America's Public Schools

From the Common School to "No Child Left Behind"

William J. Reese

• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Year: 2011
• eBook ISBN: 9781421401034
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Educational Policy

In this update to his landmark publication, William J. Reese offers a comprehensive examination of the trends, theories, and practices that have shaped America's public schools over the last two centuries.

Reese approaches this subject along two main lines of inquiry—education as a means for reforming society and ongoing reform within the schools themselves. He explores the roots of contemporary educational policies and places modern battles over curriculum, pedagogy, race relations, and academic standards in historical perspective.

A thoroughly revised epilogue outlines the significant challenges to public school education within the last five years. Reese analyzes the shortcomings of "No Child Left Behind" and the continued disjuncture between actual school performance and the expectations of government officials. He discusses the intrusive role of corporations, economic models for enticing better teacher performance, the continued impact of conservatism, and the growth of home schooling and charter schools.

Informed by a breadth of historical scholarship and based squarely on primary sources, this volume remains the standard text for future teachers and scholars of education.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Series Editor’s Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1:The Origins of the Common School
• 2:Postbellum America and the Common School
• 3:The “New Education”
• 4:Democracy, Efficiency,and School Expansion
• 5:A Democracy of Differences
• 6:The People’s College
• 7:Rising Expectations and Raising Standards
• 8:Guardians of Tradition
• 9:The Fate of the High School
• Epilogue
• Essay on Sources
• Index