1. Why is it important for teachers to know the history of American education? How might you use such knowledge?
2. Why did the educational development of colonial America differ among the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies? In what ways were the educational systems different? Can you see similarities to any of the colonial systems in today's schools?
3. How are the arguments for and against common schools reflected in today's controversies about using vouchers to pay for private or religious schooling?
4. What made the development of the American secondary school so unique in the history of the world?
5. How would you structure the educational sequence from elementary to secondary school? Why?
6. How do you stand on the issue of de facto resegregation of urban schools? What, if anything, should be done about it?
7. In what ways did desegregation of American schools work, and in what ways has it not?
8. In what ways were the histories of the education of minority groups and women similar and different?
9. Limited English proficiency seems to be a major problem in increasing educational attainment for several minority groups. What ideas do you have about how this problem should be addressed?