This article historicizes the collision of K-12 public schooling and early childhood education by interrogating the ways in which people called for and implemented the public kindergarten into primary school over the past century. Using a theoretical framework that pays attention to the ways in which policy develops over time we provide a microhistory of one city, Austin, Texas. The historical narrative relates the details of the individuals who were engaged in the debate over kindergarten in the early 20th century while at the same time explicating the context that shaped those individuals. We conclude by using this portrait of the past to make sense of the current policy issues and to raise questions about the assumptions that circulate within today’s policy environment.
Allen, A.T. ( 1988). "Let us live with our children": Kindergarten movements in Germany and the United States, 1840-1914. History of Education Quarterly, 28(1), 23-48.
2.
Austin’s free kindergarten opens. (1910 , September 25). Austin Daily Statesman, p. 1.
3.
Austin’s public school system equal of any in the state. (1923, September 4). Austin American Statesman , p. 1.
4.
Authorizing the establishment of free kindergartens, S.B. 109, Ch. 122. ( 1917). In H. Gammel & H. P. M. Neilsen (Eds.), The laws of Texas, 1915-1917 (Vol. 17, pp. 319-320). Retrieved September 23, 2010, from the University of North Texas Libraries Portal to Texas History: http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth12596
5.
Ball, S. ( 2009). The governance turn!Journal of Education Policy, 24, 537-538.
6.
Beatty, B. ( 2000). "The letter killeth": Americanization and multicultural education in kindergartens in the United States, 1856-1920. In R. L. Wollins (Ed.), Kindergartens and cultures: The global diffusion of an idea (pp. 42-58). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
7.
Behn, R.D. ( 1980). Leadership for cut-back management: The use of corporate strategy. Public Administration Review, 40, 613-620.
8.
Burleson, M. ( 1945). The kindergarten movement in Austin, Texas, from 1886 to 1944. Austin: University of Texas .
9.
Burt, E.V. ( 2004). The progressive era: Primary documents on events from 1890 to 1914. Westport, CT: Greenwood .
10.
C ol. Zilker gives schools 200 acres at Barton Springs. (1931 , July 9). Austin American Statesman, p. 1.
11.
DeNavas-Walt, C., Proctor, B.D., & Smith, J. ( 2006). Income, poverty, and health insurance coverage in the United States 2005. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau.
12.
Drew, M.K. ( 1942). A history of the kindergarten movement in Texas 1886 to 1942. (Committees, 1935-1976 series Box 5 folder 27)College Park: MDAssociation for Childhood Education International (ACEI) archives.
13.
Evans, C.E. ( 1955). The story of Texas schools. Austin, TX: Steck.
14.
Flanagan, M.A. ( 2007). America reformed: Progressives and progressivisms, 1890s-1920s . New York: Oxford University Press .
15.
Free kindergarten is valuable institution. (1914, September 20). Austin Daily Statesman, p. 1.
16.
Froebel, F. ( 1887). The education of man. New York: Appleton.
17.
Ginzburg, C. ( 1980). The cheese and the worms: The cosmos of a sixteenth-century miller. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
18.
Governor’s Business Council. (2002). Building an effective and aligned P-16 education system: What should higher education do to enhance student access and success?Austin, TX: Author.
19.
Governor’s Business Council. (2004). From good to great: The next phase in improving Texas public schools. Austin, TX: Author.
Kirsch, I., Braun, H., Yamamoto, K., & Sum, A. ( 2007). America’s perfect storm: Three forces changing our nation’s future. Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service.
22.
Lipsky, M. ( 1980). Street-level bureaucracy. New York : Russell Sage Foundation.
23.
Lugg, C. ( 2006). On politics and theory: Using an explicitly activist theory to frame educational research. In V. A. Anfara & N. T. Mertz (Eds.), Theoretical frameworks in qualitative research (pp. 175-188). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
24.
Majone, G., & Wildavsky, A. ( 1979). Implementation as evolution. In J. L. Pressman & A. B. Wildavsky (Eds.), Implementation: How great expectations in Washington are dashed in Oakland. Or, why it’s amazing that federal programs work at all, this being a saga of the Economic Development Administration as told by two sympathetic observers who seek to build morals on a foundation of ruined hope (pp. 163-180). Berkeley: University of California Press.
25.
McArthur, J.N. ( 1998). Creating the new woman: The rise of southern women’s progressive culture in Texas, 1893-1918. Champaign: University of Illinois Press.
26.
McGerr, M.E. ( 2003). A fierce discontent: The rise and fall of the progressive movement in America, 1870-1920. New York: Free Press.
27.
McGuinn, P. ( 2006). No child left behind and the transformation of federal education policy, 1965-2005. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
28.
Mettler, S. ( 2007). The transformed welfare state and the redistribution of political voice. In P. Pierson, & T. Skocpol (Eds.), The transformation of American politics: Activist government and the rise of conservatism (pp. 191-222). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
29.
National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education. (n.d.). Home page. Retrieved February 13, 2010, from http://www.ncrece.org/
30.
Nawrotzki, K.D. ( 2005). The Anglo-American kindergarten movements and early education in England and United States of America, 1850-1965. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
31.
Neustadt, R., & May, E.R. ( 1986). Thinking in time: The use of history for decision-makers . New York: Free Press.
32.
Office of Senator Judith Zaffirini. (2007, March 19). Comprehensive analysis of the Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 50. Retrieved from http://www.legis.state.tx.us/search/DocViewer.aspx?K2DocKey=odbc://TLO/TLO.dbo.vwArchBillDocs/80/R/S/B/00050/4/A%40TloArchBillDocs&QueryText=&HighlightType=1
33.
Orum, A. ( 1987). Money, power, and the people: The making of modern Austin . Austin, TX: Texas Monthly Press .
34.
Palm School kindergarten band. (1924, June 8). Austin American, p. 2.
35.
Pierson, P. ( 2004). Politics in time: History, institutions, and social analysis . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
36.
Pierson, P. ( 2005). The study of policy development. Journal of Policy History, 17(1), 34-51.
37.
Prospects are bright for large attendance first day. (1913, October 20). Austin Daily Statesman, p. 1.
38.
Ross, E.D. ( 1976). The kindergarten crusade: The establishment of preschool education in the United States. Athens: Ohio University Press.
39.
Sabatier, P. A., & Jenkins-Smith, H. (Eds.). (1993). Policy change and learning: An advocacy coalition approach. Boulder, CO: Westview.
40.
Schools of the city link with higher education system. (1927, August 4). Austin American, p. 1.
41.
Shapiro, M.S. ( 1983). Child’s garden: The kindergarten movement from Froebel to Dewey. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.
42.
Sklar, K.K. ( 1993). The historical foundations of women’s power in the creation of the American welfare state, 1830-1930. In S. Koven & S. Michel (Eds.), Mothers of a new world: Maternalist politics and the origins of welfare states (pp. 43-93). New York: Routledge.
43.
Spring, J. ( 1996). The American school: 1642-2000 (5th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
44.
Stoker, G. ( 2004). Transforming local governance: From Thatcherism to new Labour. London: Palgrave Macmillan .
45.
Taylor, S., Rizvi, F., Lingard, B., & Miriam, H. ( 1997). Educational policy and the politics of change. New York: Routledge.
46.
Texans Care for Children. (2005). 2005 legislative recap. Retrieved September 23, 2010, from http://texanscareforchildren.org/Images/Interior/legislative%20recaps/2005legrecap.pdf
47.
Texans Care for Children. (2007). 2007 legislative recap. Retrieved September 23, 2010, from http://texanscareforchildren.org/Images/Interior/legislative%20recaps/2007%20legislative%20recap.pdf
48.
Texas Early Childhood Education Coalition. ( 2005). Texas Early Childhood Education Coalition legislative priorities: 79th Legislative Session. Retrieved September 23, 2010, from http://www.tecec.org/files/2005%20TECEC%20Legislative%20AgendaFINAL.pdf
49.
Texas Early Childhood Education Coalition. ( 2007, January 11). TECEC legislative agenda. Retrieved September 23, 2010, from http://www.tecec.org/files/TECEC%20Legislative%20Agenda%201.11.2007.pdf
50.
Texas Early Childhood Education Coalition. (n.d.). Support full-day high-quality pre-kindergarten programs with an emphasis on local, integrated community-based partnerships. Retrieved September 23, 2010, from http://www.tecec.org/files/Support_Full_Day_High-quality_Pre-k_one_pager.pdf
51.
Texas Senate Bill 109, 35th Leg. (1917).
52.
Texas State Data Center. (2006). New Texas State Data Center population projections. San Antonio, TX: Author.
53.
Tyack, D.B., Lowe, R., & Hansot, E. ( 1984). Public schools in hard times: The Great Depression and recent years. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
54.
United Charities announced headquarters. (1913, September 24). Austin Daily Statesman, p. 1.
55.
United Ways of Texas. (2009). United Ways of Texas 2009 legislative agenda. Retrieved September 23, 2010, from http://www.uwtexas.org/public/files/2009%20UWT%20Legislative%20Agenda.pdf
56.
Williams, W.H. ( 1945). Minutes of the free kindergarten association: Tuesday, June 2, 1914. In M. Burleson (Ed.), The kindergarten movement in Austin, Texas: From 1886 to 1944 (p. 47). Austin: University of Texas. (Originally published 1914)
57.
Williams, W.H. ( 1945). Minutes of the free kindergarten association: September 27, 1917. In M. Burleson (Ed.), The kindergarten movement in Austin, Texas: From 1886 to 1944 (pp. 72-74). Austin : University of Texas. (Originally published 1917)
58.
Yanow, D. ( 1996). How does a olicy mean? Interpreting policy and organizational actions. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
