Steven L. Schlossman

A Nation at Rest: The American Way of Homework

We use several national surveys to provide a 50-year perspective on time spent on homework. The great majority of American children at all grade levels now spend less than one hour studying on a typical day—an amount that has not changed substantially in at least 20 years. Moreover, high school students in the late 1940s and early 1950s studied no more than their counterparts did in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Changes in educational opinion on homework over the last half century have had little effect on student behavior, with only two notable exceptions: a temporary increase in homework time in the decade following Sputnik, and a new willingness in the last two decades to assign small amounts to primary-grade students.

Villain or savior?: The american discourse on homework, 1850-2003

This article examines homeworks place in American K-12 schooling over the last century and draws three main conclusions. First, homework has always aroused strong passions pro and con. Second, despite prominent press reports to the contrary in the early 20th century and again today, the best evidence suggests that most parents have consistently supported homework during the last 100 years. Third, homework practice is slow to change but is not unmovable, as evidenced by increases in high school homework in the decade after Sputnik and recent increases in homework for children in grades K-2. Nevertheless, the academic excellence movement of the last 20 years has succeeded in raising homework expectations only for the youngest children.

The Lost Cause of Homework Reform.

Over the course of the twentieth century, sparks flew regularly whenever professionals, politicians, and parents addressed the topic of homework in the schools. Passions were many, and extreme positions were customary. At different points in time, radically different viewpoints prevailed. In the discourse about homework, the tendency was to portray it as either all good or all bad-savior or destroyer of schools, children, and families.

Is There an American Tradition of Bilingual Education? German in the Public Elementary Schools, 1840-1919

This essay examines the history of German-language instruction in the elementary grades in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Focusing on four midwestern school districts, it highlights philosophical, administrative, and political developments in the past that remain of enduring concern today. The four primary questions addressed are (1) Is bilingual education a modern-day pedagogical invention? (2) How do the philosophies used to justify vernacular instruction today differ from those of the past? (3) To what extent are the pedagogical and political conundrums that bedevil implementation of bilingual programs today unique? and (4) Do the recent bitter battles between proponents and opponents of vernacular instruction represent anomalies in the history of American school politics?

Education, Science, and the Politics of Knowledge: The American Educational Research Association, 1915–1940

In the early twentieth century, a new alliance formed between university‐based scholars who dedicated themselves to the scientific study of education and public school officials. This alliance centered on the proposition that applied research could advance the professionalization of schooling and become a prestigious academic specialty in its own right. The American Educational Research Association (AERA) emerged to further these dual goals. This essay analyzes changes in the ideological and organizational dynamics of the AERA between 1915 and World War II. By 1940, the AERA’s founding faith in a unifying professional identity had been undercut in two ways: first, by a weakening of the Progressive Era paradigm of a socially relevant science of education, and second, by an intensification of divisions among the constituencies that the AERA aspired to serve. Relying heavily on archival data, we track the multiple sources from which this gradual distancing of research from the politics of education occurred.

Chapter 3: Who Will Teach? Historical Perspectives on the Changing Appeal of Teaching as a Profession

The current reform movement in American education is jeopardized by a possible decline in the academic qualifications of the teaching force. The ability to improve education in American public schools will depend in large measure on the ability of those schools to recruit and retain talented teachers. If teaching is widely viewed as an undesirable occupation, the talented personnel needed to implement and sustain the recent educational reforms are likely to seek other outlets for their professional aspirations. This chapter examines the desirability of teaching as a career from a historical perspective. It focuses first on the reward structure in teaching, and second on the social origins and composition of the teaching force. How has the reward structure affected the social composition of the teaching force, and

Foxholes and Color Lines: Desegregating the U.S. Armed Forces

The desegregation of the American armed forces-one of the most sweeping changes in the militarys history-is widely remembered as a straightforward, relatively effortless process and a shining example of the effectiveness of Americas military command. Foxholes and Color Lines challenges this view, revealing both the intense political conflict at the time and the strenuous opposition to racial integration within all branches of the armed forces.