7th Edition

American Education A History

By Wayne J. Urban, Milton Gaither Copyright 2026
402 Pages 41 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

402 Pages 41 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

402 Pages 41 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

American Education: A History, Seventh Edition is a comprehensive, highly regarded history of American education from precolonial times to the present. Chronologically organized, the new edition provides an objective overview of each major period in the development of American education, setting the discussion against the broader background of national and world events. In addition to its... Read more

Preface  About the Authors  1. Education in Precolonial America  2. Colonization and Cultural Transplantation  3. Education and the Building of a New Nation  4. The Common Man and the Common School  5. The South, The Civil War, and Education  6. Building a Modern School System  7. Progressive Education (before World War I)  8. Progressive Education (after World War I) 9. Depression, War, and Postwar Decades  10. The Pursuit of Equality  11. From Equality to Excellence  12. The Apex and Decline of Federal Control  13. American Education in the Age of Trump

Biography

Wayne J. Urban is Professor of Education Emeritus at the University of Alabama, USA.

Milton Gaither is an independent scholar and Managing Editor of the History of Education Quarterly.