Historical Perspectives on U.S. Education*

Three questions guide our study of the history of U.S. education: (1) Whose interests should schools serve and whose interests have they served in the past? (2) What should be taught and why? and (3) How should schools be organized and operated? We explore current educational issues (e.g. resegregation, immigrant education, tracking, secularism, and homeschooling) through an historical lens that considers the ideologies and assumptions embedded in the institutions and policies of the U.S, school system.