Transcript Chapter 5 Education in the United States: Its Historical Roots

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Historical Roots of
Education in the United
States
ED 1010
Oct 5, 7 2009
The New England Colonies
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 / Blab Schools
• Rote memorizations & Recitation
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Middle Colonies
• Made of more diverse group of emigrants. Came
from different parts of England than the Puritans.
• 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
• Precedents included practical (hands on) rather
than intellectual course work, nonsectarian (public)
schools, and much diversity offered in course
work.
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The Southern Colonies
• Difficult for a lot of the children to attend school
because of few towns and great distances between
landowners.
• Education was left to the wealthy landowners
(Traveling tutors) Many sent sons to England to
be educated in English schools.
• Education for slaves was nonexistent – educating a
slave could be a felony before the civil war.
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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
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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?
Other discussion questions
1. How did the diversity of the original colonies shape the
educational system in the United States?
2. What role did religion play in colonial schools? What are the
implications of this role for contemporary schools? 6
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
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Tenth Amendment
• 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.
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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)
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• Teacher preparation improved
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.
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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
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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
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Education of African Americans
• Before the Civil War, education 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).
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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