This article examines schooling in the western American state of Colorado during the early twentieth century. Conditions of youth and education are examined at the Walsen coal-mining camp near the town of Walsenburg in the southern region of the state. The experiences of children in the camp are compared to with those living in the town, with a…

Background and Context: Statewide test-based accountability in the United States began with minimum competency assessments in public schools during the 1970s, starting in Florida and other Southern states. Controversies over IQ (intelligence quotient) testing contributed to the development of "criterion-referenced" exams that became the…

Opportunity hoarding is a sociological concept first introduced by Charles Tilly. This article explores its utility for historians by examining efforts to exclude different groups of people in a major American metropolis during the 1960s and seventies. This was a period of significant social change, as the racial composition of big city schools…

This paper examines the impact of war on African-American education. This question is considered in three different periods: the eras of the American Revolution, the Civil War and the Second World War. Large-scale conflict, such as these instances of total war, can afford historical moments when oppressed groups are able take steps to improve…

In this article, the author discusses the question of theory as it may pertain to the history of education, with particular attention to the United States. Historians, like everyone else, have little choice regarding the use of theory; to one extent or another they must. The question is how much and to what end. The author aims to consider the…

This paper considers African-American student protests in secondary schools during the 1960s and early 1970s. Taking a national perspective, it charts a growing sense of independence and militancy among black students as they made the schools a focal point of activism. Activist students challenged established civil rights organisations on a…

This is the first comprehensive account of African American secondary education in the postwar era. Drawing on quantitative datasets, as well as oral history, this compelling narrative examines how African Americans narrowed the racial gap in high school completion. The authors explore regional variations in high school attendance across the…

This article examines the terms "culturally deprived" and "disadvantaged" in light of their popular use in the sixties and following decades, particularly in the ethnic and mainstream press. These expressions represented an effort to explain differences in educational attainment and academic achievement along lines of social…

There is a widely held notion, even among educational historians, that the history of education is an unusual academic specialty, embraced fully by neither the professional world of teaching nor the historical profession. But in fact, the history of education may not be so unusual a specialization. It is one of a number of historical fields of…

Reviews "History and Educational Policy Making," which includes several essays written over time by one author. The general theme is history informing policy decisions. The essays provide capsule histories of particular federal programs, demonstrating how politics have intervened to dictate policies inconsistent with history or research results.…

This study examines variations in the number of months American children spent in school in 1900. Using a sample of 15,321 students aged five to 20 from federal census figures, the effect of regional, community, and individual characteristics on the length of the school term are explored. (JL)

Describes how New York City's African Free School became a focal point of Black community aspirations in the early 1800s and how the Black community struggled, with limited success, to maintain a role in determination of educational policies in the school. (CMG)

The rate of female labor force participation between 1880 and 1930 increased from 15 to 25 percent. Home economics, commercial education, and industrial education were new elements of the curriculum designed for female occupations. Other programs, though coeducational, became sex-typed by the occupational roles with which they were associated. (RM)

Presents a critical review of Margaret J. Marshall's work, "Contesting Cultural Rhetorics: Public Discourse and Education, 1890-1900." The author discusses Marshall's comparison and examination of historical nineteenth-century texts about education. The analysis suggests the book does not adequately advance knowledge about public…

Historically, conceptions of gender in education revolved around a distinctive set of assumptions about male and female sexuality. This article focuses on the principal arguments, related to education, associated with sexuality and sex equity during three critical periods in American history: antebellum, latter nineteenth century, early twentieth…