A renewed call from national and state governments to strengthen connections between public schools and their communities invites people outside of the school system to play an active role in decision-making processes. Despite recent efforts to connect public schools and their communities, the two parties remain disconnected. Given this disconnection, it is instructive to ask what practices, past and present, have supported or perpetuated it. The intent of this article is to reflect on the historical literature relevant to the development of public education from the 19th century to the present for the purpose of illuminating the roots of this persistent disconnection. In examining the fracturing of the economic, religious, and political connections—all of which have nearly dissolved—the article suggests that the historical development of disconnection must be addressed if future reform efforts are to build bridges.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Astuto, T. A.
, & Clark, D. L. (1992). Challenging the limits of school restructuring and reform. In A. Lieberman (Ed.), The changing contexts of teaching: Ninety-first yearbook of the national society for the study of education (pp. 91-109). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
2.
Bahmueller, C. F.
(Ed.), (1991). Civitas Project: A framework for civic education. Calabasas, CA: Center for Civic Education.
3.
Bailyn, B.
(1960). Education in the forming of American society: Needs and opportunities for study. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
4.
Bender, T.
(1989). Public culture: Inclusion and synthesis in American history. In P. Gagnon (Ed.), Historical literacy: The case for history in American education (pp. 188-202). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
5.
Bloomberg, W. Jr.
(1971). Community participation in the school system. In L. C. Deighton (Ed.), The encyclopedia of education (Vol. 2, pp. 335-341). New York: Macmillan and Free Press.
6.
Boutwell, G. S.
(1859). Thoughts on educational topics and institutions. Boston: Phillip Sampson.
7.
Boyd, W. L.
(1991). What makes ghetto schools succeed or fail? Teachers College Record,92(3), 331-362.
8.
Boyd, W. L.
, & Crowson, R. L. (1981). The changing conception and practice of public school administration. In B. C. Berliner (Ed.), Review of research in education (Vol. 9, pp. 311-373). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
9.
Boyd, W. L.
, & Hartman, W. T. (1988). The politics of educational productivity. In D. H. Monk & J. Underwood (Eds.), Distributing education resources within nations, states school districts, and schools (pp. 271-308). Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
10.
Callahan, R. E.
(1962). Education and the cult of efficiency. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
11.
Capper, C. A.
(1994). "We're not housed in an institution, we're housed in the community": Possibilities and consequences of neighborhood-based interagency collaboration. Educational Administration Quarterly, 30(3), 257-277.
12.
Cattermole, J.
, & Robinson, N. (1985). Effective home/school communication—From the parents' perspective. Phi Delta Kappen, 67(1), 48-50.
13.
Cohen, S.
(Ed.). (1974). Education in the United States: A documentary history (Vols. 2-3). New York: Random House.
14.
Cohn, M. M.
(1992). How teachers perceive teaching: Change over two decades, 1964-1984. In A. Lieberman (Ed.), The changing contexts of teaching: Ninety-first yearbook of the national society for the study of education (pp. 110-131). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
15.
Commons, J. R.
, Saposs, D. J., Sumner, H. L., Mittelman, E. B., Hogaland, H. E., Andrews, J. B., & Perlman, S. (1935). History of labour in the United States. New York: Macmillan. (Original work published 1918)
16.
Cremin, L. A.
(1951). American common school: An historical conception. New York: Columbia University Teachers College.
17.
Cremin, L. A.
(1980). American education: The national experience, 1783-1876. New York: Harper & Row.
18.
Cronin, J. M.
(1973). The control of urban schools: Perspectives on the power of educational reformers. New York: Free Press.
19.
Crowson, R. L.
(1992). School—community relations, under reform. Berkeley, CA: McCutchan.
20.
Crowson, R. L.
, & Boyd, W. L. (1995). Integration of services for children: A political economy of institutions perspective. In L. C. Rigsby, M. C. Reynolds, & M. C. Wang (Eds.), School-community connections: Exploring issues for research and practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
21.
Cubberly, E. P.
(1909). Changing conceptions of education. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
22.
Cubberly, E. P.
(1948). Readings in the history of education. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
23.
Curti, M.
(1959). The social ideas of American educators. Paterson, NJ.: Littlefield, Adams.
24.
Daggett, W. R.
(1990, October). The future of work and education in America.Speech to Community and Educational Leaders, Wichita, KS.
25.
Dewey, J.
(1916). Democracy and education. New York: Macmillan.
26.
Eby, F
(1957). The development of modern education. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
27.
Fass, P.
(1989). Outside in: Minorities and the transformation of American education. New York: Oxford University Press.
28.
Gusfield, J. R.
(1975). Community: A critical response. Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell.
29.
Higham, J.
(1974). Hanging together: Divergent utilities in American history. Journal of American History, 61, 18-19.
30.
Hillesheim, J. W.
, & Merrill, G. D. (1980). Theory and practice in the history of American education: A book of readings. Washington, DC: University Press of America.
31.
Iannaccone, L.
(1989). Foreword. In F. W. Lutz & C. Merz (Eds.), The politics of school/community relations (pp. xi-xiv). New York and London: Columbia University Teachers College.
32.
Jackson, S. L.
(1965). America's struggle for free schools: Social tension and education in New England and New York, 1827-42. New York: Russell & Russell.
33.
Johnson, C.
(1963). Old-time schools and school books. New York: Dover.
34.
Kaestle, C. R.
(1973). The evolution of an urban school system: New York City, 1750-1850. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
35.
Kaestle, C. R.
(1983). Pillars of the republic: Common schools and American society, 1780-1860. New York: Hill and Wang.
36.
Kaestle, C. R.
, & Vinovskis, M. A. (1980). Education and social change in nineteenth-century Massachusetts. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
37.
Katz, M.
(1971). Class, bureaucracy and schools: The illusion of educational change in America. New York: Praeger.
38.
Kluger, R.
(1976). Simple justice, the history of Brown vs. board of education: Black America's struggle for equality. New York: Knopf.
39.
Little, J. W.
(1992). Opening the black box of professional community. In A. Lieberman (Ed.), The changing contexts of teaching: Ninety-first yearbook of the national society for the study of education (pp. 157-178). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
40.
Louis, K. S.
(1992). Restructuring and the problem of teacher's work. In A. Lieberman (Ed.), The changing contexts of teaching: Ninety-first yearbook of the national society for the study of education (pp. 138-156). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
41.
Lutz, F. W.
, & Merz, C. (1992). The politics of school/community relations. New York and London: Columbia University Teachers College.
42.
Moen, A. W.
(1978). The effect of partisan election on the relationship between incumbent defeat and superintendent turnover. In F W. Lutz & L. Iannaccone (Eds.), Public participation in local school districts: The dissatisfaction theory of democracy (pp. 33-43). Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath.
43.
Odden, A.
, & Marsh, D. (1989). State education reform implementation: A framework for analysis. In J. Hannaway & R. Crowson (Eds.), The politics of reforming school administration (pp. 41-59). New York: Falmer.
44.
Peterson, M. D.
(1962). The Jefferson image in the American mind. New York: Oxford University Press.
45.
Peterson, P. E.
(1981). City limits. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
46.
Peterson, P. E.
(1985). The politics of school reform. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
47.
Quinlivan, T. V.
(1939). Changing functions of local school boards. The American School Board Journal, 98, 19-21.
48.
Sarason, S. B.
(1971). The culture of the school and the problem of change. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
49.
Sarason, S. B.
(1990). The predictable failure of educational reform. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
50.
Shrag, P.
(1967). Village school downtown: Politics and education. Boston: Beacon.
51.
Stephan, W. G.
, & Feagin, J. R. (Eds.). (1980). School desegregation: Past, present, and future. New York: Plenum.
52.
Taylor, F. W.
(1911). The principles of scienctific management. New York and London: Harper and Brothers.
53.
Tyack, D.
(1967a). Turning points in American educational history. Waltham, MA: Blaisdell.
54.
Tyack, D.
(1967b). Bureaucracy and the common school: The example of Portland, Oregon, 1851-1913. American Quarterly, 19(3): 475-498.
55.
Tyack, D.
(1972a). From village school to urban system: A political and social history. Washington, DC: Office of Education.
56.
Tyack, D.
(1972b). City schools: Centralization of control at the turn of the century. In J. Israel (Ed.), The organizational society. New York: Free Press.
57.
Tyack, D.
(1993). Constructing difference: Historical reflections on schooling and social diversity. Teachers College Record, 95(1), 8-34.
58.
Tyack, D.
(1995). School districts and educational reform: Historical perspectives. Unpublished manuscript.
59.
Tyack, D.
, & Hansot, E. (1982). Managers of virtue: Public school leadership in America, 1820-1980. New York: Basic Books.
60.
Vallance, E.
(1973). Hiding the hidden curriculum: An interpretation of language of justification in nineteenth century educational reform. Curriculum Theory Network, 4(1), 5-21.
61.
van Geel, T.
(1987). The courts and American education law. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus.
62.
Waller, J. F.
(1932). Outside demands and pressures on the public schools. New York: Columbia University, Teachers College, Bureau of Publications.
63.
Wirth, A. P.
(1972). Education in the technological society: The vocational-liberal studies controversy in the early twentieth century. San Francisco: Index Educational Publishers.
