America’s Schools: Historical Perspective

America’s Schools: Historical Perspective EDTHP115A: Summer 2014

The Colonial Period (1607-1775) • Historical, geographical, and demographic differences in the 13 original colonies led to different approaches to education. • Religion played a major role in colonial life and also strongly influenced schooling. • European educational thinkers emphasized more humane and child-centered educational practices.

Influential Belief Systems • U.S. practices evolved from European ideas that were developed over the centuries. • Greeks – idea that knowledge could be divided into individual subject areas. • Athenians – Wanted education for its adult citizens who could then more fully participate in democratic decision making. • Reformation – Church leaders felt the bible held all wisdom, thus all should be taught to read so all Christians could have access to these truths.

The New England Colonies Saw the Church of England as the religious arm of the government. Puritans - Religion/Bible dominated Local Control of education, but no separation of church and state. • 1642 – General Court of Massachusetts Law • Required that children attend school. First attempt to make education compulsory • 1647 Old Deluder Satan Act • Required every town of 50 families to hire a teacher of reading or writing. Established public responsibility for education. • Schools controlled by religious leaders • Dame schools (primary) – often in homes – teach reading before age 8 • Blab Schools – no books, just lecture and recitation

Middle Colonies • Made of more diverse group of emigrants. Came from different parts of England than the Puritans. • Parochial schools started to address the needs and wants to the various populations • Quaker Schools taught to a diverse group of learners (Native Americans, African Americans and others) • Franklin Academy offered students a choice in their course of study free of all religious ties (traditional subjects including navigation, math, surveying, bookkeeping). “Real world” classes • Secondary level education had a place

The Southern Colonies • Difficult for many of the children to attend school because of few towns and great distances between landowners. • Education was left to the wealthy landowners • Traveling tutors or tutors on plantations • Many sent sons to England to be educated in English schools or boarding schools in the larger cities. • Education for slaves was nonexistent – educating a slave could be a felony before the civil war.

Influence of the First Amendment • Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Establishment Clause

Current Religious Controversies from the Colonial Period • Should prayer be allowed in schools? • Should federal money be used to provide instruction in religious schools? • What role should religion play in character and sex education?

Early National Period (1775-1820) • Established a major educational role for states (Tenth Amendment to Constitution) • Also established the idea that the federal government should use education to improve people’s lives and help the nation grow (civic responsibility)

Land Ordinance – 1785 –Northwest Ordinance: Thirty-six sections in a township – Section (block) no. 16 was the center of the township and designated as a site for a school. Few educational interventions were introduced. Unskilled workers were needed for growing industries including farming.

Common School Movement(1820-1865) Horace Mann, Massachusetts lawyer and legislator, believed in having taxpayers help finance public education. Wanted a public school for all including education for women, felt women were better suited to teach the young. In 1839, first Normal School set up to prepare people for careers as teachers. Established the trend of education available to all, NOT just the rich • Taxes used to support public schools • State education departments created to coordinate statewide efforts • Curriculum standardized and schools organized by grade levels (versus one-room schools) • Teacher preparation improved

List of Rules for a Teacher in 1872 • Teachers each day will fill lamps, clean chimneys. • Each teacher will bring a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal for the day’s session. • Make your pens carefully. You may whittle nibs to the individual taste of the pupils. • Men teachers may take one evening each week for courting purposes, or two evenings a week if they go to church. • After ten hours in school, the teachers may spend the remaining time reading the Bible or other good books. • Women teachers who marry or engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed. • Every good teacher should lay aside from each pay a goodly sum of his earnings for his benefit during his declining years so that he will not be a burden on society. • Any teacher who smokes, uses liquor in any form, frequents pool or public halls, or gets shaved in a barber shop will give good reason to suspect his worth, intention, integrity, and honesty. • The teacher who performs his labor faithfully and without fault for five years will be given an increase of twenty-five cents per week in his pay, providing the Board of Education approves.

CIVIL WAR TO 1900 • Unparalleled industrial growth • Technological innovations – need skilled workers – interest in vocational education. • Huge numbers of immigrants enter – Schools eager to “Americanize” new students. • Kalamazoo Case – ruled the state legislature had the right to levy taxes to support both elementary & secondary schools. • Organizational activity among teachers increased.

1900 to World War II • John Dewey: A philosopher – founded the laboratory school at the University of Chicago. • Believed that for democracy to work, citizens had to be educated to understand and share in the duties and responsibilities of society. • Believed learners needed to master the Scientific Problem Solving method • Recognized individual differences among children The first junior high school established in Berkeley, CA in 1909. Developed a format of 6-3-3.

List of rules for a teacher in 1915 • You will not marry during the term of your contract. You are not to keep company with men. • You must be home between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless attending a school function. • You may not loiter downtown in any ice cream stores. • You may not travel beyond the city limits unless you have permission of the chairmen of the board. • You may not smoke cigarettes. • You may not under any circumstances dye your hair. • You may not dress in bright colors. • You may not ride in a carriage or automobile with any man unless he be your father or brother. • You must wear at least two petticoats. • Your dresses must not be any shorter than 2 inches above the ankles. Apps, J. (1996). One-Room Country Schools: History and Recollections from Wisconsin. U.S.: Palmer Publications

The Evolution of the American High School • The comprehensive high school attempts to meet the needs of all students. • Latin grammar school (1635) was designed to help boys prepare for the ministry or law. • Academy (1751) focused on practical subjects such as math, navigation, and bookkeeping; open to boys and girls. • English classical school (1821) was a free secondary school for students not planning to attend college.

Junior High and Middle School • Junior high schools, popular in the early and mid-1900s, were miniature versions of high schools with emphasis on individual academic subjects. • Middle schools, popular from the 1970s, attempted to address adolescents’ developmental needs. • Currently, some districts, dissatisfied with both junior highs and middle schools, are experimenting with K–8 schools.

The Education of Native Americans • Mission schools in the 1700s and 1800s, run by religious groups, were the first educational attempt to assimilate Native Americans. • Federally funded and run boarding schools attempted to “Americanize” Native American students. • Currently, most (91%) of Native American students attend public schools, but problems persist: • Underachievement • High dropout rates • Low rates of college attendance

Education of African Americans • Before the Civil War, educational participation and literacy rates were abysmally low. • Literacy rates increased dramatically after the Civil War, but education efforts were plagued by substandard funding and resources. • Booker T. Washington, who endorsed separate but equal, clashed with W.E.B. Dubois, who advocated integration and social activism. • A “separate but equal” policy (Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896) was supported by federal courts until 1954 (Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka).

Education of Hispanic Americans • Education of Hispanic Americans began in the Southwest with Catholic mission schools. • Early emphasis on Hispanic American education was on assimilation. • Language has been a major controversial issue in the education of Hispanic Americans.

Education of Asian Americans • Asian Americans experienced discrimination, both in schools and society at large. • Asian Americans are a diverse group of students from many different countries and cultures. • In general, Asian American students do well in school, excelling in achievement.

The Modern Era: Schools as Instruments for National Purpose and Social Change • The Cold War with the Soviet Union during the 1950s and 1960s focused federal educational efforts on math and science. • President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty attempted to use schools to eliminate the pervasive poverty in the U.S. • Compensatory education programs like Title I and Head Start attempted to provide enriched experiences to the children of poverty.

The Federal Government’s Role in Pursuing Equality • The Civil Rights movement, culminating in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, attempted to eliminate discrimination based on race, color, or national origin. • Title IX, passed in 1972, attempted to eliminate gender bias in schools. • Segregation, especially in large urban districts, continues to be a persistent problem. • Magnet schools are designed to attract and integrate students from diverse social and cultural backgrounds.

Federal Government Reform • Federal attempts to reform schools: • Setting standards • Creating testing programs • Offering (or withholding) financial incentives • Major issues with federal reform efforts: • Federal versus state and local control of educational standards • State versus federal control of testing programs • Incentive programs that increase the influence of the federal government on education

That brings us to today… • We already looked at what our schools look like today and now we are going to look at what teachers in those schools look like today…

America’s Schools: Historical Perspective