[Editor’s Note: This is the 39th in a series of blogs that examine how education developed throughout history until the present. Links to previous blogs are included at the bottom of the post.]
As the 20th century began, the basic foundations and guidelines for public education had already been set, and the public embraced the ideas of free, universal, and compulsory education. However, although states could make education compulsory, they couldn’t require parents to send their children to public schools. Then, as now, parents had the option to send their children to religious schools, private secular schools, or public schools.
And while public education formed the framework for educational evolution in the United States, private enterprise in education continued to flourish. Indeed, under the Establishment Clause, private parochial schools continued to receive public financial support.
The Establishment Clause is a provision of the First Amendment; it prohibits the government from creating any law “respecting an establishment of religion.” This clause does three things: it forbids the government from formally establishing a sanctioned religion, it prohibits government actions that unfairly favor one religion over another, and it prevents the government from unjustly preferring religion over non-religion or vice-versa.
All schools, though, underwent change. By the beginning of the 1900s, the multiage, multigrade, single-room schoolhouse was all but gone except in small rural districts. And the schooling structure changed, too. During the first decade, the prevalent model was eight years of elementary school followed by four years of high school. In 1910, a new structure was introduced, based on a six–three–three system. This structure laid out six years of elementary school education, followed by three years in junior high school and three years in senior high school.
Early childhood education underwent a drastic change, with provisions made for pre-schooling and the increased number of teachers, nannies, and daycare workers needed to produce learning materials and to teach children five years and younger. This initiative remained mostly in the private domain, but it represented the first steps toward the preschool and kindergarten programs we have today.
Next week: 20th Century, Progressive Education
To read part 1: Introduction, click here.
To read part 2: Purpose of education, click here.
To read part 3: Prehistory to pre-industrial, click here.
To read part 4: Mesopotamia and the Sumerians, click here.
To read part 5: Ancient Egypt, click here.
To read part 6: Ancient Greece and Rome, click here.
To read part 7: The Greek philosophers, click here.
To read part 8: China, click here.
To read part 9: The Olmecs and the Maya, click here.
To read part 10: The Islamic World: Basics, click here.
To read part 11: The Islamic World: The Golden Age, click here.
To read part 12: The Renaissance, click here.
To read part 13: American Educational System Overview, click here.
To read part 14: European Influences, Jon Amos Comenius, click here.
To read part 15, European Influences, Froebel, click here.
To read part 16, European Influences, Herbart, click here.
To read part 17, European Influences, Herbert Spencer, click here.
To read part 18, Colonial Period, Puritans, click here.
To read part 19, Colonial Period, New England Books, click here.
To read part 20, Colonial Period, Massachusetts Education Laws, click here.
To read part 21, Colonial Period, Harvard College, click here.
To read part 22, Early National Period, Benjamin Franklin, click here.
To read part 23, Early National Period, Benjamin Rush, click here.
To read part 24, Early National Period, Thomas Jefferson, click here.
To read part 25, Early National Period, Noah Webster, click here.
To read part 26, Early National Period, Educational Ordinances, click here.
To read part 27, Early National Period, Dartmouth College/Yale Report, click here.
To read part 28, Common School Period, Horace Mann, click here.
To read part 29, Common School Period, Mary Lyon and Mount Holyoke College, click here.
To read part 30, Common School Period, McGuffey Readers, click here.
To read part 31, Common School Period, Catholic vs. Protestant Education, click here.
To read part 32, Common School Period, Compulsory Education, click here.
To read part 33, Common School Period, African American Education, click here.
To read part 34, Common School Period, National Education Association, click here.
To read part 35, Common School Period, Morrill Land Grant Acts, click here.
To read part 36, Common School Period Wrap-Up, click here.
To read part 37, Leadership in Transition, click here.
To read part 38, A Time of Reform, click here.
Source:
[1] Lynch, Matthew. (September 2, 2016). “How the 20th Century Changed American Education.” The Edadvocate.org. Retrieved from
https://www.theedadvocate.org/20th-century-changed-american-education/.
