The History of American Education In 20 Minutes, T&C Prologue and Ch.1, and Article 51 Curren on 4/1/09

The History of American Education
-Public school started in New England due to the Puritans seeking religious freedom and a religious system of education. Today they would be called fundamentalist.
-Public school took longer to develop in the south because of fear of slave rebellion. South Carolina was first state to pass a law prohibiting the education of blacks. Wealthy in south saw education as a social status and did not want to share it with the common man. School was of little importance because of the agricultural mindset to use children for labor, which could be taught at home.
-Northern schools were developed for religious reason. The south’s schools developed for economic reasons.
-Jefferson founded the University of VA. He sponsored the Bill For The More General Diffusion for free public primary school. It allowed white males to attend for 3 years, and if excelled, to go on to private school. No one wanted to pay for it so the bill was dismissed. Franklin started a private academy, which accepted both genders and offered electives. This is now the University of Penn.
19th century
- In the 1800s, Horace Mann formed a system of Common schools formed in MASS. He believed that education was a natural right and that through public schooling a society could be made better. The Common School:

· Served the common person
· Had a common curriculum
· Owned in common (a common space owned by everyone; taxes)
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Community (if all the above followed)

-Normal schools were offered along with Common schools to help develop teachers. Winthrop is an example of this. Women dominated teaching at beginning of 19th century. Because of this, Roosevelt had physical education put into place to keep male students from becoming too feminized.
Post Civil War
-Blacks were offered education during the reconstruction period. This is how many HBCU’s were formed today. Jim Crow laws developed when reconstruction ended. Plessy vs. Ferguson was applied to schools, separate but equal.
-Moral Acts- government gave federal land to states for establishment of agricultural and technical institutes. Ex: Clemson, NC A&T, VA Tech, FL A&M
-High schools developed toward the end of the 19th century. People did not see the need for high school. Committee of Ten was a group of educators that said that high school should prepare students for college and have a rigorous curriculum. This body developed how many credits a class should be worth.
Summary
Schools become secular overtime. Government gets more involved. Schools become more centralized and specialized. Everyone is now educated. Schools become focal point for social issues.

Tinkering Towards Utopia Prologue and Ch. 1
Question posed: Are teachers up for change? There are two levels of change, policy talk and classroom practice. There is stronger influence from policy talk to classroom than vice versa. The classroom changes in increments. Tinkering- messing around with something or making small changes that accumulate over time. Author argues that this type if change is good and this is how it should always occur. It is easier to change children than adults.
The US has the largest and most developed education system in the world. We believed that public schools would fix social problems, because America has always been viewed as a utopia to immigrants.
Grammar schooling was established in early 20th century. Involved age grading, distinct subject matter, and one teacher per classroom. The more an idea pulls away from traditional grammar schooling, it is less likely to succeed.
Schools offer more than an education. They provide ways to promote a utopian society (ex: school nurse, breakfast/lunch, counselors). After 1960 it was seen that things were not getting better for everyone and the idea of progress was false (ex: discrimination by race, handicapped, economic status, gender, regional differences). This depended on an individual’s idea of utopia at the time. We no longer have the faith we once had in public schools.

Article #51 Curren
Assessment discussed. Criticism, evaluation, and ranking are three strategies used for assessment. Experts do not prefer the ranking method and believe that it has no academic value. It’s hard to not see evaluation as subjective. Criticism is not done often in early childhood. Evaluation is the most used. The new report card used in the York County schools was discussed and is based on evaluation. Evaluation allows you to see if a child’s academic knowledge is in good standing.
Question for next week: What was he change that was not done in increments, but made the biggest impact in education reform?

Posted by: Nora Stewart-Hicks and Anita N. Wilson