You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
Pillars of the Republic is a pioneering study of common-school development in the years before the Civil War. Public acceptance of state school systems, Kaestle argues, was encouraged by the people's commitment to republican government, by their trust in Protestant values, and by the development of capitalism. The author also examines the opposition to the Founding Fathers' educational ideas and shows what effects these had on our school system.
Aims to shed new light on the issue of literacy in America, providing a social history that broadens the definition of literacy, considering who was reading what, under what circumstances and for what purposes. The book assesses trends in Americans' reading abilities and reading habits.
This important contribution to scholarship in social science history examines the development of public education in nineteenth-century Massachusetts. Until the 1950s educational historians emphasized the relationship of schooling to the political system and the development of a common American culture. In recent years a social history perspective has emerged that stresses the socioeconomic influences that tie education to other institutions and processes in society rather than to political ideals. Carl Kaestle's and Maris Vinovskis's study is firmly grounded in this newer perspective. However, their work questions the adequacy of any single-factor explanation of the broad educational changes that occurred during this period - whether it be the emergence of factory production or the broader concept of modernization. They argue that these educational changes were the result of the complex interaction of cultural, demographic and economic variables operating in varying ways in different communities over time. Ethnicity, religion, urban status, the occupational structure, income distribution and wealth of the community all emerge as significant factors in this interaction.
History of the Book in America: Volume 4: Print in Motion: The Expansion of Publishing and Reading in the United States, 1880-1940
This volume consists of twenty six autobiographical essays by leading historians of American education which document the enormous variety of paths taken to get into this field. A companion to earlier volumes on philosophy of education and curriculum studies, the historians in this volume reflect a wide variety of interests that underlay accomplishment in this scholarly field. They come from diverse backgrounds that have animated their scholarly careers in compelling ways. Readers in any variety of educational or historical study should learn from this volume how unplanned careers can still result in highly successful sets of accomplishments. That realization is a tribute both to the individual contributors and to the great attractiveness of educational history to committed scholars of various backgrounds and orientations.
Written tests to evaluate students were a radical and controversial innovation when American educators began adopting them in the 1800s. Testing quickly became a key factor in the political battles during this period that gave birth to America's modern public school system. William J. Reese offers a richly detailed history of an educational revolution that has so far been only partially told. Single-classroom schools were the norm throughout the United States at the turn of the nineteenth century. Pupils demonstrated their knowledge by rote recitation of lessons and were often assessed according to criteria of behavior and discipline having little to do with academics. Convinced of the inade...
This text is a companion volume to the four-part PBS documentary series of the same name. Essays by five historians of American education examine the history of the American public school system, from colonial times to the present. They consider a variety of issues faced by educators, parents, politicians and voters over the decades, including state versus local control, educating non-English speakers, specialized vocational tracks, approaches to school integration, the use of intelligence and standardized tests to assess academic potential, the challenges to providing the same quality of education to districts of varying socio-economic levels. Serious writing, but accessible to general readers interested in public education. c. Book News Inc.
Many Americans view today's problems in education as an unprecedented crisis brought on by contemporary social ills. In Learning from the Past a group of distinguished educational historians and scholars of public policy reminds us that many of our current difficulties – as well as recent reform efforts – have important historical antecedents. What can we learn, they ask, from nineteenth century efforts to promote early childhood education, or debates in the 1920s about universal secondary education, or the curriculum reforms of the 1950s? Reflecting a variety of intellectual and disciplinary orientations, the contributors to this volume examine major changes in educational development and reform and consider how such changes have been implemented in the past. They address questions of governance, equity and multiculturalism, curriculum standards, school choice, and a variety of other issues. Policy makers and other school reformers, they conclude, would do well to investigate the past in order to appreciate the implications of the present reform initiatives.
History of the Book in America: Volume 4: Print in Motion: The Expansion of Publishing and Reading in the United States, 1880-1940
Christmas and cookies are inseparable. The mere mention of baking cookies conjures up memories not just of tantalizing aromas and great tastes but of warm kitchens and good times with family and friends. Joy of Cooking Christmas Cookies brings together in a single volume 75 indispensable cookie recipes and more than 25 recipes for holiday extras. That's more than 100 recipes, half of which are brand new. This book also offers a sneak preview of the revision of Joy of Cooking, the first in more than two decades. Written with clarity, humor, and a dedication to detail that has always set the Joy of Cooking apart from all other cookbooks, this book will teach anyone from the person who has neve...