books about the us education system

8 Books to Read if You Want to Make American Education Great Again

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Amanda Kay Oaks

A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Amanda Kay Oaks has a BFA in Creative Writing and Literature from The University of Evansville and is a current creative nonfiction MFA student at Chatham University. An AmeriCorps alum, online tutor, and literary journal editor, Amanda considers herself a professional wearer of many hats and isn't sure what she'll do if she ever actually has only one job at a time. When she isn't working, reading, writing, or pretending to be a practiced yogi, Amanda can most likely be found snuggled up on the couch with her cat, Artemis, and a plate of cookies. She tweets T.S. Eliot quotes a little too often and tries to keep up with her personal book blog, I Write Things . Twitter: @I_Write_Things

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One of the many issues that keeps popping up in American news is who should be our next Secretary of Education. This debate brings about questions of what’s next in the ever changing landscape of public education. Our education system seems to be in constant flux, but are the changes helping or hurting students?

If you want to be prepared to guide our children (and adult learners) to a better future, why not start with educating yourself about how our education system got this way–and whether or not it works.

There are a number of great books out there, but here are a few suggestions for where to start.

books about the us education system

This book seems like a good starting point, as it details the history of American Education from pre-colonial days on (including a look at Native American education before colonization). It deals with major education movements in each time period, tracing how we got to where we are today.

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books about the us education system

Savage Inequalities addresses the funding gap between schools in wealthy areas and those in poorer ones. To write this book on whether or not our education system really provides equal opportunity to every child, Kozul spent two years touring the country, interviewing  teachers, principals, superintendents, and students.

books about the us education system

This book features a series of essays about our education system’s fixation on scores and grades. As standardized tests continue to be the standard on which both students and teachers are judged, what are we losing? What is the real goal of education–and are we still focusing on this as we try new and different systems to evaluate and score students?

books about the us education system

This book (and the documentary of the same name) draws on the knowledge of education reform experts to provide insight, suggestions, and resources to help the reader join the struggle to improve our schools.

books about the us education system

Ravitch is the former assistant secretary of education and a voice for the drive to create a national curriculum. Drawing on her experience, she re-examines previously held positions and makes a case for why we need education reform.

books about the us education system

This book is part of a three book pedagogy trilogy that takes on issues of education and the issues inherent in the system. In this book, bell hooks tackles areas such as race, gender, class and nationality both in and beyond the classroom. She reminds us that education needs to be democratic, leaving space for all perspectives and all people to thrive.

books about the us education system

This book serves as a nice point for comparison, looking at education systems in other countries that approach education differently than America does. Ripley follows three Americans who live in three of these “smart” countries for a year–South Korea, Finland, and Poland.

books about the us education system

This book deals with the disparity between the number of children of color in the classroom and the number of teachers of color who instruct them. She discusses the teacher’s role as a “cultural transmitter” and examines the role of power dynamics and authority in the classroom.

books about the us education system

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I have often argued that I would not let any teacher into a school unless – as a minimum – they had read, carefully and well, the three great books on education: Plato’s Republic, Rousseau’s Émile and Dewey’s Democracy and Education. There would be no instrumental purpose in this, but the struggle to understand these books and the thinking involved in understanding them would change teachers and ultimately teaching.

These are the three great books because each is sociologically whole. They each present a description and arguments for an education for a particular and better society. You do not have to agree with these authors. Plato’s tripartite education for a just society ruled over by philosopher kings; Rousseau’s education through nature to establish the social contract and Dewey’s relevant, problem-solving democratic education for a democratic society can all be criticised. That is not the point. The point is to understand these great works. They constitute the intellectual background to any informed discussion of education.

What of more modern works? I used to recommend the “blistering indictment” of the flight from traditional liberal education that is Melanie Phillips’s All Must Have Prizes, to be read alongside Tom Bentley’s Learning Beyond the Classroom: Education for a Changing World, which is a defence of a wider view of learning for the “learning age”. These two books defined the debate in the 1990s between traditional education by authoritative teachers and its rejection in favour of a new learning in partnership with students.

Much time and money is spent on teacher training and continuing professional development and much of it is wasted. A cheaper and better way of giving student teachers and in-service teachers an understanding of education would be to get them to read the 50 great works on education.

The books I have identified, with the help of members of the Institute of Ideas’ Education Forum, teachers and colleagues at several universities, constitute an attempt at an education “canon”.

What are “out” of my list are textbooks and guides to classroom practice. What are also “out” are novels and plays. But there are some great literary works that should be read by every teacher: Charles Dicken’s Hard Times – for Gradgrind’s now much-needed celebration of facts; D. H. Lawrence’s The Rainbow – for Ursula Brangwen’s struggle against her early child-centred idealism in the reality of St Philips School; and Alan Bennett’s The History Boys – for Hector’s role as the subversive teacher committed to knowledge.

I hope I have produced a list of books, displayed here in alphabetical order, that are held to be important by today’s teachers. I make no apology for including the book I wrote with Kathryn Ecclestone, The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education because it is an influential critical work that has produced considerable controversy. If you disagree with this, or any other of my choices, please add your alternative “canonical” books on education.

Michael W. Apple – Official Knowledge: Democratic Education in a Conservative Age (1993)

Hannah Arendt – Between Past and Future (1961), for the essay “The Crisis in Education” (1958)

Matthew Arnold – Culture and Anarchy (1867-9)

Robin Barrow – Giving Teaching Back to the Teachers (1984)

Tom Bentley – Learning Beyond The Classroom: Education for a Changing World (1998)

Allan Bloom – The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today’s Students (1987)

Pierre Bourdieu and Jean-Claude Passeron – Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture (1977)

Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis – Schooling in Capitalist America: Educational Reform and the Contradictions of Economic Life (1976)

Jerome Bruner – The Process of Education (1960)

John Dewey – Democracy and Education (1916)

Margaret Donaldson – Children’s Minds (1978)

JWB Douglas – The Home and the School (1964)

Kathryn Ecclestone and Dennis Hayes – The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education (2008)

Harold Entwistle – Antonio Gramsci: Conservative Schooling for Radical Politics (1979).

Paulo Freire – Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1968/1970)

Frank Furedi – Wasted: Why Education Isn’t Educating (2009)

Helene Guldberg – Reclaiming Childhood (2009)

ED Hirsch Jnr. – The Schools We Need And Why We Don’t Have Them (1999)

Paul H Hirst – Knowledge and the Curriculum (1974) For the essay which appears as Chapter 3 ‘Liberal Education and the Nature of Knowledge’ (1965)

John Holt – How Children Fail (1964)

Eric Hoyle – The Role of the Teacher (1969)

James Davison Hunter – The Death of Character: Moral Education in an Age without Good or Evil (2000)

Ivan Illich – Deschooling Society (1971)

Nell Keddie (Ed.) – Tinker, Taylor: The Myth of Cultural Deprivation (1973)

John Locke – Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1692)

John Stuart Mill – Autobiography (1873)

Sybil Marshall – An Experiment in Education (1963)

Alexander Sutherland Neil – Summerhill: A Radical Approach to Child Rearing (1960)

John Henry Newman – The Idea of a University (1873)

Michael Oakeshott – The Voice of Liberal Learning (1989) In particular for the essay “Education: The Engagement and Its Frustration” (1972)

Anthony O’ Hear – Education, Society and Human Nature: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education (1981)

Richard Stanley Peters – Ethics and Education (1966)

Melanie Phillips – All Must Have Prizes (1996)

Plato – The Republic (366BC?)

Plato – Protagoras (390BC?) and Meno (387BC?)

Neil Postman – The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School (1995)

Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner – Teaching as a Subversive Activity (1969)

Herbert Read – Education Through Art (1943)

Carl Rogers – Freedom to Learn: A View of What Education Might Become (1969)

books about the us education system

Jean-Jacques Rousseau – Émile or “on education” (1762)

Bertrand Russell – On Education (1926)

Israel Scheffler – The Language of Education (1960)

Brian Simon – Does Education Matter? (1985) Particularly for the paper “Why No Pedagogy in England?” (1981)

JW Tibble (Ed.) – The Study of Education (1966)

Lev Vygotsky – Thought and Language (1934/1962)

Alfred North Whitehead – The Aims of Education and other essays (1929)

Paul E. Willis – Learning to Labour: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs (1977)

Alison Wolf – Does Education Matter? Myths about Education and Economic Growth (2002)

Michael FD Young (Ed) – Knowledge and Control: New Directions for the Sociology of Education (1971)

Michael FD Young – Bringing Knowledge Back In: From Social Constructivism to Social Realism in the Sociology of Education (2007)

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Health & Lifestyle » Education

The best books on the crisis in education, recommended by frank furedi.

The sociology professor and blogger at spiked-online.com says when society is faced with problems like homophobia, healthy eating or integration, for example, then we try to

The best books on The Crisis in Education - Bringing Knowledge Back In by Michael F D Young

Bringing Knowledge Back In by Michael F D Young

The best books on The Crisis in Education - The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education by Kathryn Ecclestone and Dennis Hayes

The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education by Kathryn Ecclestone and Dennis Hayes

The best books on The Crisis in Education - Left Back by Diane Ravitch

Left Back by Diane Ravitch

The best books on The Crisis in Education - Freedom and Authority in Education by G H Bantock

Freedom and Authority in Education by G H Bantock

The best books on The Crisis in Education - Between Past and Future by Hannah Arendt

Between Past and Future by Hannah Arendt

books about the us education system

1 Bringing Knowledge Back In by Michael F D Young

2 the dangerous rise of therapeutic education by kathryn ecclestone and dennis hayes, 3 left back by diane ravitch, 4 freedom and authority in education by g h bantock, 5 between past and future by hannah arendt.

In your book Wasted, you argue that there are problems with education today: what are they?

I think there are a number of problems with contemporary education. One of the main ones is the way we have undermined authority of subject-based knowledge. Increasingly, teachers are seen as mentors and facilitators, rather than as people who have authority based upon an understanding of their subject. Another problem is that we tend to think of education very pragmatically, as being something which has to be relevant. We think that in order to motivate children teachers need gimmicks of various kinds, such as ICT, PowerPoint or interactive whiteboards. We have become disenchanted with knowledge and intellect-based education.

Your first book, Bringing Knowledge Back In, argues something similar. Tell us about it.

Michael Young is considered one of the grandfathers of progressive education in the UK and he talks a lot about the anti-intellectual dumbed-down direction that education is moving in. In Bringing Knowledge Back In he makes a number of arguments for why education must be knowledge-based and confronts all the different attempts to devalue it. For example, he looks at the idea that children need knowledge which is relevant to their lives; a view which is the dominant prejudice in British educational theory. The idea is that unless lessons are relevant children will be switched off and bored. However, as Michael Young points out, any form of real education based upon intellectual ideas will by definition be irrelevant to their daily lives. The purpose of education is precisely to engage young peoples in issues which do not arise out of their immediate experience.

Your next book, The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education, highlights a different problem with contemporary education.

The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education discusses the recent attempts, within the last five or ten years, to take a ‘therapeutic’ approach to education. This approach was born out of the whole self-esteem movement in the USA, which is based around trying to make people feel better about themselves. Ecclestone and Hayes argue that as this approach has been introduced, the way children feel has become more important than what they learn. This book brings to the surface the problems with this – for example, its potentially authoritarian implications. There is a big difference between a teacher telling me not to do something and a teacher telling me how to think. By teaching ‘positive emotions’, teachers are enabled to colonise your interior life. The authors are not saying that emotions are completely irrelevant (obviously emotions are a very important part of a child’s life) but there is a world of difference between emotional education and educating people so that they can deal with their own emotions.

The argument for a therapeutic approach to education is that schools in the past had been virtually oblivious to the wellbeing of children. Do you accept this argument?

There is a caricature of what education was like in the past. In previous centuries it’s true that society in general was fairly desensitised to human emotion. But I think for a very long time most teachers, especially good teachers, have been concerned about the wellbeing of the children they teach. In the past, however, the way that this was confronted was by trying to be sensitive to children’s needs, while at the same time teaching them. This was a way of increasing children’s confidence: the way to make a child feel better about themselves is not by telling them that they are special, or using some novel technique, but through the confidence they gain from understanding the world.

Your next book, Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms, is a case study of America specifically. Tell us about it.

What really comes across when you read Left Back, which is a history of American educational policy over the last hundred years, is that there has always been a certain amount of tension about what a school was for. The author Diane Ravitch finds that when we look at the American education system, one of the ideas that have grown increasingly popular is the view that school can be a place which solves the problems of society. If there is a problem on the streets with homophobia, healthy eating or integration, for example, then we try to solve it with anti-homophobic education, lessons on obesity, or discussion groups on tolerance. However, the more a school focuses on social policy the more they are distracted from what they are really there to do, which is to educate kids.

Is this a shift which has an educational theory to justify it? If so are you persuaded by it?

On the one hand the shift towards treating schools as an instrument of social policy makers is arbitrary rather than a development which has been actively pursued. If you look at the number of reforms to the British education system in the last 13 years, changes that often conflict and lack consistency, then it becomes clear that there is a kind of arbitrariness to educational policy. Policy makers of course try to justify their decisions, using ‘evidence’ to back them up. These arguments are weak because the trouble with ‘evidence-based policy’ is that it’s often not really based upon real empirical evidence at all. Rather, ‘evidence-based policy’ is based upon intuition, such as the intuition that if you talk a lot about sex in schools, this will reduce teenage pregnancy. Of course you could just as easily argue that if you talk a lot about sex in schools, then teenage pregnancy will increase! There is no real evidence for either one of those positions.

Your next book, Freedom and Authority in Education, is about the British education system this time.

Although I don’t agree with everything the author Bantock writes, I find his work very interesting. In Freedom and Authority, he makes an interesting attempt to link together issues to do with philosophy, pedagogy, politics and psychology, locating education in its wider cultural setting. What he’s really arguing in the book is that schools need to have a more purposeful intellectual mission. The book actually raises more questions than it answers, but it then helped me to go my own way, to think and come up with my own solutions to these problems.

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The book is written in the 1970s, but is there really anything that contemporary policy makers could take from it that would be of use today?

In Freedom and Authority, Bantock looks at a lot of old debates that have occurred in the past, over the purpose of university, for example, or the pursuit of the truth. The past is important, not to give you a model for what to do in the present but because often the key debates of the moment have been had before, and things were said in these debates which might be relevant for today. If you look back 2000 years to Ancient Greece for example, Socrates raised the question: can virtue be taught? This is basically the question we are asking when we discuss whether we can teach a child how they should feel and relate to other people. Looking at the past can help us understand our own situation better.

Speaking of the past, tell us about your last book, Hannah Arendt’s Between Past and Future.

This is my favourite book by far, and it the one which has influenced my own writing the most. It’s a compilation of essays written by Hannah Arendt, the most interesting of which is called ‘The Crisis in Education’. The essay is about how this is something which is endemic to modern life. She argues that education is affected by the difficulties society encounters in trying to strike a balance between the traditions of the past and the needs of the future. In education you continually come across the argument that the old is bad; we have an obsession with novelty. Almost every government policy document opens with the statement that ‘we live in a rapidly changing world’, and goes on to imply that everything we have done in the past is useless. This is a destabilising process, particularly for education. The result is that education ceases to have an intergenerational dynamic, where older generations communicate their insights with the young.

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What then is the future of education?

This is a very difficult question. I do know, however, that I’m reasonably optimistic. I mix quite a lot with students at university where I teach, and I have a 14-year-old kid, and I constantly see that young people are just as clever, idealistic and open to new ideas as they always were. I think that the key thing in setting education on the right track is to get rid of all the gimmicks, to stop hiding behind interactive whiteboards and PowerPoint, and simply start talking to young people in a serious way.

July 13, 2010

Five Books aims to keep its book recommendations and interviews up to date. If you are the interviewee and would like to update your choice of books (or even just what you say about them) please email us at [email protected]

Frank Furedi

Frank Furedi

Frank Furedi is Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent. He is a prolific writer on Western culture with a particular interest in the precautionary attitude Western societies have towards risk in the areas of terrorism, children and climate change, among others. He writes for spiked-online.com and contributes to public debate in all forms of media. His book, Wasted: Why Education Isn’t Educating , looks at the problems which arise when education is politicised. He believes in the importance of ‘knowledge-based education’ and setting education on the right track.

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The Education Systems of the Americas pp 1015–1042 Cite as

The Education System of the United States of America: Overview and Foundations

  • Paul R. Fossum 3  
  • Reference work entry
  • First Online: 01 January 2022

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Part of the Global Education Systems book series (GES)

Prevailing discourse in the USA about the country’s teachers, educational institutions, and instructional approaches is a conversation that is national in character. Yet the structures and the administrative and governance apparatuses themselves are strikingly local in character across the USA. Public understanding and debate about education can be distorted in light of divergence between the country’s educational aspirations and the vehicles in place for pursuing those aims. In addressing its purpose as a survey of US education, the following chapter interrogates this apparent contradiction, first discussing historical and social factors that help account for a social construction of the USA as singular and national system. Discussion then moves to a descriptive analysis of education in the USA as institutionalized at the numerous levels – aspects that often reflect local prerogative and difference more so than a uniform national character. The chapter concludes with summary points regarding US federalism as embodied in the country’s oversight and conduct of formal education.

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The Marginalian

7 Must-Read Books on Education

By maria popova.

books about the us education system

ISAAC ASIMOV: THE ROVING MIND

books about the us education system

Once we have computer outlets in every home, each of them hooked up to enormous libraries where anyone can ask any question and be given answers, be given reference materials, be something you’re interested in knowing, from an early age, however silly it might seem to someone else… that’s what YOU are interested in, and you can ask, and you can find out, and you can do it in your own home, at your own speed, in your own direction, in your own time… Then, everyone would enjoy learning. Nowadays, what people call learning is forced on you, and everyone is forced to learn the same thing on the same day at the same speed in class, and everyone is different.” ~ Isaac Asimov

SIR KEN ROBINSON: THE ELEMENT

books about the us education system

We have a system of education that is modeled on the interest of industrialism and in the image of it. School are still pretty much organized on factory lines — ringing bells, separate facilities, specialized into separate subjects. We still educate children by batches. Why do we do that?”

For an excellent complement to The Element , we highly recommend Robinson’s prior book, Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative — re-released last month, it offers a thoughtful and provocative analysis of the disconnect between the kinds of “intelligence” measured and encouraged in schools and the kinds of creativity most essential to our society moving forward.

A NEW CULTURE OF LEARNING

books about the us education system

We’re stuck in a mode where we’re using old systems of understanding learning to try to understand these new forms, and part of the disjoint means that we’re missing some really important and valuable data.” ~ Douglas Thomas

Our full review here .

CLARK KERR: THE USES OF THE UNIVERSITY

books about the us education system

What the railroads did for the second half of the last century and the automobile for the first half of this century may be done for the second half of this century by the knowledge industry: And that is, to serve as the focal point for national growth.” ~ Clark Kerr

ANYA KAMENETZ: DIYU

books about the us education system

The promise of free or marginal-cost open-source content, techno-hybridization, unbundling of educational functions, and learner-centered educational experiences and paths is too powerful to ignore. These changes are inevitable. They are happening now. […] However, these changes will not automatically become pervasive.” ~ Anya Kamenetz

KARL WEBER: WAITING FOR SUPERMAN

books about the us education system

In America right now, a kid drops out of high school every 26 seconds. These drop-outs are 8 times more likely to go to prison, 50% less likely to vote, more likely to need social welfare assistance, not eligible for 90% of jobs, are being paid 40 cents to the dollar of earned by a college graduate, and continuing the cycle of poverty.”

HOWARD GARDNER: FIVE MINDS FOR THE FUTURE

books about the us education system

The synthesizing mind takes information from disparate sources, understands and evaluates that information objectively, and puts it together in ways that make sense to the synthesizer and also to other persons. Valuable in the past, the capacity to synthesize becomes ever more crucial as information continues to mount at dizzying rates.” ~ Howard Gardner

— Published April 11, 2011 — https://www.themarginalian.org/2011/04/11/7-must-read-books-on-education/ —

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School and education reform : Recent e-books

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Understanding the American Education System

Understanding the American Education System

The American education system offers a rich field of choices for international students. There is such an array of schools, programs and locations that the choices may overwhelm students, even those from the U.S. As you begin your school search, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the American education system. Understanding the system will help you narrow your choices and develop your education plan.

The Educational Structure

Primary and secondary school.

Prior to higher education, American students attend primary and secondary school for a combined total of 12 years. These years are referred to as the first through twelfth grades.

books about the us education system

Around age six, U.S. children begin primary school, which is most commonly called “elementary school.” They attend five or six years and then go onto secondary school.

Secondary school consists of two programs: the first is “middle school” or “junior high school” and the second program is “high school.” A diploma or certificate is awarded upon graduation from high school. After graduating high school (12th grade), U.S. students may go on to college or university. College or university study is known as “higher education.”

Grading System

Just like American students, you will have to submit your academic transcripts as part of your application for admission to university or college. Academic transcripts are official copies of your academic work. In the U.S. this includes your “grades” and “grade point average” (GPA), which are measurements of your academic achievement. Courses are commonly graded using percentages, which are converted into letter grades.

The grading system and GPA in the U.S. can be confusing, especially for international students. The interpretation of grades has a lot of variation. For example, two students who attended different schools both submit their transcripts to the same university. They both have 3.5 GPAs, but one student attended an average high school, while the other attended a prestigious school that was academically challenging. The university might interpret their GPAs differently because the two schools have dramatically different standards.

Therefore, there are some crucial things to keep in mind:

  • You should find out the U.S. equivalent of the last level of education you completed in your home country.
  • Pay close attention to the admission requirements of each university and college, as well as individual degree programs, which may have different requirements than the university.
  • Regularly meet with an educational advisor or guidance counselor to make sure you are meeting the requirements.

Your educational advisor or guidance counselor will be able to advise you on whether or not you must spend an extra year or two preparing for U.S. university admission. If an international student entered a U.S. university or college prior to being eligible to attend university in their own country, some countries’ governments and employers may not recognize the students’ U.S. education.

Academic Year

The school calendar usually begins in August or September and continues through May or June. The majority of new students begin in autumn, so it is a good idea for international students to also begin their U.S. university studies at this time. There is a lot of excitement at the beginning of the school year and students form many great friendships during this time, as they are all adjusting to a new phase of academic life. Additionally, many courses are designed for students to take them in sequence, starting in autumn and continuing through the year.

The academic year at many schools is composed of two terms called “semesters.” (Some schools use a three-term calendar known as the “trimester” system.) Still, others further divide the year into the quarter system of four terms, including an optional summer session. Basically, if you exclude the summer session, the academic year is either comprised of two semesters or three quarter terms.

The U.S. Higher Education System: Levels of Study

  • First Level: Undergraduate

"The American system is much more open. In Hong Kong you just learn what the teacher writes on the board. In America, you discuss the issues and focus more on ideas."

books about the us education system

Paolo Kwan from Hong Kong: Studying English and Business Administration at Sierra College in California

A student who is attending a college or university and has not earned a bachelor’s degree, is studying at the undergraduate level. It typically takes about four years to earn a bachelor’s degree. You can either begin your studies in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree at a community college or a four-year university or college.

Your first two years of study you will generally be required to take a wide variety of classes in different subjects, commonly known as prerequisite courses: literature, science, the social sciences, the arts, history, and so forth. This is so you achieve a general knowledge, a foundation, of a variety of subjects prior to focusing on a specific field of study.

Many students choose to study at a community college in order to complete the first two years of prerequisite courses. They will earn an Associate of Arts (AA) transfer degree and then transfer to a four-year university or college.

A “major” is the specific field of study in which your degree is focused. For example, if someone’s major is journalism, they will earn a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. You will be required to take a certain number of courses in this field in order to meet the degree requirements of your major. You must choose your major at the beginning of your third year of school.

A very unique characteristic of the American higher education system is that you can change your major multiple times if you choose. It is extremely common for American students to switch majors at some point in their undergraduate studies. Often, students discover a different field that they excel in or enjoy. The American education system is very flexible. Keep in mind though that switching majors may result in more courses, which means more time and money.

  • Second Level: Graduate in Pursuit of a Master’s Degree

Presently, a college or university graduate with a bachelor’s degree may want to seriously think about graduate study in order to enter certain professions or advance their career. This degree is usually mandatory for higher-level positions in library science, engineering, behavioral health and education.

Furthermore, international students from some countries are only permitted to study abroad at a graduate level. You should inquire about the credentials needed to get a job in your country before you apply to a postgraduate university in the USA.

A graduate program is usually a division of a university or college. To gain admission, you will need to take the GRE (graduate record examination). Certain master’s programs require specific tests, such as the LSAT for law school, the GRE or GMAT for business school, and the MCAT for medical school.

Graduate programs in pursuit of a master’s degree typically take one to two years to complete. For example, the MBA (master of business administration) is an extremely popular degree program that takes about two years. Other master’s programs, such as journalism, only take one year.

The majority of a master’s program is spent in classroom study and a graduate student must prepare a long research paper called a “master’s thesis” or complete a “master’s project.”

  • Third Level: Graduate in Pursuit of a Doctorate Degree

Many graduate schools consider the attainment of a master’s degree the first step towards earning a PhD (doctorate). But at other schools, students may prepare directly for a doctorate without also earning a master’s degree. It may take three years or more to earn a PhD degree. For international students, it may take as long as five or six years.

For the first two years of the program most doctoral candidates enroll in classes and seminars. At least another year is spent conducting firsthand research and writing a thesis or dissertation. This paper must contain views, designs, or research that have not been previously published.

A doctoral dissertation is a discussion and summary of the current scholarship on a given topic. Most U.S. universities awarding doctorates also require their candidates to have a reading knowledge of two foreign languages, to spend a required length of time “in residence,” to pass a qualifying examination that officially admits candidates to the PhD program, and to pass an oral examination on the same topic as the dissertation.

books about the us education system

Characteristics of the U.S. Higher Education System

Classroom Environment

Classes range from large lectures with several hundred students to smaller classes and seminars (discussion classes) with only a few students. The American university classroom atmosphere is very dynamic. You will be expected to share your opinion, argue your point, participate in class discussions and give presentations. International students find this one of the most surprising aspects of the American education system.

Each week professors usually assign textbook and other readings. You will be expected to keep up-to-date with the required readings and homework so you can participate in class discussions and understand the lectures. Certain degree programs also require students to spend time in the laboratory.

Professors issue grades for each student enrolled in the course. Grades are usually based upon:

  • Each professor will have a unique set of class participation requirements, but students are expected to participate in class discussions, especially in seminar classes. This is often a very important factor in determining a student’s grade.
  • A midterm examination is usually given during class time.
  • One or more research or term papers , or laboratory reports must be submitted for evaluation.
  • Possible short exams or quizzes are given. Sometimes professors will give an unannounced “pop quiz.” This doesn’t count heavily toward the grade, but is intended to inspire students to keep up with their assignments and attendance.
  • A final examination will be held after the final class meeting.

Each course is worth a certain number of credits or credit hours. This number is roughly the same as the number of hours a student spends in class for that course each week. A course is typically worth three to five credits.

A full-time program at most schools is 12 or 15 credit hours (four or five courses per term) and a certain number of credits must be fulfilled in order to graduate. International students are expected to enroll in a full-time program during each term.

If a student enrolls at a new university before finishing a degree, generally most credits earned at the first school can be used to complete a degree at the new university. This means a student can transfer to another university and still graduate within a reasonable time.

Types of U.S. higher education

books about the us education system

Xujie Zhao from China: Studying Computer Networking at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston

1. State College or University

A state school is supported and run by a state or local government. Each of the 50 U.S. states operates at least one state university and possibly several state colleges. Many of these public universities schools have the name of the state, or the actual word “State” in their names: for example, Washington State University and the University of Michigan.

2. Private College or University

These schools are privately run as opposed to being run by a branch of the government. Tuition will usually be higher than state schools. Often, private U.S. universities and colleges are smaller in size than state schools.

Religiously affiliated universities and colleges are private schools. Nearly all these schools welcome students of all religions and beliefs. Yet, there are a percentage of schools that prefer to admit students who hold similar religious beliefs as those in which the school was founded.

3. Community College

Community colleges are two-year colleges that award an associate’s degrees (transferable), as well as certifications. There are many types of associate degrees, but the most important distinguishing factor is whether or not the degree is transferable. Usually, there will be two primary degree tracks: one for academic transfer and the other prepares students to enter the workforce straightaway. University transfer degrees are generally associate of arts or associate of science. Not likely to be transferrable are the associate of applied science degrees and certificates of completion.

Community college graduates most commonly transfer to four-year colleges or universities to complete their degree. Because they can transfer the credits they earned while attending community college, they can complete their bachelor’s degree program in two or more additional years. Many also offer ESL or intensive English language programs, which will prepare students for university-level courses.

If you do not plan to earn a higher degree than the associate’s, you should find out if an associate’s degree will qualify you for a job in your home country.

4. Institute of Technology

An institute of technology is a school that provides at least four years of study in science and technology. Some have graduate programs, while others offer short-term courses.

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Book Banning, Curriculum Restrictions, and the Politicization of U.S. Schools

State and local officials’ efforts to undermine public education by playing politics with school curricula run against the interest of most American children and families.

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Introduction and summary

Recent debates across the country have pushed for book banning and the adoption of politically motivated laws and policies on school curricula. Such measures seek to prevent teachers from providing a thorough curriculum on American history, civics, and government in U.S. public schools and deny students their rights to a complete education. 1 At least 17 states have introduced bills containing gag orders 2 or taken other steps that would restrict how teachers can discuss American history and current events, including pulling books off library shelves in an effort to suppress so-called “divisive concepts”—a shorthand affectation nearly always referring to issues about race and identity. 3

In Texas, for example, at least 713 books have been banned from public schools, and school districts’ and school boards’ attempts to censor books have triggered a systematic review of hundreds of books in every school district in the entire state. 4 These censorship efforts require tens of thousands of hours from teachers, librarians, and administrators to review the books and implement a system of censorship—all at a time when school resources are already stretched thin, and states across the country are facing teacher and staff shortages.

These actions run counter to the shared value of free speech that has informed generations of American progress. They also violate the First Amendment, 14th Amendment, and Title IX rights of all students and educators, with particular disproportionate impact on people of color and LGBTQI+ individuals. 5 However, despite some states’ and localities’ focus on book bans and curriculum restrictions, national polling data detailed throughout this report reveal that a majority of Americans oppose the anti-public-education movement, which involves policy decisions that perpetuate discrimination and inequity in education by cutting or reallocating funding dedicated to public schools toward private or alternative schooling structures that tend to benefit the wealthy; want teachers and students to play a more active role in determining school curricula; and want schools to embrace diversity and inclusion. But this is not evident from many media headlines, which often sensationalize popular political talking points, even those with no basis in truth.

The anti-public-education movement … involves policy decisions that perpetuate discrimination and inequity in education by cutting or reallocating funding dedicated to public schools toward private or alternative schooling structures that tend to benefit the wealthy.

Education should not be politicized

Preparing students for all types of civic engagement by teaching complete history is crucial; yet beginning as early as the 2016 Trump administration campaign, efforts to weaken the U.S. Department of Education through proposed cuts of $7.1 billion 6 in funding. These cuts would undermine the department’s guidance and protections of vulnerable students attending public school, continue to threaten the future of public education in the United States.

When Americans call their legislators, join school boards, or utilize social media platforms to share their concerns about education, they are exercising the right to make their voices heard on policy issues—a right that is central to the American civic engagement process. Schools have a core responsibility to teach students about these processes. Book bans and curriculum gag orders make it impossible for every child to receive a high-quality and age-appropriate education by dictating whose history, identities, and voices matter.

For example, when a 2022 nationwide survey from Campaign for Our Shared Future 7 asked, “All things being equal, would you prefer that each of the following take a more active role in the decisions about the subjects students are taught in schools, or a less active role?”, 92 percent of parents and 85 percent of voters overall said they believe that teachers should play a more active role in decisions about what subjects are taught in classrooms. 8 Additionally, 74 percent of parents and 71 percent of voters overall reported believing that current high school students should play the second-most-active role. 9

Ongoing state and local actions to ban books simply because they address racism, white supremacy, or LGBTQI+ issues have inspired students to stand up for their civil rights. Young adults attending public, charter, and private schools in Delaware began submitting stories of their experiences with overt and systemic racism, 10 countering the narrative that America is a post-racial country and that racism no longer exists. Hundreds of students have taken to student-run social media accounts on platforms such as Instagram to tell their stories in the form of quotes or summaries detailing their experiences with racism and other forms of discrimination in their public, charter, and private schools. 11 Young adults in Texas and Pennsylvania have also protested, 12 while others in Missouri have sued their districts for removing books that are inclusive of multiple groups across racial/ethnic, gender, nondisabled and disabled, and socioeconomic lines. 13

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Attempts to limit learning are un-American

Recent survey research conducted by the National Education Association 14 and ASO Communications 15 between September and October 2021 found that “everyone across demographics agrees” that removing history from curricula and banning books are tools that politicians use to control a political narrative. GBAO and Anchor Collaborative conducted a similar survey in April and May 2022 and found a majority of Americans felt that efforts to censor classroom conversations about race “go way too far.” 16 The survey asked participants to rate on a scale of 0–10 how well a group of statements on “historical facts, honesty, and no one being ashamed of their background” described how they feel about race in America, where 10 means the statement “describes how you feel very well” and 0 means it “does not describe how you feel at all.” Fifty-nine percent of people responded to the following statement with a rating of 8–10:

Efforts to censor teachers, omit history, or ban important conversations about race in our schools go way too far. Our children deserve an education honest about who we are, demonstrating integrity in how we treat others, and creating a sense of belonging so every child has the freedom to learn, grow, and pursue their dreams.

Research findings from Campaign for Our Shared Future 17 found that in a national sample of parents and nonparents ages 18 and older who are registered or likely voters, more than half were overall supportive of, and voted in favor of, educators teaching about the following topics in K-12 schools: 18

  • Civil rights movement: 87 percent of parents and 78 percent of nonparents ages 18 and older
  • The history and experiences of Native Americans: 86 percent of parents and 79 percent of nonparents ages 18 and older
  • Slavery: 74 percent of parents and 71 percent of nonparents ages 18 and older
  • Racial inequity in America’s past: 73 percent of parents and 66 percent of nonparents ages 18 and older
  • Ongoing effects of slavery and racism in the United States: 69 percent of parents and 60 percent of nonparents ages 18 and older
  • Systemic racism in America’s institutions and society: 59 percent of parents and 53 percent of nonparents ages 18 and older

Yet, in less than one year, state legislators have called for districtwide reviews of books, despite a nationwide teacher shortage and other existing strains on the teacher workforce. 19 These actions are part of anti-public-school policies and agendas, which have adverse impacts on the experiences of students who attend these schools. More recently, states such as Arizona 20 and Tennessee 21 have also resurrected former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ privatization schemes and proposals to expand tax incentives that benefit private-school parents by passing voucher laws allowing parents to move their children into private school or other alternative schooling options with no accountability in accordance with Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) law.

Interestingly, polling data on voters’ attitudes toward school voucher programs reveal that despite Arizona voters’ previous opposition to and rejection of a similar universal vouchers proposal—with 67 percent voting “No” and 33 percent voting “Yes”— in 2018, Arizona lawmakers successfully passed a new law on school choice vouchers. 22 Other national polling results found that 49 percent of survey participants believe: 23

Certain politicians try to use race to turn us against schools and teachers, or point the finger at parents. These politicians want to keep us from coming together to demand every school provide a quality education to every child, not just the children of the wealthy few.

More than 1,500 book bans have occurred in at least 86 school districts in 26 states since politicians began igniting the anti-public-education movement toward the end of 2019. 24 Of the total number of books banned, 41 percent include protagonists or prominent secondary characters who are people of color; 22 percent of the titles directly address issues of race and racism; 16 percent are history books or biographies; and 9 percent have themes related to rights and activism. 25 Other survey results revealed that 51 percent of survey participants responded to the following statement with a rating of 8–10, with 10 indicating that the statement describes how they feel “very well”: 26

While educators work to deliver our children accurate and honest education, some politicians are trying to censor the truth of our history, passing laws to ban learning from the mistakes of our past and erase leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. who stood up to racism and changed our country for the better.

Many banned books include issues on race and racism

Share of banned books that include protagonists or prominent secondary characters who are people of color

Share of banned books that directly address issues of race and racism

Share of banned books that are history books or biographies

Share of banned books that have themes related to rights and activism

Book bans and the passage of laws to allegedly combat critical race theory—so-called divisive-concepts laws—have nothing to do with the actual tenets of critical race theory, a form of scholarship that emerged in critical legal studies discourse by scholars of various disciplines, including law, sociology, education, and other social sciences. Critical race theory analyzes and critiques “formalism” and “objectivism” in American legal and social institutions when examining the relationship between power and law 27 and holds that subjective personal voice, or storytelling as a methodological tool in legal analysis or education policy research, 28 reveals two important things about the law: 1) how the law has been shaped and 2) how law shapes issues of race. 29 But some media outlets are inaccurately describing it as ideas around “inferiority,” “inherently racist,” “oppressive,” “unpatriotic,” or “divisive” concepts. 30 Polling data showed 46 percent of survey respondents agreed that the following statements align “very well” with their views: 31

Out of touch politicians are trying to confront problems the only way they know how: lying about them. The same grifters who have peddled lies about our election want to peddle lies about our history, hoping to keep us divided and distracted so they can take away our freedom to vote and deny us the resources our schools, families, and communities actually need.

Inclusive history and school curricula strengthen communities

The inclusion of complete U.S. history in public school curricula serves the public good. America’s public schools exist as an epicenter of teaching and learning of truth. If children are not taught accurate and inclusive historical facts in school, they will find information to fill the void—often from unreliable and agenda-driven sources on the internet that may lead them to believe false and even harmful narratives.

Culturally responsive pedagogy involves teaching diverse history; it teaches children how to relate to their own family members and communities who may hold identities that differ from their own. All families deserve access to supportive curricula targeted to meet their unique socio-emotional and social identity needs, especially during the growing mental health crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years. In the wake of the pandemic’s impacts on the K-12 education system—creating learning gaps that have been exacerbated by an increasing teacher shortage—the politicization of public education also gave some states and school districts the opportunity to ban books and restrict curricula, just to score political points. Schools must remain a neutral place of learning for all students of all backgrounds.

Recent polling data from Education Next find that almost two-thirds, or 64 percent, of all parents who responded to the survey believed that their child’s school places an appropriate emphasis on slavery, racism, and discrimination against Black people, with 69 percent of Republican parents saying their child’s school placed an appropriate emphasis on race and racism. 32 Additional polling data on school curricula asked Democrats and Republicans the following questions: 33

  • “How appropriate is it for schools to include discussions of slavery and racism in teaching about U.S. history?”
  • “How appropriate is it for schools to include discussion of how slavery and racism continue to impact our social, economic, and political systems today?”

Responses revealed that 93 percent of Democrats responded that they believe it is appropriate for schools to include discussions of slavery and racism in teaching about U.S. history, with 67 percent indicating that they strongly believe it is appropriate. However, only 71 percent of Republicans responded that they believe these discussions are appropriate in schools, with only 45 percent indicating a strong belief on this point. On the whole, Democratic respondents were 22 percentage points more likely than Republican respondents to believe that the discussion of slavery and racism in U.S. history classes is appropriate.

Survey respondents differ in their views on whether schools should include discussions of slavery and racism in teaching about U.S. history

Share of Democratic survey respondents who said they believe it is appropriate

Share of Democratic survey respondents who said they strongly believe it is appropriate

Share of Republican survey respondents who said they believe it is appropriate

Share of Republican survey respondents who said they strongly believe it is appropriate

On the question of whether schools should include discussions on the continued social, economic, and political impacts of slavery and racism when teaching U.S. history, 89 percent of Democrats believed it is appropriate for schools to include these discussions in classroom instruction, with 70 percent indicating that they strongly believe it is appropriate. However, only 48 percent of Republicans believed that these discussions are appropriate in school, with only 15 percent indicating a strong belief on this point. On the whole, Democratic respondents were significantly more likely than their Republican counterparts to believe that the discussion of the continued impacts of slavery and racism in U.S. history classes is appropriate.

In response to concerns about the teaching of history and culture in schools, several states, including Colorado, Connecticut, and Delaware, have passed bills mandating the inclusion of civic and social contributions of American Indian, Black, Pacific Islander, and Asian American communities as well as of the intersecting identity, religious, and cultural features within each community. 34 In Delaware, Gov. John Carney (D) passed H.B. 198, 35 which called for each district and charter school to implement a complete curriculum on Black history for students in grades K-12. In June of this year, Arizona also passed a law requiring the state Board of Education to include discussions in social studies classes on political ideologies that conflict with the principles of freedom and democracy in the United States. 36

These state legislative actions demonstrate support for parents and teachers who believe that young people cannot be fully engaged in the democratic process without learning the fundamental facts concerning a social cause, issue, law, or policy. America’s youth must be afforded the opportunity to learn full and complete U.S. history in order to actively participate in the system of democracy they inherit when they turn 18 years old.

The May 2022 survey results from GBAO and Anchor Collaborative also asked participants in the sample to rate on a scale of 0–10 how well a group of statements on “historical facts, honesty, and no one being ashamed of their background” described how they feel about race in America, where 10 means the statement describes how they feel very well and 0 means it does not describe how they feel at all. The results found that 54 percent of participants responded to the following statement with a rating of 8–10: 37

Teenagers & young adults today are passionate, active, aware, & more accepting of everyone. These young people want to keep moving the world forward. Those that want to silence them want to take us backwards. So let’s make sure young people get an education that empowers them to make a better future.

These findings suggest that providing an education that includes a diverse history and curricula helps to inform democratic engagement at an early age.

Teachers and families should stand against anti-public-education legislation

When participants in the sample were asked to rate on a scale of 0­–10 how well the following statements, which focused on “historical facts, honesty, and no one being ashamed of their background,” described how they feel about race in America, 45 percent of respondents said they felt that the following statement aligned “very well” with their views: 38

Attacks on how we teach and talk about race and racism draw from the oldest playbook in American politics. Politicians use fear of people of color, immigrants, or LGBTQ people to breed resentment so they can retain power and dominance by undermining our multiracial democracy.

The federal government has remained steadfast in supporting the teaching of American history and civics education in K-12 schools. Under Title II of ESSA, the Department of Education awarded six competitive grants from fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 2021 for helping schools work with local nonprofits to teach curricula on American history and civics education. Most recently, Street Law was awarded funding in partnership with the Georgetown University Law Center to implement a program called Talking About Local Current and Contested Issues in Schools (TALCCS), where Georgetown law students partnered with local Baltimore County school districts to teach young people curricula that reflect diversity, identities, histories, contributions of all students. 39 Social studies teachers, who are often overlooked when it comes to professional development opportunities, receive regular instructional support, check-ins, and reflection opportunities as part of TALCCS implementation and evaluation.

An innovative part of the logic model is the community deliberations aspect, where students and teachers participate in hands-on, civic engagement and deliberate on current issues while receiving support from Georgetown staff to help address their fears about bringing current and controversial issues into classrooms. These types of programs need to be implemented nationwide. Not only do they reaffirm the belief that everyone should participate in civic life, but they also amplify impact through a community-schools approach by connecting schools, communities, and legal professionals to solve individual and community problems. Community deliberations encourage people to work together toward policy on local or cross-district issues that benefit all communities. Congress should utilize the existing provision in Title II, Part B of ESSA as a federal accountability guideline to ensure that all students have opportunities to receive a fair, equitable, and high-quality education, as well as to close educational achievement gaps.

ESSA Title II provides funding to help support the teaching of American history and civics education

The teaching of American history and civics education is listed under ESSA Title II, Part B: National Activities. The secretary of education is authorized to reserve no less than 26 percent of the appropriated, competitive funds for “an institution of higher education or other nonprofit or for-profit organization with demonstrated expertise in the development of evidence-based approaches” whose projected plans will improve: 40

(1) the quality of American history, civics, and government education by educating students about the history and principles of the Constitution of the United States, including the Bill of Rights; and (2) the quality of the teaching of American history, civics, and government in elementary schools and secondary schools, including the teaching of traditional American history. 41

Under Section 2233: National Activities, ESSA defines national activities to include those that:

(A) show potential to improve the quality of student achievement in, and teaching of, American history, civics and government, or geography, in elementary schools and secondary schools; and (B) demonstrate innovation, scalability, accountability, and a focus on underserved populations; and (2) may include—(A) hands-on civic engagement activities for teachers and students; and (B) programs that educate students about the history and principles of the Constitution of the United States, including the Bill of Rights.

Moving forward, the federal government must continue to provide funding and other supports to ensure that teachers who value the nation’s diverse history can teach it. One way the government can demonstrate this support is by issuing federal guidance reiterating the significance of these grants and the importance of cross-collaboration between schools and nonprofits, followed by additional guidelines for effective implementation and use of competitive grant funds. If these actions are taken, the Department of Education will be able to better support and hold K-12 schools accountable for providing all students with a quality education.

Overall, researchers found that respondents were more likely to respond positively when messaging emphasized the prioritization of qualified educators and proven facts in the classroom. Respondents were also more likely to agree with messaging that stressed collectivity and used words such as “integrity,” “freedom,” “honesty,” and “sense of belonging” when discussing these topics.

Ultimately, crafting good policies should prioritize teaching truth, not restricting or omitting important aspects of U.S. history simply because more inclusive curricula might make some students feel uncomfortable or shamed about the United States’ history of racially discriminatory systems and laws. Survey data indicate that 58 percent of parents and voters feel that the following statement describes “very well” how they feel about teaching historical facts, prioritizing honesty, and supporting individuals and families from all backgrounds: 42

Kids in this country have not been taught our full, honest history, including some of America’s worst chapters. No one should be made to feel ashamed of who they are-no matter their background. But we’ll all progress as a country if we learn and acknowledge the mistakes of the past.

Legislators need to combat policies that violate students’ rights by ensuring that the accountability systems in place for protecting their rights are operating as intended and that all students are receiving a quality education. Failure to protect elementary and secondary school students’ rights to an improved quality of education that teaches complete and accurate American history, literature, civics, and government—including the history and principles of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights—is a direct violation of the Department of Education’s explicit responsibility to abide by its mission to “promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.” 43 The department must continue to monitor the state and local landscape of school curricula on American history, as well as state actions on book banning, and offer technical guidance to schools that seek to implement more inclusive strategies or other policies ensuring that school districts are not violating students’ First Amendment rights.

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Allie Pearce, policy analyst for the K-12 Education Policy team, and Jamil Modaffari, research associate for the K-12 Education Policy team, for helping support the research for this report. She would also like to thank Edwith Theogene, senior director for Racial Equity and Justice; Jesse O’Connell, senior vice president for Education; and Mara Rudman, executive vice president of policy, for their thoughtful review of this report.

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The positions of American Progress, and our policy experts, are independent, and the findings and conclusions presented are those of American Progress alone. A full list of supporters is available here . American Progress would like to acknowledge the many generous supporters who make our work possible.

Akilah Alleyne

Former Director

K-12 Education Policy

The K-12 Education Policy team is committed to developing policies for a new education agenda rooted in principles of opportunity for all and equity in access.

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School Textbooks In The United States

The schoolbook can be traced back to the close of the fifteenth century in Europe, but the actual term textbook did not come into general use until the latter part of the eighteenth century in England. In the colonial period in the United States, the religiously oriented New England Primer (1690) served as the beginning reader for more than a century and a quarter. Most schoolbooks were imported from England, such as the many editions of A New Guide to the English Tongue (1740), which included moral stories and religious selections, and the arithmetic text, Schoolmaster's Assistant (1743)–both written by Thomas Dilworth, an English schoolmaster. The turning point for the development of distinctive American textbooks was to emerge dramatically during the national period.

Americanization of Schoolbooks

The Revolutionary War cut off the supply of schoolbooks from England during its duration, and although American-born texts began to appear to meet the pent-up demand following the war, most schoolbooks continued to come from England. The epochal transformation was launched by Noah Webster's American Spelling Book (1783), a combined speller and reader, and his dictionaries (1806,1828). It was Noah Webster who recognized the need for a uniform American language to reflect the ideals and realities of the new country, as opposed to the social-class divisions marked by language in England and Europe. The vehicle for this transformation was his American speller, reader, grammar, and dictionaries, which, according to Henry Commager, made Webster "schoolmaster to America" and assured him "a place among the Founding Fathers" (p. 83).

Webster criticized the emphasis given to Latin and Greek, as well as the traditional uses of the Bible as a textbook. In addition to his school textbooks on American language, he authored other school textbooks in a range of subjects, including history, geography, and science. Although Webster's readers were moralistic and patriotic, he believed that whereas the nations of the Old World had inherited a long history of national identity, America had been created, and needed to establish its own authentic identity by means of education and language.

The McGuffey Readers

In 1836 the first two of what was to become a series of six grade readers appeared in Cincinnati. These were the McGuffey readers. Between 1836 and 1870 some 47 million copies of the McGuffey texts were sold. They became the textbooks of the nation, while also contributing to the establishment of the graded school and a more common curriculum. Heavily moralistic and Protestant in religious preachment, the readers were deemed to promote good character. In writing the readers (and the successive editions), the McGuffey brothers (William and Alexander) seemed oblivious to the Progressive pedagogical practices being transformed by the American experience. Nevertheless, the McGuffey readers served to promote a common curriculum that, according to Henry Commager, was a benevolent, not a chauvinistic, expression of nationalism.

Growth and Development of Textbooks

The educational systems in European nations were traditionally under national ministries, resulting in greater standardization and uniformity of curriculum, with the consequence that textbooks were relatively limited in variety. In contrast, the decentralized American system of education, coupled with the early universalization of public elementary and secondary education in the United States, proved to be fertile ground for the proliferation of textbooks, in both variety and quantity.

Early in the twentieth century, Progressive educators were criticizing rote textbook recitation–and promoting the uses of multiple textbooks and resource books. Units of work, or teaching units, were developed at leading Progressive schools, most notably the Lincoln School at Columbia's Teachers College, in an effort to articulate the new curriculum in the face of the traditionally segmented subject curriculum. A sixth-grade unit on architecture, for example, would require the usage of a vast array of books and other resource materials in integrating several previously isolated subjects. The unit of work also typically required students to become engaged in a corresponding variety of projects. Nevertheless, these developments did not curtail the growth and development of textbooks, but instead stimulated the production of supplementary texts and textbooks more realistically attuned to the nature of the learner and the need to connect subject matter to life experience. Since that time, textbooks have typically identified chapter groupings as units, although this practice has been more cosmetic than authentic or functional. Yet the better textbooks contained suggested activities, projects, and lines of inquiry beyond the actual textbook content.

Although Progressive education did not lead to the end of the textbook recitation, an early study by William Bagley (1931) found that while "straight" recitation from the single textbook was being used just about as frequently as the socialized recitation, contemporary educational theory was increasingly affecting teaching practices in a fairly profound fashion and moving it away from textbook-linked recitation. More than half a century later, in 1984, John Goodlad reported in his study of schooling that, although textbooks dominated the instruction in the sciences and mathematics, there was a wide range of textbooks and materials in classrooms. However, heavy emphasis was being given to workbooks and worksheets in various subjects, including mathematics, in a mode not always distinguishable from testing.

The early twenty-first century's national movement for standards and external testing has led to efforts to align the curriculum to the standardized tests and for teachers to engage in teaching the test, with the consequence that workbooks, worksheets, and photocopied exercises are increasingly being used. Just as with programmed instruction, the dominant mode of workbook/worksheet teaching and learning is established-convergent. In contrast, good textbooks will suggest activities, projects, and lines of inquiry that are emergent, and even divergent.

Textbook Controversies

Since the advent of computer-assisted instruction (CAI), much has been made of an impending educational revolution whereby print and paper will no longer be the memory of humanity. In a 1967 publication commemorating the centennial year of the U.S. Office of Education, a scenario of the school was envisioned in which, before the year 2000, textbooks and other books, and even teachers, would be replaced by the computer. Subsequent developments in educational technology have been accompanied by extravagant promises that eventually faded away. Considering the economy, convenience, and durability of the textbook, it is likely that new electronic technology will not replace the textbook, but will find a supplementary place in the teaching-learning process.

Since 1990 the pressure on school administrators to bring computers into schools created all too many instances where, in the face of limited facilities, space for library books was reduced to make room for computer stations. Considerable effort has been expended on integrating the computer into the curriculum, but virtually no thought has been given to integrating the curriculum with the computer. The most common uses of the computer in schools has been as an electronic workbook or worksheet.

A review of issues of the American Library Association's Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom finds virtually no instances of censorship of computer-based instruction programs, whereas the cases on censorship of school textbooks are legion. The most notorious case of textbook censorship stems back to 1925, when John T. Scopes, a Tennessee high school teacher, was brought to trial for having violated a state statute prohibiting the teaching of evolution–ironically by using a state-approved biology text. The case generated national and worldwide notoriety as the "World's Most Famous Court Trial," with William Jennings Bryan on the side of the state and Clarence Darrow for the defense. Scopes was convicted and fined $100. On appeal, the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld the law, but reversed the lower court's decision on a technicality. The law in question was eventually replaced by a statute prohibiting the use of any textbook presenting evolution without a qualifying statement that evolution is a theory and not a scientific fact–thereby revealing the legislature's ignorance of what a scientific theory is.

The problem of academic freedom in the schools reached such a critical state in the 1930s that the American Historical Society issued a huge volume of more than 850 pages under the title Are American Teachers Free? (1936). The book devoted a lengthy article to the problem of textbook censorship. From the 1930s into the early 1940s, the leading social studies textbook series for junior and senior high schools, written by Harold Rugg, underwent the full assault of the National Association of Manufacturers, the Advertising Federation of America, the Hearst Press, the American Legion, and other ultra-right-wing groups and individuals seeking to portray the Rugg textbooks as subversive of American ideals and institutions. The Rugg textbooks traced the evolution of modern American democracy in the face of pervasive social problems and issues, but super-patriotic groups viewed any study of unsettling ideas and problems in American life as anti-American. By the early 1940s the Rugg textbooks had been completely removed from the schools. A similar fate befell the widely used Building America series (1935–1948) of supplementary pictorial social studies texts during the early years of the cold war. The Building America series was focused on thematic problems and issues in the building of American democracy.

Nationalizing Influences on the Textbook

In the wake of the cold war and the space race, an unprecedented national effort was financed with federal funds through the National Science Foundation to support curriculum reform projects in the sciences and mathematics so as to meet the "long range crisis in national security" (Bruner, p. 1). From the 1950s into the early 1970s, the overriding goal of this effort was to produce more scientists and mathematicians to meet the Soviet threat. Early on it had been anticipated that the newer instructional media would play a pivotal role in these national projects, but the mainstay turned out to be the textbook.

Controlled, directed, and promoted by university scholar-specialists, the projects embraced a discipline-centered doctrine focused on specialized, puristic, theoretical, and abstract knowledge. University scholars in the social sciences and other fields soon jumped on the discipline-centered bandwagon. With very few exceptions, the project progenitors avoided controlled research, thereby violating a fundamental principle of scientific inquiry. By the late 1960s and into the early 1970s it was becoming increasingly apparent that what had been heralded as the "new math," "new physics," and so on, had failed to deliver what was promised. The number of college majors in the sciences underwent a sharp decline, and noted scientists and mathematicians who had not been involved in the discipline-centered projects began to examine the school textbooks and proceeded to issue devastating reports criticizing the textbooks and other materials for being too abstract and theoretical for children and adolescents. Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling made a blistering attack on the "new chemistry" texts for covering far too much information and advanced theoretical material, making them incomprehensible to the high school student, and recommended that the chemistry textbooks be reduced to half their size.

In effect, had the textbooks been reviewed by a wider range of authorities from the outset, the massive failure of the national discipline-centered curriculum reforms could have been avoided, and appropriate textbooks could have been created. Clearly the lesson was that textbooks should be subjected to the test of face validity by a cosmopolitan jury of authorities in the field, including educators. Totally neglected in the discipline-centered textbooks were the nature and interests of the learner, practical knowledge applications, and connections of the discipline with bordering fields of knowledge. This was also the case for the national discipline-centered projects in the social sciences and language and literature, which, in the pursuit of puristic knowledge, failed to make connections of the subject matter with the wider social life of American democracy. In following their specializations, the scholars deliberately dismissed the democratic sociocivic function of the curriculum as "ideological bias" (Tanner 1971, pp. 200–201).

More Disputations

The latter half of the 1960s witnessed the full social impact of the civil rights movement, protests against the escalating Vietnam War, and outbursts of civil disobedience in major cities–accompanied by student disruptions on college campuses that filtered down into high schools. The demand in colleges and schools was now for curriculum relevance. A host of neoromantic best-selling books appeared calling for laissez-faire pedagogy and even for the elimination of textbooks and the preplanned curriculum. Following a brief period of extreme child-centered classrooms and the uses of au courant materials in the secondary schools in the name of relevance, a counterreaction of back to basics set in, with emphasis being given to statewide minimum-competency testing.

In a postmortem effort examining the fall of the national disciplinary curriculum-reform projects, the National Institute of Education formed a task force in 1975. In its report the chair of the task force attributed the collapse of the federally supported projects largely to the forces of censorship, capped by a congressional attack on one of the projects in 1975, and although the new biology textbooks had been attacked by antievolutionists, it was clear that most of the projects were not targets of censorship and were already in a state of imminent collapse by the late 1960s.

Unfortunately, teachers, textbook authors, and publishers sometimes engage in self-censorship. For example, as a means of avoiding attacks by creationists, the leading center for curriculum development in life sciences for schools produced modular materials for one of its projects, rather than a textbook, allowing schools and districts the option of avoiding any of the modules that may be contentious–such as the module on evolution. Whatever the marketing benefits may be, such as the claim of "flexibility," the fact remains that such an approach only segments the curriculum and in the case of evolution, keeps students in ignorance of a foundational paradigm of life sciences.

Dumbing-Down of Textbooks

By the mid-1980s it was becoming increasingly clear that the back-to-basic retrenchment and minimum-competency standards had resulted in a renewed proliferation of worksheets, workbooks, and the dumbing-down of textbooks. Despite its reckless language in scapegoating the public schools for the decline in U.S. industrial productivity, the 1983 report of the National Commission on Excellence in Education ( A Nation at Risk ) leveled some cogent criticisms at the minimum-competency tests (required in most of the states) for actually lowering educational standards and recommended that textbooks be made more challenging. The report held that textbook expenditures and related instructional materials had declined by 50 percent over the previous seventeen years and recommended that expenditures for textbooks and other curriculum materials should be raised to between 5 and 10 percent of the operating costs of schools–many times the then current level. In 1984 U.S. Secretary of Education Terrel H. Bell accused publishers of "dumbing down" their textbooks, but he failed to acknowledge that the dumbing-down is the inevitable consequence of curriculum fundamentalism, back-to-basics retrenchment, and censorship pressures.

In 1985, upon the recommendation of the California Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission, the California State Board of Education rejected many of the science textbooks for having failed to address controversial topics adequately, and many mathematics texts for stressing "apparent mastery" of mechanical skills without conceptual understanding and experiential application in problem-solving situations. Within several months, revised textbook editions appeared. One publisher, which had not even listed the topic of evolution in the index of its textbook, produced a revised edition within a year with an entire chapter on evolution. Based on the California experience, it would appear that a knowledgeable curriculum development commission in other states could serve not only as an antidote to censorship, but also as a vehicle for the continual improvement of textbooks and other curriculum materials. Faculty curriculum committees at the local school level could also serve in this capacity.

Change and Challenge

Good textbooks codify and synthesize knowledge in ways appropriate to the cognitive, affective, and social growth of learners. The durability and popularity of the textbook reside in its economy and flexibility. The fact that textbooks have served historically as prime targets for censorship of ideas is testimony that textbooks are powerful media for emergent, and even divergent, learning. The textbook should not be seen as the syllabus or complete course of study, but should be created as a vehicle for opening up avenues for further inquiry and the use of a range of print materials and other media. Whether the school textbook is designed to meet the function of general education, exploratory education, enrichment education, or even specialized education, to be successful it must be generative in ideas, concepts, and skills for meaningful applications in the life and growth of the learner. Such textbooks should relate to and draw from bordering areas of knowledge. But even the best textbooks depend on the teacher for their successful use as a vehicle for emergent learning.

The programmed textbook failed for many of the reasons cited above–for its narrow-minded behavioristic focus on established-convergent learning, its segmental and mechanical format and approach to knowledge, its mechanistic multiple-choice or fill-in-the blank mentality, and its artificiality in failing to engage the learner's imagination and life experience, to list just a few shortcomings. Unfortunately the workbook and worksheet persist, while the computer has commonly been used in school as an electronic worksheet aligned to external tests. Over the short history of the programmed textbook, censorship was never a problem. As noted by Judith A. Langer and Richard L. Allington in 1992 and by Daniel Tanner in 1999, the established-convergent programming repertoire found no place for provocative ideas.

In the contemporary scene, publishers would do well to cut down on the uses of readability formulas in the construction of textbooks and instead center reading materials on ideas. Even preschoolers can follow a story line, which requires the development of plot, character, sequential events, and relational ideas. Idea-oriented teaching, rather than error-oriented teaching, is required for a generative curriculum.

For more than a century, Progressive educators have deplored the direct textbook recitation method and the use of the textbook as the sole curriculum source for a subject at each grade level. Teachers have been urged to use multiple texts and a rich variety of material resources and activities beyond the texts. Progressive educators promoted and produced textbooks that stimulated students to investigate problems of persistent personal and social significance. In the early twenty-first century, it is not uncommon to find a beginning college textbook in ecology, for example, perfectly suitable for use at both the college and high school levels. The wide range of appeal stems from the appropriateness of the interdisciplinary material to the life of the learner in the wider society.

The design and function of the textbook at virtually any level should be directed at interrelating or correlating the content with bordering areas of knowledge so as to empower the learner in the uses to which knowledge is put. As Margaret McKeown and Isabel Beck noted in 1998, the textbook should be so designed as to reveal turning points, rather than end points, in the development and uses of knowledge.

In a multicultural society there will always be divided and special interests that will seek to impinge on the teacher's right to teach and the student's right to learn. But an enlightened citizenry requires freedom of inquiry. Historically, those who would seek to curtail the free currency of ideas in the teaching-learning process have focused their efforts on print media, especially the school textbook.

See also: C URRICULUM , S CHOOL ; E LEMENTARY E DUCATION , subentries on C URRENT T RENDS , H ISTORY OF ; M EDIA AND L EARNING ; S ECONDARY E DUCATION, subentries on C URRENT T RENDS , H ISTORY OF ; T ECHNOLOGY IN E DUCATION ; W EBSTER , N OAH .

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