The complexities of institutional change and stability in terms of gender policies are analyzed. The following three questions are central to the discussion: (1) why did some policy changes take place with only minor controversy? (2) why did vehement policy talk affect practice so little? and (3) how did gender reforms alter educational…

Presents a historical perspective on school restructuring, looking at New York City's unique reform; policy discourse and trends in practice; late nineteenth-century diversity; reorganization from 1900-50; challenging basic assumptions in the 1960s; back to basics in the 1980s; long-term structural trends in public schools; and education reform…

Examines the institutional history of public schools in the United States in the context of gender, and investigates gender practices and policies in the context of formal education. There was far less gender segregation in classrooms under the control of teachers than in informal groups of children outside adult supervision. (BJV)