The Development of Education in the United States

Abstract

This chapter is an effort to understand the progression of K-12 public schooling within the United States so that we may then recognize how we will proceed in the digital expansion of this education system going forward into the 21st century. Discourse will address the philosophy, history, curriculum, organization, and responsibility of educators from the late 1700s to the present. Though often rooted in scientific findings or religious dogma, the day-to-day enactment of teaching and learning by educators and students involves continual re-imagining and pragmatic re-configuring to address the challenges of teaching and learning. Understanding the purpose of K-12 public education in the United States within the 21st century model involves the discovery and compilation of several different education interpretations and viewpoints. To understand where the direction of this particular nation's model, it is necessary to understand the direction from where it has come and how past events shaped the present education systems.