23 Myths About the History of American Schools

In this fascinating collection, some of the foremost historians of education—including Barbara Beatty, Larry Cuban, Linda Eisenmann, Yoon K. Pak, John L. Rury, and Jonathan Zimmerman—debunk commonly held myths about American schooling. Each short, readable chapter focuses on one myth, explaining what the real history is and how it helped shape education today. Contributors take on a host of tall tales, including the supposed agrarian origins of summer vacation; exaggerated stories of declining student behavior and academic performance; persistent claims that some people are born to be teachers; idealistic notions that the 1954 Brown decision ended segregation in American schools; misleading beliefs that classrooms operate in ways designed to fit the industrial era; and more. 23 Myths About the History of American Schools will awaken the inner history nerd of everyone who ever asked, “How did we get this irrational school system?” It will affirm the truth that its readers are as entitled to think critically about schooling as anyone else.

Book Features:

• Examines how the history of American education has been distorted and misrepresented, either intentionally or unintentionally.
• Provides important stories that can help guide discussion about the future of education.
• Anticipates what local and state politicians are likely to say (and misstate) about schooling.
• Provides engaging chapters that highlight why real history is important and more fascinating than the myths.
• Accessible to a wide range of readers from undergraduates to career educators.

Sherman Dorn is a professor of education at the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University. David A. Gamson is a professor of education in the Department of Education Policy Studies at The Pennsylvania State University.

“Each chapter is carefully researched, providing the reader with novel facts useful to rebut the half-truths so often thrown around in education circles.”

—AASA School Administrator

“Dorn and Gamson did a fantastic job in compiling discussions of these myths into this book, encouraging a reevaluation of long-standing assumptions that inspires a more thoughtful approach to educational policy and practice.”

—Teachers College Record

“From local school-board meetings to the deliberations of the U.S. Supreme Court, myths about the history of public schools play a powerful—and sometimes harmful—role in policy discussions. This invaluable collection of essays punctures those myths and offers a vital look at real history. Highly recommended for everyone who cares about the past, present, and future of public education.”
—Adam Laats, professor of education and history, Binghamton University–SUNY, and author of Mr. Lancaster’s System: The Failed Reform that Launched America’s Public Schools

Contents

Acknowledgments  v

Introduction: Of Education Myths and History  1
David A. Gamson and Sherman Dorn

Part I: Origin Myths

1.  The Myth of the Little Red Schoolhouse  11
Jonathan Zimmerman

2.  The Myth of a Purely Religious Motive for Harvard’s Establishment  20
A. J. Angulo

3.  The Myth of Summer Vacation and the Agrarian Calendar  30
Kenneth Gold

4.  The Myth of Local Control  42
Campbell F. Scribner

5.  The Myth of Industrial-Era Classrooms  50
Sherman Dorn

Part II: MYTHS OF PROGRESS AND DECLINE

6.  The Myth of Declining Student Behavior  61
Judith Kafka

7.  The Myth of Faulty City Schools  73
John L. Rury

8.  The Myth of American School Decline  81
David A. Gamson

9.  The Myth That U.S. Schools Were Desegregated in 1954  90
Hope C. Rias

10.  Reframing the Myth of School Reform Failure: Clocking School Change  98
Larry Cuban

Part III: MYTHS ABOUT TEACHERS

11.  The Myth That Good Teachers Are Born, Not Made  109
Kate Rousmaniere

12.  The Myth of Heroic Teachers in Special Education  118
Neil Dhingra, Joel Miller, and Kristen Chmielewski

13.  The Myth That Elementary Writing Instruction Is Recent  127
Joan M. Taylor

14.  The Myth That Schoolteachers Take the Summer Off  140
Christine A. Ogren

15.  The Myth of Harmful Teacher Tenure  149
Diana D’Amico Pawlewicz

Part IV: MYTHS ABOUT INEVITABILITY

16.  The Du Bois–Washington Myth of Black Male Educational Thinkers  161
Dellyssa Edinboro

17.  The Myth of Gender Dominance in Higher Education  169
Linda Eisenmann

18.  The Myth of the Asian American Model Minority, American Individualism, and Meritocracy  178
Sharon S. Lee and Yoon K. Pak

Part V: MYTH-ING VOICES AND QUESTIONS

19.  The Myth of De Facto Segregation  191
Ansley T. Erickson and Andrew R. Highsmith

20.  The Myth That Technology Will Modernize Teaching  204
Victoria Cain

21.  The Myth That School Spending Doesn’t Affect Student Outcomes  213
Matthew Gardner Kelly

22.  The Myth That Preschool Education Is a Panacea  223
Barbara Beatty

23.  The Myth of Patriotic Education as a Unifying Force  232
Cody Dodge Ewert

About the Editors and the Contributors  239

Index  243