This book examines long-term changes in the form and function of schooling. The work falls into three sections: an introductory chapter; five historical essays; and a concluding chapter. Chapter 1 unfolds the theoretical and practical considerations that governed the selection and organization of the historical essays. The historical essays in chapters 2 through 6 address notable and pivotal episodes in the history of school organization. Their titles are as follows: "On the Origins of the Educational Terms Class and Curriculum"; "Schooling to Order: Jean Baptist de la Salle and the Pedagogy of Elementary Education"; "Adam Smith and the Moral Economy of the Classroom System"; "On Simultaneous Instruction and the Emergence of Class Teaching"; "The Recitation Revisited." Chapter 7 builds upon the preceding essays by advancing a range of general propositions about the relationship among "schooling,""society," and "educational change." (JAM)