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Rating: 
Summary: one of the best school histories available
Review: I like Joel Spring's approach of viewing the history of American schools through the lens of deculturation and multi-culturalism. He tells the story of an American school system that has been used as an instrument of decultutaration to "americanize" various ethnic groups (native american, asian american, african american, german american, hispanic american) and religious groups (irish catholics).One criticism I do have Spring's work is his lack of reference to sexual orientation and the schools' deculturation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. It seems that these issues would connect nicely with his overall arguments and would provide a poignant contemporary example of the continuing process of deculturation.
Rating: 
Summary: Must read
Review: I'm using this book right now for a required class in educational foundation. It was a little slow to grab me at first, but now that I've gotten into I found it's quite helpful and provides a good base of knowledge for anyone who's either going into teaching or is already in education. I think the people who criticize this book are generally closed-minded and likely not big fans of the public school system, anyway.
Rating: 
Summary: Revisionist Garbage
Review: Spring opens Chapter 5 of this book with a paragraph in which he likens President Andrew Jackson to Adolf Hitler. The rest of this book is written in a similar vein. For page after outrageous page, Spring vituperates the evils of the Founding Fathers without a shred of historical perspective. How this book ever made it into print astonishes me. How some universities use this as a text for History of American Education is even more astonishing. Please don't buy this book, even if you are asked to do so.
Rating:
Summary: Required Reading
Review: Spring's history is comprehensive, thoughtful, and fair. He sees the strengths and weaknesses in our schooling history. I do require this book in my Foundations of Education class and find it invaluable.
Rating:
Summary: Required Reading
Review: Spring's history is comprehensive, thoughtful, and fair. He sees the strengths and weaknesses in our schooling history. I do require this book in my Foundations of Education class and find it invaluable.
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