About the Book
At a time marked by strong demands for educational reform, the American school curriculum is a topic of special concern. This volume provides a comprehensive historical record of the evolution of the curriculum in America from the colonial period to the present day. The editors have compiled a collection of influential and representative documents in primary, secondary, and higher education in the United States. Each document is introduced by a short essay that discusses its historical context and significance. The result is a valuable chronicle of the development of the American school curriculum.
The work begins with an introductory piece that overviews the development of the curriculum and surveys the most important works on curriculum history. The introduction is followed by excerpts from 34 documents representative of the school curriculum from The Rules and Course of Study of Harvard College, 1642 to the 1983 report, A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform. The essay that introduces each document closes with a brief bibliography, and the volume concludes with a more extensive list of sources for further reading. By consulting this reference, historians and educators can trace the development of the curriculum over the last 350 years.
Table of Contents:
The Rules and Course of Study of Harvard College, 1642
Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania, 1749
The Yale Report, 1828
The Common School Curriculum, 1839 and 1841
Selection Among Studies, 1842
Graded Course of Instruction for the District Schools of Chicago, 1862
Report of a Committee on a Course of Study from Primary School to University, 1876
Report of the Committee of Ten on Secondary School Studies, 1893
Report of the Committee of Fifteen, 1895
Course of Study, St. Louis Public Schools, 1902
The Child and the Curriculum, 1902
Courses of Study, Los Angeles High School, 1908-09
Report of the Committee on Economy of Time in Education, 1913
High School Systems in Ten Cities, 1914
The Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education, 1918
Scientific Method in Curriculum-Making, 1918
An Experiment with a Project Curriculum, 1923
Experimental Practice in the City and Country School, 1924
Organization and Program of Platoon Schools in Detroit, 1924
A Program of Individualization, 1925
The Practice of Teaching in the Secondary School, 1926
List of Fundamental Questions on Curriculum-Making and The Foundations of Curriculum-Making, 1927
Reorientation in Education, 1937
Experience and Education, 1938
Reorganizing Secondary Education, 1938
What the High Schools Ought to Teach, 1940
The Story of the Eight-Year Study, 1942
Thirty Schools Tell Their Story, 1942
General Education in a Free Society, 1945
Designing Programs to Meet the Common Needs of Youth, 1953
The Importance of Structure and The Spiral Curriculum, 1960
Realms of Meaning, 1964
The Practical: A Language for Curriculum, 1970
The Roles and Relationships Among the Various Sectors in Curriculum Development, 1976
The Tyler Rationale Reconsidered, 1977
A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform, 1983
About the Author :
GEORGE WILLIS is Professor of Education at the University of Rhode Island. An authority on curriculum history, he has written several books and his articles have appeared in Curriculum Inquiry, Curriculum Perspectives, Educational Leadership, and the Journal of Curriculum Theorizing.
WILLIAM H. SCHUBERT is Professor of Education and Coordinator of the Graduate Curriculum Studies Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has published several books on curriculum development, and his more than 70 articles have appeared in such journals as Curriculum Studies and Educational Researcher.
ROBERT V. BULLOUGH, JR. is Professor of Educational Studies at the University of Utah. He has published numerous books and articles on public education, teachers, and curriculum development.
CRAIG KRIDEL is Curator of the McKissick Museum of Education at the University of South Carolina. Formerly, he was the Director of the Institute for the Advancement of the Arts in Education at Ohio State University.
JOHN T. HOLTON is Superintendent of the Appoquinimink School District in Delaware. A specialist in curriculum history, he was formerly an Associate Professor at Morehead State University.
Review :
.,."The variety and importance of the selections in this volume make it useful and convenient."-Reference Books Bulletin
.,."This volume covers not only the history of the American curriculum, but also traces the movements in social and political history that propelled changes in the content of the curriculum....This book is of such monumental proportions that it should be read by every teacher, used in every course on curriculum development, and contained in every bibliography on the subject."-Choice
?...The variety and importance of the selections in this volume make it useful and convenient.?-Reference Books Bulletin
?...This volume covers not only the history of the American curriculum, but also traces the movements in social and political history that propelled changes in the content of the curriculum....This book is of such monumental proportions that it should be read by every teacher, used in every course on curriculum development, and contained in every bibliography on the subject.?-Choice
?A rich resource for students of curricular thought. The book is pertinent for courses in philosophical foundations, history of curriculum, curriculum theory and development, and related fields. More especially, however, the work provides instances of dreams, visions, hard work, and descriptions of curriculum in varieties of settings and with varieties of intents. The work is well worth studying as educators ponder: What Next??-Educational Studies
?Academic libraries supporting teacher education and school-district libraries should seriously consider purchasing The American Curriculum.?-Booklist
..."The variety and importance of the selections in this volume make it useful and convenient."-Reference Books Bulletin
..."This volume covers not only the history of the American curriculum, but also traces the movements in social and political history that propelled changes in the content of the curriculum....This book is of such monumental proportions that it should be read by every teacher, used in every course on curriculum development, and contained in every bibliography on the subject."-Choice
"Academic libraries supporting teacher education and school-district libraries should seriously consider purchasing The American Curriculum."-Booklist
"A rich resource for students of curricular thought. The book is pertinent for courses in philosophical foundations, history of curriculum, curriculum theory and development, and related fields. More especially, however, the work provides instances of dreams, visions, hard work, and descriptions of curriculum in varieties of settings and with varieties of intents. The work is well worth studying as educators ponder: What Next?"-Educational Studies
