It would be a grave mistake to think that American reformers only looked at schools as targets for change.
Reforming individual Americans to be better persons has been in the American blood stream since the Mayflower arrived. Ditto for reforming community institutions to be better places within which to live and work. Perfecting individuals and community institutions while solving problems of urban slums, corrupt city governments, poverty, racial segregation, corporate over-reach, and anemic economic growth has been steady work for reformers. Time and again these reform movements reached far beyond schools. [i]
As predictable as climbing up a ladder to clean leaves from roof gutters every season, reforms have regularly swept across the nation. Since the early 1900s, three overlapping social, political, and economic movements have churned across the U.S. and left marks on government, business, and community institutions, including public schools: The Progressive movement (1900s-1950s), the Civil Rights Struggle (1950s-1970s), and Binding Schools to the Economy (1980s-present). [ii]
Reform movements
Each of these political and social movements sought multiple goals one of which included school reform. Early 20th century Progressives sought to remedy CONTINUE READING: Americans’ Secular Faith in Schooling (Part 2) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice