What Is the History of School in the United States?

Griffin 1

Your Name

Dr. Griffin

English 12

20 May 2015

What is the history of school in the United States?

Schools did not always exist as they do today in America. Educationnews.com comments, “Yet, 150 years ago in many places throughout the country, not even elementary education was provided publicly; … some young people still did not have access to free public high schools.” In the beginning, not everyone had a public education. In other words, [restate quote]. This is connected to the next paragraph because [state why the two paragraphs are connected].

There were many social issues that were believed could be fixed with public schools. According to Cremin, “Horace Mann felt that a common school would be the "great equalizer." Poverty would most assuredly disappear as a broadened popular intelligence tapped new treasures of natural and material wealth. He felt that through education crime would decline sharply as would a host of moral vices like violence and fraud” (qtd. in 3.nd.edu). This supports the thesis because without public schools, there was no unifying place where people could improve communities. However, Horace Mann may have overestimated the power of compulsory education. Although the common school may have had its good intentions, it was not a social panacea. This is connected to the next paragraph because [state why the two paragraphs are connected]. In sum, there was no end to the social good which might be derived from a common school

The main idea of this paragraph is the look of public education has changed drastically in the last century and a half. According to Educationnews.com, “Yet, 150 years ago in many places throughout the country, not even elementary education was provided publicly; in fact, even by the turn of the 20th century, some young people still did not have access to free public high schools.” This supports the thesis because the perception of school is that there was a time when public schools were perfect, but common schools are a very recent and still improving component of society. Moreover, segregation prohibited blacks from attending schools with whites. This is connected to the next paragraph because [state why the two paragraphs are connected].

The main idea of this paragraph is schools were orignially created to reflect the factory model to prepare students for their roles within the workplace. “The schools were influenced by this efficiency movement. The school was viewed essentially as a workplace and learning was perceived in terms of productivity. The amount of children that were immigrating to the United States with their families increased as well. Elwood Cubberly, a turn-of the century historian, stated that schools should be like factories. Referring to the teachers as the factory workers and the students as the raw material to be turned into the product which was to meet the specifications of the needs of the 20th century. ” (www3.nd.edu). This supports the thesis because in the history of public education, schools played a vital role in supplying the economy with workers ready to produce. Given this, the use of a factory model in public education in today’s society seems inappropriate. This is connected to the next paragraph because [state why the two paragraphs are connected].