For more than one hundred years, the United States has been the scene of academic warfare between traditional and progressive educators. During most of the nation's history, many Americans have assumed that the primary purpose of school is to pass on to children the information and skills necessary to survive in society. This traditional view…

The current debate about social studies education is the focus of this paper, and the questions and the charges raised by recent surveys and reports are addressed. Survey results from the Ravitch and Finn, the Chandler, and the National Catholic Educational Association studies reflecting student ignorance of social studies knowledge are discussed.…

This paper reviews the literature on the development of the junior high school and middle school concepts from the early 1900s to the post-World War II period. The nature of the middle school curriculum is also discussed. Meeting the needs of preadolescents appears to have been a major purpose in the establishment of the junior high school, though…