This brief, interpretive history of American schooling focuses on the evolving relationship between education and social change. Like its predecessors, this new edition investigates the impact of social forces such as industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and cultural conflict on the development of schools and other educational institutions. It also examines the various ways that schools have contributed to social change, particularly in enhancing the status and accomplishments of certain social groups and not others. Detailed accounts of the experiences of women and minority groups in American history consider how their lives have been affected by education at key points in the past.

Updates to this edition include a revised final chapter updated to include recent changes in educational politics, finance, policy, and a shifting federal policy context. Enhanced coverage and new conceptual frames for understanding the experiences of women and people of color in the midst of social change are also provided. Throughout the text, information and sources regarding the history of American education and related processes of social transformation in the nation’s past have been edited to reflect the latest developments.

Read more about Education and Social Change: Contours in the History of American Schooling, authored by John L. Rury, with an edition date of August 14, 2019, and a print length of 260 pages.