Aristocratic Education and the Making of the American Republic

Aristocratic Education and the Making of the American Republic
Author: Mark Boonshoft
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2020-06-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1469659549

Following the American Revolution, it was a cliche that the new republic's future depended on widespread, informed citizenship. However, instead of immediately creating the common schools--accessible, elementary education--that seemed necessary to create such a citizenry, the Federalists in power founded one of the most ubiquitous but forgotten institutions of early American life: academies, privately run but state-chartered secondary schools that offered European-style education primarily for elites. By 1800, academies had become the most widely incorporated institutions besides churches and transportation projects in nearly every state. In this book, Mark Boonshoft shows how many Americans saw the academy as a caricature of aristocratic European education and how their political reaction against the academy led to a first era of school reform in the United States, helping transform education from a tool of elite privilege into a key component of self-government. And yet the very anti-aristocratic critique that propelled democratic education was conspicuously silent on the persistence of racial and gender inequality in public schooling. By tracing the history of academies in the revolutionary era, Boonshoft offers a new understanding of political power and the origins of public education and segregation in the United States.

The Making of Americans

The Making of Americans
Author: E. D. Hirsch
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2009-09-15
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0300155859

From the bestselling author of Cultural Literacy, a passionate and cogent argument for reforming the way we teach our children. Why, after decades of commissions, reforms, and efforts at innovation, do our schools continue to disappoint us? In this comprehensive book, educational theorist E. D. Hirsch, Jr. masterfully analyzes how American ideas about education have veered off course, what we must do to right them, and most importantly why. He argues that the core problem with American education is that educational theorists, especially in the early grades, have for the past sixty years rejected academic content in favor of “child-centered” and “how-to” learning theories that are at odds with how children really learn. The result is failing schools and widening inequality, as only children from content-rich (usually better-off) homes can take advantage of the schools’ educational methods. Hirsch unabashedly confronts the education establishment, arguing that a content-based curriculum is essential to addressing social and economic inequality. A nationwide, specific, grade-by-grade curriculum established in the early school grades can help fulfill one of America’s oldest and most compelling dreams: to give all children, regardless of language, religion, or origins, the opportunity to participate as equals and become competent citizens. Hirsch not only reminds us of these inspiring ideals, he offers an ambitious and specific plan for achieving them. “Hirsch’s case is clear and compelling. His book ought to be read by anyone interested in the education and training of the next generation of Americans.”—Glenn C. Altschuler, The Boston Globe “Hirsch once again challenges the prevailing “child-centered” philosophy, championing a return to a “subject-centered” approach to learning.”—Publishers Weekly

Making Schools American

Making Schools American
Author: Cody D. Ewert
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2022-04-19
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1421442809

How school reformers in the Progressive Era—who envisioned the public school as the quintessential American institution—laid the groundwork for contemporary battles over the structure and curriculum of public schools. Around the turn of the twentieth century, a generation of school reformers began touting public education's unique capacity to unite a diverse and diffuse citizenry while curing a broad swath of social and political ills. They claimed that investing in education would equalize social and economic relations, strengthen democracy, and create high-caliber citizens equipped for the twentieth century, all while preserving the nation's sacred traditions. More than anything, they pitched the public school as a quintessentially American institution, a patriotic symbol in its own right—and the key to perfecting the American experiment. In Making Schools American, Cody Dodge Ewert makes clear that nationalism was the leading argument for schooling during the Progressive Era. Bringing together case studies of school reform crusades in New York, Utah, and Texas, he explores what was gained—and lost—as efforts to transform American schools evolved across space and time. Offering fresh insight into the development and politicization of public schooling in America, Ewert also reveals how reformers' utopian visions and lofty promises laid the groundwork for contemporary battles over the mission and methods of American public schools. Despite their divergent political visions and the unique conditions of the states, cities, and individual districts they served, school reformers wielded nationalistic rhetoric that made education a rallying point for Americans across lines of race, class, religion, and region. But ultimately, Making Schools American argues, upholding education as a potential solution to virtually every societal problem has hamstrung broader attempts at social reform while overburdening schools.

Making Americans

Making Americans
Author: Jessica Lander
Publisher: Beacon Press
Total Pages: 378
Release: 2022-10-04
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0807006653

A landmark work that weaves captivating stories about the past, present, and personal into an inspiring vision for how America can educate immigrant students Setting out from her classroom, Jessica Lander takes the reader on a powerful and urgent journey to understand what it takes for immigrant students to become Americans. A compelling read for everyone who cares about America’s future, Making Americans brims with innovative ideas for educators and policy makers across the country. Lander brings to life the history of America’s efforts to educate immigrants through rich stories, including these: -The Nebraska teacher arrested for teaching an eleven-year-old boy in German who took his case to the Supreme Court -The California families who overturned school segregation for Mexican American children -The Texas families who risked deportation to establish the right for undocumented children to attend public schools She visits innovative classrooms across the country that work with immigrant-origin students, such as these: -A school in Georgia for refugee girls who have been kept from school by violence, poverty, and natural disaster -Five schools in Aurora, Colorado, that came together to collaborate with community groups, businesses, a hospital, and families to support newcomer children. -A North Carolina school district of more than 100 schools who rethought how they teach their immigrant-origin students She shares inspiring stories of how seven of her own immigrant students created new homes in America, including the following: -The boy who escaped Baghdad and found a home in his school’s ROTC program -The daughter of Cambodian genocide survivors who dreamed of becoming a computer scientist -The orphaned boy who escaped violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and created a new community here Making Americans is an exploration of immigrant education across the country told through key historical moments, current experiments to improve immigrant education, and profiles of immigrant students. Making Americans is a remarkable book that will reshape how we all think about nurturing one of America’s greatest assets: the newcomers who enrich this country with their energy, talents, and drive.

Making Schools Work

Making Schools Work
Author: William G. Ouchi
Publisher:
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2003
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

"This program has produced significant, lasting improvements in the school districts where it has already been implemented. Drawing on the results of a landmark study of 223 schools in six cities, a project that Ouchi supervised and that was funded in part by the National Science Foundation, Making Schools Work shows that a school's educational performance may be most directly affected by how the school is managed."--BOOK JACKET.

American Education

American Education
Author: William Owings
Publisher: Cengage Learning
Total Pages: 592
Release: 2010-02-07
Genre:
ISBN: 9780495809173

With a focus on the future of American education--and the goals and nature of teaching in a global economy--this forward-thinking text provides you with a comprehensive overview of the foundations of modern American schooling. The book's premise is that education in the 21st century must facilitate more complex, deeper, and more varied learning that will enable all citizens to survive and thrive in an ever-changing world. In presenting traditional topics and important educational issues--including diversity and equity, the accountability movement, effective schools, instructional best practices, and alternatives to public schools--the authors cultivate the very skills and knowledge base that they believe are critical for success in a "flat" world. With the overarching goal of furthering higher-order thinking, they model the principles of evidence-based practice and the critical-thinking process by examining issues and controversies in depth and presenting supporting research to validate their conclusions. Activities support the critical-thinking focus and promote your self-understanding, challenging you to weigh "common knowledge" against real evidence and form your own conclusions. Written in an appealing, conversational style, and using examples that immediately resonate with prospective student teachers, this thought-provoking new text provides a timely and insightful perspective of American education.

Make American Education Great Again

Make American Education Great Again
Author: KT Rome
Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
Total Pages: 101
Release: 2020-07-16
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1646702549

This book inspires wannabe and new teachers to know how education can be great. It exposes weaknesses and strengths of present and past practices. Experienced teachers are revitalized with hope, support, and ideas. It shows the advantages of keeping our country's Christian heritage in our schools. Preschools and Christian education are good for children, and more and more parents are choosing that kind of education for their children. That makes this book interesting to parents and grandparents, as well as educators. There are simple solutions to present-day school problems. This book is a quick simple read written by someone who had taught and administrated at all levels public and private. Students have shown interest in making our schools great, as well as adults.

Reinventing America's Schools

Reinventing America's Schools
Author: David Osborne
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 433
Release: 2017-09-05
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1632869918

From David Osborne, the author of Reinventing Government--a biting analysis of the failure of America's public schools and a comprehensive plan for revitalizing American education. In Reinventing America's Schools, David Osborne, one of the world's foremost experts on public sector reform, offers a comprehensive analysis of the charter school movements and presents a theory that will do for American schools what his New York Times bestseller Reinventing Government did for public governance in 1992. In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the city got an unexpected opportunity to recreate their school system from scratch. The state's Recovery School District (RSD), created to turn around failing schools, gradually transformed all of its New Orleans schools into charter schools, and the results are shaking the very foundations of American education. Test scores, school performance scores, graduation and dropout rates, ACT scores, college-going rates, and independent studies all tell the same story: the city's RSD schools have tripled their effectiveness in eight years. Now other cities are following suit, with state governments reinventing failing schools in Newark, Camden, Memphis, Denver, Indianapolis, Cleveland, and Oakland. In this book, Osborne uses compelling stories from cities like New Orleans and lays out the history and possible future of public education. Ultimately, he uses his extensive research to argue that in today's world, we should treat every public school like a charter school and grant them autonomy, accountability, diversity of school designs, and parental choice.

The Essential Renewal of America's Schools

The Essential Renewal of America's Schools
Author: Carl Glickman
Publisher: Teachers College Press
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2020
Genre: Education
ISBN: 080777863X

What can today’s educational leaders do to create schools that are purposeful, moral, and successful? In this book, Glickman and Mette provide a powerful set of guidelines that will lead to true school renewal. Using a practical framework for school, district, and community leaders, their roadmap replaces dependence on top-down state and federal regulations, focusing instead on the creation of locally guided initiatives to address local goals. Filled with real-world examples, charts, and illustrations, the text gives teachers, principals, students, parents, central office personnel, school boards, and community members exactly what is needed to remake their schools. Building on Glickman’s highly acclaimed classic, Renewing America’s Schools (1993), this resource is must-reading for anyone involved with school change in today’s divisive and complex times. “My life would have been a whole lot easier if this book had been written when I was in the principal’s office.” —George Wood, former principal and superintendent, Stuart Ohio “This timely and critical book demonstrates how teaching and learning, and a democratic school community, are the key assets to solving our problems. It is not just the future of our schools that is at stake, but democracy itself.” —William Mathis, National Education Policy Center