Book description
The One Best System presents a major new interpretation of what actually happened in the development of one of America's most influential institutions. At the same time it is a narrative in which the participants themselves speak out: farm children and factory workers, frontier teachers and city superintendents, black parents…
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Why read it?
1 author picked The One Best System as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I come back to this book over and over again to understand the history of education and educational inequality, and every time I read it, I get new things from it. It is a classic for a reason! Even though it is over 50 years old, it is still one of the most insightful and comprehensive books about the history of urban education.
It shows us how the creation of modern urban school bureaucracies and the professionalization of education raised fundamental tensions and tradeoffs that we still wrestle with today, especially how to keep schools accountable to the community and…
From Tracy's list on understanding the history of educational inequality.
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