Changing Course: American Curriculum Reform in the 20th Century

In Changing Course, Herbert Kliebard explores an array of efforts to reform the American curriculum. From revolutionary changes effected in a tiny one-room frontier schoolhouse in the late nineteenth century to a modern comprehensive high school, this accessible volume presents a chronological account of specific reform efforts—exposing factors likely to achieve success as well as the roots of many failures. Using a historical perspective to illuminate contemporary problems, this volume examines both the conceptual defects of various reform theories and the ways in which theory clashes with classroom reality. Kliebard argues that educators must examine the entire range of reform efforts in order to find the telltale patterns and "fads" that must be replaced with more meaningful structural changes.