Bell Ringer Why is history important? Why study history?

Historical Foundations of US Education

Why is history important? “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Author, George Santayana We cannot understand today’s schools without looking at what they were before!

Why is history important? Knowledge of events that influenced schools will help in evaluation of current proposals for change. (What worked and didn’t work before!) Awareness of events that have influenced teaching is a hallmark of professionalism.

European Antecedents Ancient Greece – Goal of education was to develop well rounded individuals. Leisure time was used to learn. (Got the leisure time because of the work of slaves.) Women were not allowed to become citizens.

European Antecedents Socrates – Philosopher who used questioning strategies to stimulate discussions to drive learning. Plato – Believed education should be used to better society. Boys and girls should be education from age 6 – 18 in music, math, and gymnastics. Aristotle – Believed that goodness is what you do, not what you know.

European Antecedents Ancient Rome – Conquered the Greeks (Augustus) Roman education was influenced by Greeks. Roman Education System – Elementary School (Called ludus, for B&G ages 7-12) – Secondary School (Boys 12-16, Literature) – School of Rhetoric (Boys 16-20)

European Antecedents Middle Ages – Roman Catholic Church had big influence! Feudalism stunted the growth of schools, except those in the church. Renaissance brought about a renewed interest in schools. Key was to shift wealth and power from Church to the people. Wanted education to be like Romans.

European Antecedents Renaissance believed in the liberal arts: grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, & music. Reformation – Known as the Age of Enlightenment or Age of Reason. These thinkers had a major impact on US education.

European Antecedents Jean-Jacques Rousseau – father of modern child psychology. – Child centered approach – Stages of development (Piaget?) Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi – Swiss educator. – Contributed to development of elementary schools.

European Antecedents Johann Friedrich Herbart – Father of science of education and modern psychology. – Education should focus on development of moral character. (Kohlberg) – Developed step approach for presenting material: Preparation, Presentation, Association, Generalization, & Application

American Colonies (1620 – 1750) Curriculum – Essentialist reading, writing and math based on religion. Teacher Status – Low, minimal qualifications, high morals Schools – Puritan – Often harsh schools that taught reading and writing to learn scriptures

American Colonies (1620 – 1750) Schools – Parochial – Schools based on religious beliefs – Dame – Schools for initial instruction of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Boys and the only school for girls. – Reading and Writing – Schools for boys beyond what parents could teach. – Latin Grammar Schools – Schools for boys to prep for Harvard.

American colonies (1620–1750) Education of Students – African Americans – received training from masters or church groups, also Philadelphia African School – Native Americans – Received education from Quaker Indian Schools

American colonies (1620–1750) Origins of Mandated Education (Acts) – Massachusetts Act of 1642 – First educational law in country – declared children needed to read and write. If not able parents could receive fine – Massachusetts Act of 1647 – Old Deluder Satan Act – Mandated the establishment and support of school

Revolutionary Period ( ) Ben Franklin Started Philadelphia Academy - secular academic supported privately – Wrote “Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania” Sarah Pierce Started Sarah Pierce’s Female Academy – emphasized essentialist curriculum Female Seminaries – Troy Seminary – One of the first women’s colleges

Revolutionary Period ( ) Thomas Jefferson – Viewed education of the common people most effective means of preserving liberty – For a society to remain free, it must support a continuous system of public education – Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge – called for state controlled schools that would teach at no cost to parents 3 yrs of reading, writing and arithmetic

Revolutionary Period ( ) Webster’s Speller – Written by Noah Webster – “The Old Blue-Back” – Purpose was to “instill first rudiments of language, some just ideas of religion, morals and domestic economy”

Common Schools ( ) Common Schools S tate supported high schools Favored by city residents, nontax payers, democratic leaders, philanthropist, humanitarians Opposed by rural residents, taxpayers, aristocratic and conservative groups, private school owners, conservative religious groups, Southerners and Non- English speaking groups

Common Schools ( ) Horace Mann – Champion of Common School Movement free public local schools – Improved Massachusetts schools – Convince Conservative moneyed classes free schools were cheapest means of self – protection and insurance – Started Normal Schools general knowledge course and courses in pedagogy for teacher preparation

Common Schools ( ) McGuffey Reader – Written by Reverend William Holmes McGuffey – Readers (books) emphasized virtues of hard work, honesty, truth, charity and obedience Morrill Land Grant Act Provided federal land for states to either sell or rent for funds for the establishment of colleges of agriculture and mechanical arts

Compulsory Education: ( ) Compulsory Education Laws Required common school attendance Scientific Management Top down management taken from big business Kindergarten established Schooling for African Americans Freedmen’s Bureau established after the Civil War to provide “foundations for education” for former slaves.

Compulsory Education ( ) Higher Education for African Americans Booker T. Washington – Founded Tuskegee Institute – Industrial school for African Americans in rural Alabama – Believed that as the race grows in knowledge, experience, culture, taste and wealth that the wants of the people will become more diverse and to satisfy this the number of professional business men and women will increase

Compulsory Education: ( ) W.E.B. Dubois First African American awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) Founded National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Called to educate the most talented tenth of the African American population to equip them for leadership

Compulsory Education ( ) Professionalization of Teaching Professional Teacher Organizations Started National Education Association (NEA) American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Worked to increase teacher salaries and professionalize teaching.

Compulsory Education: ( ) Committee of Ten Funded by NEA Decided primary function of high schools to take intellectually elite students and prepare for life Stressed mental discipline in humanities, languages and science

Committee of Fifteen NEA appointed committee to examine elementary curriculum Introduced Latin, modern languages, and algebra into curriculum Elementary curriculum should be organized around 5 subjects: grammar, literature, arithmetic, geography and history Compulsory Education: ( )

Reorganization of Secondary Education – Called for high school curriculum to accommodate individual instruction – Determined 7 goals: health, command of individual processes, worthy home membership, vocation, citizenship, worthy use of leisure time, and ethical character Women’s Influence on Teaching – Greater demand for teachers – Linked schools with social service agencies and institutions Compulsory Education: ( )

Progressive Era ( ) Progressivism Education should focus on children’s interests and practical needs Teachers serve as guides John Dewey’s Laboratory School – Gave students meaningful relevant education – Test principles – Curriculum should be a natural outgrowth of child interests

Progressive Era ( ) Maria Montessori’s Method – Believed children’s mental, physical and spiritual development should be enhanced by providing them with developmentally appropriate activities – Teachers created learning environments based on student’s level of development and readiness to learn new material

Progressive Era ( ) Decline in progressivism due to public criticism Lasting effects of progressivism Inquiry or discovery learning Self paced instructional approaches Field trips Flexible scheduling Open Concept classrooms Non-graded schools Small group activities School-based counseling

Progressive Era ( ) Educating Immigrants and Minorities Goal – rapid assimilation into English-speaking Anglo-European society Children often punished for speaking native language Ethnic groups established separate schools to preserve culture Native Americans – Federal Government placed tribes on reservations and tribal children in boarding schools to assimilate them into the dominate culture

Progressive Era ( ) Mary McLeod Bethune Started what became Bethune-Cookman College Directed Office of Minority Affairs in the National Youth Administration (NYA)

Progressive Era ( ) World War II and Federal Government Influences – Lanham Act Provided funding for: Worker training Construction of school in military areas Childcare for working parents – G.I. Bill of Rights provided funding for tuition and board at colleges and universities for veterans

Modern Postwar Era ( ) 1950s National Defense Education Act of 1958 Started in response to Russian Satellite – Sputnik first into space Education is the first line of defense New math, science, social studies and foreign language programs School Desegregation Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Separation is unequal Schools ordered to desegregate

Modern Postwar Era ( ) 1960s Elementary and Secondary Education Act Allocated funds on the basis of the number poor children Title VII – The Bilingual Education Act Provided federal aid to low-income children of limited English-speaking ability

Modern Postwar Era ( ) 1970s Accountability of teachers demanded Back-to-basics Movement Title IX Education for All Handicapped Children (PL94-142) – Referred to as Mainstreaming Law – Children with special needs will receive a free and appropriate education in the least restrictive environment

Modern Postwar Era ( ) 1980s Nation at Risk – Gave evidence that schools were failing Paideta Proposal – Response to Nation at Risk – Proposal for perennialist core curriculum High School: A Report on Secondary Education in America – Suggested strengthening academic core curriculum

Modern Postwar Era ( ) 1990s Challenges – Greater diversity – Greater international competition – Less support for public education – Decentralization and deregulation of schools Response – Teacher leadership and collaboration

New Century (2000-present) Equity for all students The achievement gap Excellence Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) Race to the Top grants Accountability Holding schools, teachers, and administrators accountable for student learning.