This brief, interpretive history of American schooling focuses on the evolving relationship between education and social change. Like its predecessors, this new edition investigates the impact of social forces such as industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and cultural conflict on the development of schools and other educational institutions. It also examines the various ways that schools have contributed to social change, particularly in enhancing the status and accomplishments of certain social groups and not others. Detailed accounts of the experiences of women and minority groups in American history consider how their lives have been affected by education at key points in the past.

Updates to this edition







A revised final chapter updated to include recent changes in educational politics, finance, policy, and a shifting federal policy context




Enhanced coverage and new conceptual frames for understanding the experiences of women and people of color in the midst of social change




Edited throughout to update information and sources regarding the history of American education and related processes of social transformation in the nation’s past