A comprehensive history of American education that aims to stimulate critical analysis and thinking by offering alternative interpretations of each historical period. This book emphasizes: the role of multiculturalism and cultural domination in shaping US schools; racism as a central issue in US history and US educational history; and more.

This current, comprehensive history of American education is designed to stimulate critical analysis and critical thinking by offering alternative interpretations of each historical period. The point of view taken by this text emphasizes: the role of multiculturalism and cultural domination in shaping U.S. schools; the position of the school as one of many institutions that manage the distribution of ideas in society; racism as a central issue in U.S. history and U.S. educational history; and economic issues as an important factor in understanding the evolution of U.S. schools.

1 Thinking Critically about History: Ideological Management, Culture Wars, and Consumerism2 Religion and Authority in Colonial Education 3 Nationalism, Multiculturalism, and Moral Reform in the New Republic 4 The Ideology and Politics of the Common School5 The Common School and the Threat of Cultural Pluralism 6 Organizing the American School: The Nineteenth-Century Schoolmarm 7 Multiculturalism and the Failure of the Common School Ideal8 Growth of the Welfare Function of Schools: School Showers, Kindergarten, Playgrounds, Home Economics, Social Centers, and Cultural Conflict9 The School and the Workplace: High School, Junior High School, and Vocational Guidance and Education 10 Meritocracy: The Experts Take Charge 11 The Politics of Knowledge: Teachers Unions, the American Legion, and the American Way12 Schools, Media, and Popular Culture: Influencing the Minds of Children and Teenagers13 Education and National Policy 14 The Great Civil Rights Movement and the New Culture Wars 15 Education in the Twenty-First Century