Chapter 8

Part 2

Pages 282-285

Expanding Public Education

Terms to Know

• Booker T. Washington

• Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute

• W.E.B. DuBois

• Niagra Movement

Early U.S. Educational Reformers

• Horace Mann: First state school superintendent

• John Dewey: a progressive reformer who beleived that schools should prepare studets for full participation in community life and for participation in government as informed voters and civil servants

Schools

• To train for employment opportunities

• To train for responsible citizenship

• To help immigrants assimilate into American life

By the Civil War

• Most states had established public schools

• Fewer in the South

• BUT most did not get HS diploms

• Most left after 4 years of public schooling

Between 1865 and 1895

• Many states had passed compulsory education laws

• 12-16 weeks of school a year

• From 8 to 14 years of age

• Basic reading, writing, math

Why children skipped school

• See page 285 …a reading about the good old days

William Torrey Harris

• An educational reformer at the turn of the century

• Like Dewey Promoted a child-centered education

Kindergarten

• Began as day care for mothers who worked but grew dramatically

• 200 kindergartens in 1880

• 3,000 in 1900

• So public schools began to add kindergarten programs

Public Education and Race

• 1880 62% of white children were attending elementary schools

• Only 34% of African American children attended

• After 1900 some improvement but segregation and poorer conditions for Black children

The Growth of High Schools

• The Industrial Age demanded those with mechanical skills and managerial skills for advancement

• By the early 1900’s more than half of a million students were arrending High Schools

New Curriculums

• In Science, Civics, Social Studies

• New Vocational Courses: drafting, carpentry, mechanics

• Women’s courses for office work

African Americans

• Were often excluded from public high schools

• By 1890 less than 1% of African Americans attended High School

• Only 3% in 1910 and these were ot public schools

Education and Immigrants

• Immigrants were encouraged to attend public schools

• For assimilation

• But many Catholics were concerned about Protestant indoctrination so founded parochial schools

Adult Education

• Adult immigrants took advantage of night school to learn English, government, American History for citizenship

• Some employers offered daytime programs…Henry Ford

Higher Education

• By 1900 a minority had a High school diploma

• And fewer than 3% attended college

• BUT between 1880 and 1920 college enrollment fquadrupled

Colleges

• Changed curriculum

• Changed admission policies

New Courses

• Modern languages

• Physical sciences

• Psychology

• Sociology

• New schools for law and medicine

College admissions

• Some had enterence exams

• Some admitted all with a high school diploma

African Americans

• Were rejected by white institutions

• Some Black colleges through the Freedmen’s Bureau (established after the Civil War to attend to the problems of the newly freed Black man) and private donations

• Howard, Atlanta, Fisk

By 1900

• There were 9 million African Americans

• 3,880 attended colleges or professional schools

Booker T. Washington

• African-American Educator

• Noteworthy Black Leader

• Believed that racism would disappear when Blacks could show that they were a valuable part of the national economy

• Washington urged patience and hard work through his Atlanta Compromise

The Atlanta Compromise

• From a speech given in Atlanta, Georgia

• Washington urged Blacks to educate themselves in a practical trade (ie black farmers should know the state-of-the-art information on fertilizer) AND to emulate the white middle class

Through education

• The Black population could become an integrel part of the American economy

• By emulating the white middle class, Blacks would assure the Whites that they were no threat to American culture and wanted to “fit in.”

Booker T. Washington

• Was born a slave

• By 1881 he headed the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute…Now Tuskegee university in Alabama

• Specialized in teaching, agricultural, domestic, and mechanical courses

W.E.B. DuBois

• The first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard

• Promoted a Liberal Arts Education for Blacks

• Wanted African Americans to demand their rights now

The Niagara Mov ement

• Founded the NAACP in 1905

• Hoped for immediate inclusion into mainstream American Life for the African American