Designed for undergraduate and graduate courses in education, this book covers education developments and trends beginning with the Colonial experience through the present day, placing an emphasis on post-World War II issues such as the role of technology, the standards movement, affirmative action, bilingual education, undocumented immigrants, and school choice. It introduces cutting-edge controversies in a way that allows students to consider a variety of viewpoints and develop their own thinking skills and examines the educational history of increasingly important groups in U.S. society, including that of African American women, Native Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans. It contains 15 chapters: (1) The Colonial Experience, 1607-1776; (2) The Effects of the Revolutionary War Era on American Education; (3) The Early Political Debates and Their Effect on the American Education System; (4) Education, African Americans, and Slavery; (5) The Education of Women and Native Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans; (6) The Widespread Growth of the Common School & Higher Education; (7) The Effects of the Events During and Between the Civil War and World War I; (8) The Liberal Philosophy of Education as Distinguished from Conservatism; (9) The Great Depression and the Long-Term Effects on World War II and the Cold War on American Education; (10) The Civil Rights Movement and Federal Involvement in Educational Policy; (11) The Turbulence of the 1960s; (12) The Rise of Public Criticism of Education; (13) The Rise of Multiculturalism & Other Issues; (14) Educational Reform under the Republicans and Democrats; and (15) Other Recent Educational Issues and Reforms.