Ch. 5 Terms & Questions

Latin grammar school

A classical secondary school with a Latin and Greek curriculum preparing students for college.

National Defense Education Act

Federally sponsored programs (1958) to improve science, math, and foreign language instruction in schools.

Committee of Ten

In 1892, the National Education Association formed the committee, influenced by college presidents, to reform the nation's high schools. The result was an academically oriented curriculum geared for colleges, and the creation of the Carnegie unit as a measure of progress through the high school curriculum.

New England Primer

One of the first textbooks in colonial America, teaching reading and moral messages.

What role has the federal government played in American education?

While the Constitution leaves the responsibility for schooling to the states, the federal government has exercised a growing influence over public schools.

Franklin Academy

A colonial high school founded by Benjamin Franklin that accepted females as students and promoted a less classical, more practical curriculum.

Carnegie unit

A credit awarded to a student for successfully completing a high school course. It is used in determining graduation requirements and college admissions.

categorical unit

A credit awarded to a student for successfully completing a high school course. It is used in determining graduation requirements and college admissions.

kindergarten

A preschool, early childhood educational environment first designed by Froebel in the mid-nineteenth century.

secondary school

A program of study that follows elementary school and includes junior, middle, and high school.

behaviorism

A psychological theory that interprets human behavior in terms of stimuli-response.

common school

A public, tax-supported school. First established in Massachusetts, the school's purpose was to create a common basis of knowledge for children. It usually refers to a public elementary school.

hornbook

A single sheet of parchment containing the Lord's Prayer and letters of the alphabet. It was protected by a thin sheath from the flattened horn of a cow and fastened to a wooden board—hence, the name. It was used during the colonial era in primary schools.

junior high school

A two- or three-year school between elementary and high school for students in their early adolescent years, commonly grades 7 and 8 or 7 through 9.

normal school

A two-year teacher education institution popular in the nineteenth century, many of which were expanded to become today's state colleges and universities.

How did teaching become a "gendered" career?

Although teaching was initially "gendered" male, the advent of the common school created a demand for a large number of inexpensive teachers, and women were recruited and soon dominated teaching. Today's teachers continue to encounter sexism.

elementary school

An educational institution for children in grades 1 through 5, 6, or 8, often including kindergarten.

progressive education

An educational philosophy emphasizing democracy, student needs, practical activities, and school-community relationships.

What was the nature and purpose of colonial education?

Colonial education took place in homes, including the dame schools; in churches; and through apprentice programs. Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin viewed the new nation's schools as a continuation of democratic principles and as a break from classist European traditions, although instruction was typically dominated by religious teachings. From colonial times to the present, continuing educational disputes include the role of religion in schools; local control and state standards; and inequities in educational opportunities for women, people of color, and the poor.

Eight-Year Study

Educator Ralph Tyler's study in the 1930s that indicated the effectiveness of progressive education.

McGuffey Reader

For almost 100 years, this reading series promoted moral and patriotic messages and set the practice of reading levels leading toward graded elementary schools.

How have twentieth-century reform efforts influenced schools?

From the Committee of Ten in 1892 to "A Nation at Risk in 1983" waves of educational reform have become part of the American landscape.

gendered career

Is a term applied to the gender stereotyping of career and occupational fields. Teaching, for example, was initially gendered male, and today is gendered female, particularly at the elementary school level.

in loco parentis

Latin term meaning "in place of the parents"; that is, a teacher or school administrator assumes the duties and responsibilities of the parents during the hours the child attends school.

Old Deluder Satan Law (1647)

Massachusetts colony law requiring teachers in towns of fifty families or more and that schools be built in towns of one hundred families or more. Communities must teach children to read so that they can read the Bible and thwart Satan.

How did the Common School Movement influence the idea of universal education?

Nineteenth-century leader Horace Mann fought for the establishment of the common school for all children, and for quality teacher education

dame schools

Primary schools in colonial and other early periods in which students were taught by untrained women in the women's own homes.

What were the main tenets of the Progressive Education movement?

Progressivism, led by John Dewey, emphasized learning by doing and shaping curricula around children's interests.

Northwest Ordinance (1785, 1787)

Provided for the sale of federal lands in the Northwest territory to support public schools.

laboratory schools

Schools often associated with a teacher preparation institution for practice teaching, demonstration, research, or innovation.

Who are some of the key individuals who have helped fashion today's schools?

Seventeen noted educators from sixteenth-century Comenius to twentieth-century Paulo Freire are profiled.

How did secondary school evolve?

The first publicly supported secondary school was the English Classical School in Boston. Not until 1874 in the Kalamazoo case was the legal basis for high school funding established.

academies

The private or semipublic secondary schools in the United States from 1830 through 1870 that stressed practical subjects.

middle schools

Two- to four-year schools of the middle grades, often grades 6 through 8, between elementary school and high school.