Public Broadcasting Service published this website that describes the origin and development of the American (US) education system. Roots in History, Innovators, and Evolving the Classroom are three categories that are particularly thorough in their coverage. The Roots in History not only summarized the evolution from religiously affiliated private schooling to contemporary issue such as bilingual education, standardized testing, and school choice. Though the site does not go into great depth in any one area, it does offer an introduction to the journey that has brought us to the current state of education. Instead of a controversy over who is educated, today's discourse focuses on how we are going to educate the population.
Eisenmann, Linda."Creating a Framework for Interpreting US women’ s Educational History: Lessons from Historical Lexicography." HISTORY OF EDUCATION, 2001, VOL. 30, NO. 5, 453 ± 470. Web. 4 Feb 2010.
Eisenmann's writing focused on the historiography of women's educational history. While the historiography somewhat exceeded my base knowledge (as I have done no previous research into the question of women's education) it did offer an interesting insight. In her quest to create a framework, Eisenmann hits on key issues that have been common in the research, access being chief among them. The concept of access for women seems to have been the focus in previous studies but she suggests four other views: institution building, money, networking, and religion. Each other these four social concepts offer a different "lens" (p. 5) for viewing women in education with institution building being perhaps the most meaningful when applied.
While this article is a bit distant from my day-to-day classroom experience, it certainly has relevance for a MEd student. It evokes questions about how women operate in education and why it came to be that way.
Goldin, Claudia and Lawrence F. Katz. "Human Capital and Social Capital: The Rise of Secondary Schooling in America, 1910-1940." Journal of Interdisciplinary History; Mar 99, Vol. 29 Issue 4, p683-723.
This article focused on the rise of secondary education in the United States. It picks up the thread at the start of the 1900s and explains the nation's motives for educating more of its workforce at a higher level. A key factor in the progression was based off of the opportunity cost of a teenager staying in school. As the dynamics of national industry changed, the availability of jobs and the potential for improved employment with higher education also shifted. When service industries gained steam during the 1910-1940 period, the benefits of completing an education increased and a greater push for school changed.
The study also pursued links between cultural and socioeconomic factors that may have influenced attendance. Most interestingly to me, church attendance was very highly correlated with school attendance. From an economic perspective, this research was very careful and deep, if not wide in scope (the 1915 Iowa census provided a vast amount of the information included).
