Deck 4: The History of American Public Education

Question 1

Which of the following statements best describes early education efforts for Native Americans?

A) As early as 1650, Native American children attended Massachusetts common schools.
B) Harvard's charter specifically mentions educating Native American youth.
C) Educating Native Americans was no more successful in the South than it was in the North.
D) In 1622, Virginia settlers established the Henrico school to educate Native Americans.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following is true concerning The Education of a Christian Prince ?

A) It posited that the people and not the king had civil and political rights.
B) It posited that education was necessary to develop competent rulers and advance the people's welfare.
C) It posited that a democratic republic was the ultimate form of government.
D) It posited that the New Testament takes precedence over the Old Testament.
E) None are correct

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following statements is true concerning the Massachusetts Law of 1642?

A) It gave authority to Selectmen to visit homes and inspect the parents and masters education they were providing.
B) It required compulsory education through age 16.
C) It outlawed family life education.
D) It was the law for all of the colonies.
E) All are correct
F) None are correct

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following best describes the Dame Schools in New England?

A) They were designed for young ladies, hence the name Dame.
B) They were designed as a fee-based primary school to prepare students for the Town school.
C) They were designed as a free primary school to help needy children become ready for school.
D) They were designed to teach young girls how to sew and knit.
E) None are correct

Question 5

Which of the following statements is true concerning the genesis of public high schools in America?

A) The public high school originated in Boston (1821) as an alternative to the Latin grammar school.
B) The high school was designed to prepare young men for a private and public life in a profession that did not require college at public expense.
C) English was the only language taught along with science, math, history, reading, writing, grammar, and logic.
D) The high school met the needs of universities to have students with higher levels of education and met the needs of businesses that required job applicants to have more skills and knowledge to be productive at work.
E) All are true

Question 6

Which of the following statements is true concerning the education of African American slaves in early America?

A) Between 1900 and 1935, most of the southern states enacted laws making it a crime to teach the children of slaves to read or write.
B) Wanting to maintain a submissive and obedient labor force, slave owners realized that education could endanger the social structure if slaves realized their human potential.
C) Quaker schools for African Americans were so successful that by 1860 approximately 50% of slaves were literate.
D) All are correct

Question 7

Which of the following statements best describes the New England town schools?

A) It was a co-educational school for students ages 6 through 13 or 14 with attendance scheduled around weather and farming, taught initially by male faculty.
B) It was a school for boys ages 6 through 14, preparing them to attend college or university.
C) The town schools were limited to incorporated towns that provided a free education to town residents' children, but charged tuition for those students who lived in more rural areas and did not pay town taxes.
D) It was mainly a religious-based education that consisted of scripture, hymns, catechism, and very long prayers.
E) Your professor attended this type of school when he/she was much younger.

Question 8

Which of the following statements is false concerning early New England school buildings?

A) Schools were started wherever space could be found, including barns.
B) Most schools were built cheaply and had one room with benches for seats and a stove or fireplace for heat.
C) Children from families with very low incomes who attended church regularly and were of good moral character qualified for free or reduced price lunches at school.
D) Paper greased with lard often substituted for school windows.
E) Sometimes a firewood tax levy was placed on parent with children who attended school to pay for heating the school house.

Question 9

Which of the following statements best describes the Latin Grammar schools?

A) At the Latin school, all of the instruction and readings were in Latin.
B) It was a Catholic school for Italian immigrants.
C) It was a school for upper class students that prepared them for college.
D) The Boston Latin school is the oldest school in the nation.
E) None are correct

Question 10

Which of the following wrote The Education of a Christian Prince ?

A) Desiderius Erasmus
B) Thomas Elyot
C) John Locke
D) John Lennon
E) None are correct

Question 11

Which of the following statements is true concerning early education in the middle colonies?

A) The middle colonies included Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Maryland.
B) People in the middle colonies did not want the state controlling education and the only schools run by the state were schools for very poor children - called pauper schools.
C) Parochial schools, usually run by churches, provided education for families who could afford to pay the fees.
D) In the middle colonies, orphans and children in very poor families typically received their education through apprenticeships.
E) All are true
F) None are true

Question 12

Which of the following statements is true concerning early New England school instructional methods?

A) Instructional methods were rather sophisticated at that time.
B) Independent reading of Greek and Latin were commonplace.
C) Instruction was conducted mainly in groups with pupils approaching the master's desk and reciting their work in chorus.
D) Instructional methods were such that students could attend school for years and gain only minimal reading and writing skills.
E) None are correct

Question 13

Which of the following statements is true concerning the development of education in the early colonies?

A) Geography had an impact on the type of education that developed.
B) The economy of the region had an impact on the type of education that developed.
C) There was little differences between the type of education that developed in New England, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies.
D) All the regions wanted a church-based society.
E) Both geography and the economy had an impact on the type of education that developed.

Question 14

Which of the following statements is true concerning early education in Virginia and the Southern colonies?

A) Colonized by wealthy, successful European immigrants, Virginia and other Southern colonial settlers came to America to seek their fortunes - not fleeing religious persecution as those in New England.
B) Given the plantation economy, indentured servants, slavery, and class-based society, Virginia and the middle colonies had little motivation to provide free public schools.
C) In Virginia and the middle colonies high quality and high levels of education were reserved for those who had the means to pay for it.
D) Education for girls in Virginia and the middle colonies was much more restricted than in New England.
E) All are true

Question 15

Which of the following is true concerning Some Thoughts Concerning Education ?

A) It posited that education was necessary only for the ruling class.
B) It posited that education hindered a child's development for living in a modern world.
C) It suggested that the king should be the most highly educated person in the country.
D) All are correct
E) None are correct

Question 16

Which of the following statements is false concerning increasing access to colleges in the 1800s?

A) In 1860, virtually no college admitted women but, by 1900, 61 colleges admitted women.
B) In 1862, the federal government passed the Morrill Act to establish colleges of agriculture and mechanical arts by giving more than 11 million acres of public land to states in order to endow these new colleges.
C) Colleges established under the Morrill Act came to be known as land grant colleges.
D) Until circa 1870, colleges were largely a private effort that required students to pay tuition, but states had already begun to open up their own universities.
E) All are correct

Question 17

Which of the following is true concerning the Puritan's influence in shaping education in New England?

A) Because most Puritans were Calvinists, they believed that whomever was predestined to "become a learned individual" would become one with or without formal education.
B) Because the Puritans were Calvinists, they were comfortable when the government collected fees or taxes to fund education and required attendance.
C) The Puritans did not trust government or the state authorities to require education.
D) The Puritans were supportive of close connections between church and state.

Question 18

Which of the following statements is true of the Massachusetts Law of 1647?

A) It was passed because the 1642 law was not effective.
B) It was known as the "Ye Olde Deluder Satan" law.
C) It allowed for taxes to support schools.
D) It allowed for tuition to support schools.
E) All are correct
F) None are correct

Question 19

Which of the following statements is true concerning the early colonists who came to America?

A) They were both overly believing and yet skeptical.
B) They accepted witchcraft and the new sciences.
C) They believed in improving themselves and preserving valued customs.
D) All are correct
E) None are correct

Question 20

Which of the following statements is false?

A) Education is specifically mentioned in the Constitution and as such, it became a national priority for our new country.
B) The new republic's leaders agreed that a self-governing people needed universal education that would motivate the people to choose public over private interests.
C) By the 1820s, the need of a self-governing people for universal education had become a familiar part of American politics.
D) The Constitution's authors supported the free exercise of religious faith for all by banning any state-sponsored religion, therefore, in the new nation, church and state could no longer be partners in public education.
E) All are correct

Question 21

List and explain five changes that took place after the colonial period and during the early national period that had an impact on education.

Question 22

List and explain three differences between schooling in the New England colonies and the middle colonies.

Question 23

Describe the impact that Horace Mann had on our country's educational development.

Question 24

List at least three ways in which education was different for African Americans and Native Americans.

Question 25

List and explain four conditions under which colonial teachers worked.

Question 26

List and explain the three key factors interacted to determine the type of education a colony provided for its children.