education spurring the Progressive Education Movement 

• 1917-The Smith-Hughes Act provides federal funding for vocational school.

• 1919-By this time, all states have laws that provide transportation for students. 

Pictured at right (top to bottom)John Dewey

A schoolhouse built in 1910 in Codell, KansasAn early school bus

 (Slide by Jolene Stensland)

1920sJohn Dewey: The “Father of Progressive

Education”?*Dewey imagined the school classroom as an “embryonic community” where students could explore their world and make sense of it.*He advocated for schools as agencies of social change.*He did not endorse using them simply to train the next generation of factory workers.

--From “The Marrow Report: In Schools We Trust.”

http://www.ait.net/technos/images/94Dewey.jpg

1930-19391930-1939Key Stat Enrollment in American schools reached 29 million students.

Economic Viewpoint Factories moved away from individualized production and entered into the era

of “Mass Production.”

Effects on the Education System Students above the elementary level (1-6), began moving from classroom-to-

classroom, as learning became specialized. Teachers were similar to workers on an assembly line, teaching students a

specific knowledge (i.e., Math, Reading, Science, etc.) The emergence of school districts and smaller grade-level specific schools.

Elementary Schools: Grades 1-6 Junior High/Middle Schools: Grades 7-9 High Schools: Grades 10-12

Historical Context The 1930s saw the emergence of the modern-day high school and school

districts, and also the decline of the one-room schools. By 1995, there were less than 1,000 one-room schools open in the country.

Rick Stupak

Education in the 1940s

• Population increase necessitated acommodating more students.

• Schools became reorganized modeling mass production of industry

• K-12 split into K-6, 7-9, 10-12 division• Schools changed from 1 teacher, 1 room to

specialized teachers for each subject as we have today.

• U.S. was in the middle of the Cold War with Russia and fear of Communism was nation-wide.• Russia’s Sputnik rocket made Americans doubt

education system in the U.S. More emphasis placed on science, math and foreign language in public schools.• Desegregation of schools began. ( Brown vs. The

Board of Education, 1954) Integration did not take place until the 1960’s by government force.• Federal funds given to public schools for the first time by President Johnson in 1958.• Many reform movements took place during this time era.

1950-1960

1960-1969

Issues to consider:

Terms to know:

• Learning disability (1963)• Civil Rights Act (1964)• Head Start (1965)

Societal factors:• Wars (do you know

which?)• Desegregation

The Little Rock Nine are still famous, but what are the stories of other students who experienced school desegregation such as Ruby Bridges?

What was the lasting impact of Samuel A. Kirk’s “learning disability” wording at a conference in 1963?

Did the Vietnam War-related increase in college enrollment by the end of the 1960s promote grade inflation?

_______________________________

CHECK OUT http://www.cloudnet.com/~edrbsass/educationhistorytimeline.html for more great information!

Education from 1970-1979

●Courts ordered busing to desegregate schools

●Disabled students became legally required to be provided with an education

● The US Department of Education was created October 17, 1979.

● President Carter created the new position of Secretary of Education on December 6, 1979. The first appointee was Shirley Hufstedler.

1980 – 1989•1983 A Nation At Risk

•A Nation at Risk: The Imperative For Educational Reform is the title of the 1983 report of President Ronald Reagan’s National Commission on Excellence in Education. •Among other things, the report contributed to the ever-growing (and still present) sense that American schools are failing miserably, and it touched off a wave of local, state, and federal reform efforts.

•1988 Education Reform Act (United Kingdom)•Widely regarded as the most important single piece of education legislation in the U.K. since the 'Butler' Education Act of 1944.•Act included the introduction of: “Grant Maintained Schools,” “National Curriculum,” “Key Stages” with specific educational objectives at each stage, choice of schools by parents, and “League Tables” with the published results of standardized exams by school.•Forms the basis for the United States’ No Child Behind Act of 2001.

Source: Wikipedia “A Nation at Risk”, “Education Reform Act”Source: Wikipedia “A Nation at Risk”, “Education Reform Act” Darcy Davidson 1/27/2009Darcy Davidson 1/27/2009

Education in America 1990-1999Washington contributes 6 cents of every dollar spent on education

7 Billion spent annually on Title I programs

US educational system outdated and needs to be redesigned for the 21st century so…

In 1996-IBM, AT&T and other big businesses hold summit on improving education standards because Washington will “just screw it up”

Walter Annenberg-donates $500 million dollars for schools

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/163/380814854_615413d2d3.jpg

2000-PresentNo Child Left Behind (NCLB)

• No Child Left Behind was signed into law January 8, 2002.  Latest revision of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The overall purpose of the law is to ensure that each child in  America is able to meet the high learning standards of the state where he or she lives.

• NCLB: requires all public schools administer a state-wide standardized test annually to all students. Schools which receive Title I funding must make Adequate Yearly Progress in test scores (e.g. each year, its fifth graders must do better on standardized tests than the previous years).

• If a Title I school fails to make Adequate Yearly Progress, it is put on a list of "failing schools" published in the local paper and parents are given the option to transfer to another school. Its Title I funding is cut and it must provide special tutoring for its students.