ShmoopTube

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[Dino and Coop singing]

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Let’s take a look back at 400 years of American Education. [American Education book opens]

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Aw. These photo albums always make us weepy.

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All right. We begin in the 1600s. During this time, America was occupied mostly by people

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who were fleeing religious persecution. [Man holding a plate of pizza]

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So, education back then was mostly taught by parents or priests.

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And lessons usually focused on teaching religious values… and preparing students to be good

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citizens.

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And to, you know…hate on other religions.

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In the 1700s, the quality of education someone received was mainly based on race, class and [Coop discussing about education variables]

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location.

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Thomas Jefferson even went so far as to propose two different educational tracks. One for

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the wealthy people…

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…and a different one for poor people. [Jefferson drawing two arrows from education]

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Believe it or not, the fact that Jefferson thought the poor should be educated at all

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made him a progressive in his day.

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Schools were still pretty much focused on religious values, but some people were beginning

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to advocate for a separation of schools and religion. [People protesting for separation of schools and religion]

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That whole “sacrificing goats during math class” thing was getting out of control.

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Plowing ahead to the 1800s…

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We see the dawn of the first government-owned and operated schools… [Uncle Sam teaching students]

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… as well as the creation, in 1867, of the Department of Education.

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This meant more structure in school curriculums… and less parents educating their kids at home.

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Which also meant an increase in packed lunches.

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Very good news for brown paper bag companies. [Man bathing in a pile of money]

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In the 1800s, education became more accessible to women and African-Americans.

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Not a ton more, but…baby steps, right?

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At the start of the 20th century, ideas about education in the United States were becoming [Guys arm-wrestling]

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more and more polarized.

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Philosopher and psychologist John Dewey…

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…proposed ideas such as student-centered education.

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Meanwhile, teachers were being encouraged to become aware of the psychology of their [Student speaking to a psychiatrist]

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students.

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It was tough fitting couches and desks into those crowded classrooms…

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Later in the century, psychologist B.F. Skinner was all about stuff like rote memorization [Dino teaching about B.F Skinner]

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and positive reinforcement.

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Gold star for you. Woot.

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As the civil rights movement grew, minorities and women fought for the right to attend the [Photo's of women fighting for rights to attend schools]

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same schools as everyone else.

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Their activism paid off, as laws and court cases strove to assure equality in the schools.

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The beginning of the 2000s… or the “aughts” as the cool kids used to call them… saw

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the passage of No Child Left Behind.

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This law ushered in an era of testing for school achievement… [Girl receives F grade test paper]

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…with which you’re probably familiar.

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More recently, the Common Core State Standards used in most of the country…

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…have tried to push schools to compete in the global market. [Coop discussing the common core state standards]

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And every day, new technologies transform education both in the classroom...

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…and out of it.

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But, being a good little Shmooper, you knew that already. [Guy using shmoop revision website]

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