Completing+the+Modern+School+System

Overview

Schools During and After the War
 * German was no longer taught.
 * curriculum was examined to make sure there was no pro-German agenda.
 * Schools were active supporters of the war.
 * Teachers who did not support the war lost their jobs!
 * Testing became popular and therefore critized.

The Fully Modernized School System Administrators, Teachers, and Teacher Unions Progressive Educators [|Caroline Pratt] [|Caroline Pratt] [|Margaret Naumberg] Progressive Education and African Americans
 * Introduction of a comprehensive high school
 * "Preparing students for their adult lives."
 * Extracurricular activities were added to the curriculum.
 * Assembly programs and homerooms introduced students to various programs.
 * School playgrounds were added.
 * Kindergarten was added in late 19th century.
 * Elementary, High, College, and Graduate were expected academic fixtures.
 * Jr. High was added in large cities.
 * Jr./Community college began to serve as a remedial institution.
 * Teachers organized associations to defend salaries and traditions.
 * [|AFT-American Federation of Teachers 1916]
 * Progressive Education after the War
 * the war halted development of reform movement
 * rise in teacher colleges
 * development of the project method of teaching
 * less of Dewey and more [|Kilpatrick] (proposing, planning, executing, judging)
 * liberal progressive reformers like Dewey were silent on the issue of race.

The South
 * African American population was larger in the South before WWI and not considerd by the northern reformers like Dewey.
 * Southern movement toward progressivism less liberal than the rest of the nation.
 * Unintersted in rectifying the plight of southern black citizens.
 * Schools were underfunded and segregated-often money that belonged to the black schools was diverted by school boards by white schools.
 * [|Richard Wright] in 1880 in Agusta, Ga. established Ware High School which was later closed.
 * School funding was usually determined through special elections which African Americans were alowed to vote in. This was used to pursue a public high school.
 * Many black colleges were established after Reconstruction. The northern philanthropists desired those collleges to install an Industrial education curriculum.
 * Elemtentary education was allowed although it wasn't financed and the facilities were substandard.

The North
 * Large numbers of blacks moved from rural south to industrialized north.
 * They were able to find work although not the skilled high paying jobs they wanted.
 * Education was improved but not equal to that of whites.
 * Some schools were not segregated but classes were.
 * "Down from Equality" by Michael W. Homel provides detailed description of 1920-1930's educational development in the city of Chicago.
 * Due to overcrowding in what would become the ghetto, black education in most northern cities was almost as bad as the south.
 * Black teachers in the North and South fought for all-black schools since black teachers were not allowed to teach in racially mixed classes.
 * All-black schools became a source of community pride.
 * Educational programs were often provided by churches and other social organizations.

The Modern School at High Tide
 * Detroit, Michigan had schools in the 1920's which were believed to be some of the finest in the country.
 * Strong leadership by the superintendent.
 * Support from interest groups.
 * labor support of public education provided an ally with business and lay groups.
 * When teachers tried to establish associations with union groups, they were told they would not recieve a contract for the next year. That idea was dropped quickly.
 * Instead of union affiliation, the teachers chose to form a council.
 * Activist groups, child labor laws, tax increases, sale of municipal bonds, reorganization plans.
 * [|the platoon system] or school and the Gary plan.
 * Four tracks in high school were offered.
 * Commitment of citizens and teachers.

Conclusion

Effects of Depression and War on American Education