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Introduction
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Committee of Ten publishes its report
The Committee of Ten publishes a report that created four courses of study in high school. Colleges could accept any of these courses for admission. The report also established that all students would be given the same curriculum regardless of their post-secondary choices. This created a uniformity in high school curriculum and college admission that we see today. https://archive.org/details/reportofcomtens00natirich/page/n7/mode/2up -
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The Struggle for the American Curriculum by Herbert M. Kliebard
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John Dewey writes "Interest in Relation to training of the Will"
John Dewey writes an article criticizing the two main curriculum movements of the time: the child study advocates versus the mental disciplinarians. Instead of focusing solely on what interests the child or subjects chosen by adults that may be boring for children, Dewey recommends studying the habits and interests of a child and using that information to guide the child through an orderly and structured curriculum. Much debate continues today about the role child interest plays in curriculum. -
John Dewey Opens Dewey School in Chicago
Dewey opened a school with a curriculum based on social occupations. The school had three main subdivisions: manual training, history and literature, and science. Dewey strove to make the school a microcosm of larger society. His goal was to create a curriculum that combined the ideals of both humanists and developmentalists. Laboratory schools at the University of Chicago still exist today. -
Francis Lloyd and Maurice A. Bigelow writes biology textbook The Teaching of Biology in Secondary Schools
The early 1900's saw a push for reorganizing science curriculum. Many different life science subjects combined to create the subject of biology. The textbook by Francis Lloyd and Maurice A. Bigelow helped push this new subject into schools. Biology is still offered as one of the major science subjects in high schools today. -
Carnegie Foundation creates the Carnegie unit
The Carnegie Foundation developed a unit of study known as the Carnegie unit. Authentic colleges would then require 14 completed units for admission. This measure of unit continues today not only for college acceptance, but for high school graduation as well. -
Thomas Jesse Jones contributes to the reconstruction of social studies curriculum
Thomas Jesse Jones developed a new social studies curriculum at Hampton Institute. From Jones' perspective, the purpose of social studies would be to elevate individuals to the level of middle white class. He viewed minority races as inferior because they have not had time to develop. Racism in society was an issue then as it is still an issue today. Another large issue of race in curriculum is a majority of today's history and social studies textbooks are still from a white perspective. -
Development of middle schools
After WWI, middle schools started being built around the country. The function of the middle school was seen as a way to determine the abilities of the students so they could be sorted into appropriate, differentiated curriculum in high school. Although many people today are against the tracking of students, middle schools still serve as a place to prepare students for high school. -
John Dewey publishes "How We Think"
In this article, aimed directly at teachers, Dewey introduces a 5 step process of how people think in general. These steps evolved into the steps for the scientific method. The scientific method is currently taught at all grade levels across the country. -
Joseph Mayer Rice writes Scientific Management in Education
Rice declares in his text that curriculum and pedagogy should be based on scientific development. He also proclaimed that teachers and administrators must be made to do the right thing (Kliebard, 2004). Rice became a popular forerunner for the social efficiency educators group. -
John Franklin Bobbitt publishes "The Elimination of Waste in Education"
Bobbitt's article focused on how to cut out "waste" in the education system by teaching the child only the skills and knowledge needed to perform their future role in society. Bobbitt became a leader in the social efficiency movement being applied to curriculum. The debate for eliminating "waste" in the curriculum will be debated for decades to come. -
Vocational Education becomes a prominent movement
With the rise of industrialization and decrease of apprenticeships, vocational education offered a way for students to receive training for their future occupations. This movement saw support from the federal government and was the most successful innovation in the 20th century because of the widespread support and implementation in America's schools. Schools today are still expected to introduce a wide variety of occupations to students. -
John Bobbitt writes his book How to Make a Curriculum
One main component of Bobbitt's book is the push for schools to create specific curriculum objectives before deciding any educational activities. Specific curriculum objectives are still in place today across the country. -
William Heard Kilpatrick writes "The Project Method"
"The Project Method" helped popularize the idea of a project based curriculum. The idea was to create a project that incorporates all facets of the curriculum and allows a child to directly connect what they are learning in school with their everyday lives. This became an alternative to scientific curriculum. -
Clarence Kingsley publishes the Cardinal Principles Report
The report outlined seven aims and the curriculum became the vehicle through which these aims were met. The seven aims are: 1.Health, 2.Command of fundamental process, 3.Worthy home-membership, 4.Vocation, 5.Citizenship, 6.Worthy use of leisure, and 7. Ethical Character. This report is still cited today in the field of curriculum. https://archive.org/details/cardinalprincipl00natiuoft/page/n5/mode/2up -
Hollis P. Caswell heads the Virginia Curriculum Project
Hollis P. Caswell was brought to Virginia to help develop a new curriculum. Thousands of teachers were invited to voluntarily form study committees to help develop the new curriculum. Curriculum objectives were first developed, followed by materials to carry out the objectives. One important development that came out of this project was the scope and sequence chart. Many curriculums today still use a scope and sequence chart to organize their curriculum. -
Eight Year Study by the Progressive Education Association
In a response to the outcries of colleges dominating high school curriculum, the Eight Year Study set out to determine if taking the traditional subject courses in high school prepared students better for college than schools with experimental curriculums. One outcome of this study was the development of a core curriculum. Core curriculums are still used in high schools today. -
U.S. enters WWII
Upon entering WWII, subjects started to place emphasis on topics that would benefit the war. For example, biology and home economics started teaching students about nursing and first aid. Students were also taught democratic morals. WWII is another great example of curriculum in the U.S. being altered to fit society's needs at the time. -
Launch of Sputnik sparks the National Defense Education Act
The launch of Sputnik caused many in America to view our curriculum as lacking in science and math as opposed to other countries. The National Defense Education Act made curriculum revisions in math, science and foreign languages as well as an increase in guidance services. -
Conclusion
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Resources
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Kliebard, H. M. (2004). The struggle for the American curriculum: 1893-1958 (3rd ed.). New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
