History of education in Massachusetts

Religious denominations established most early colleges in order to train ministers. They were modeled after Oxford and Cambridge universities in England, as well as Scottish universities. Harvard College was founded by the Massachusetts Bay colonial legislature in 1636, and was named after an early benefactor. Most of the funding came from the colony, but the colleges began to collect endowments early on. Harvard first focused on training young men for the ministry, and won general support from the well educated Puritan government, some of whose leaders had attended either Oxford or Cambridge.[2]

The first taxpayer-funded public school in the United States was in Dedham.

On January 1, 1644, by unanimous vote, Dedham authorized the first taxpayer-funded public school; "the seed of American education."[3] Its first teacher, Rev. Ralph Wheelock, was paid 20 pounds annually to instruct the youth of the community.[4] Descendants of these students would become presidents of Dartmouth, Yale and Harvard. Another early teacher, Michael Metcalf, was one of the town's first residents and a signer of the Dedham Covenant.[5][6]

John Thurston was commission by the town to build the first schoolhouse in 1648 for which he received £11.0.3 . The details in the contract require him to construct floorboards, doors, and "fitting the interior with 'featheredged and rabbited' boarding" similar to that found in the Fairbanks House.[7]

Stone plaque marking the site of the first public school in America. Located on First Church Green in Dedham, MA.

The early residents of Dedham were so committed to education that they donated £4.6.6 to Harvard College during its first eight years of existence, a sum greater than many other towns, including Cambridge itself.[8] By the later part of the century, however, a sentiment of anti-intellectualism had pervaded the town. Residents were content to allow the minister to be the local intellectual and did not establish a grammar school as required by law. As a result, the town was called into court in 1675 and then again in 1691.[9]

Other schools, including Boston Latin School and the Rehoboth Public Schools, have claimed to be the first public school, but Dedham's was the first to be supported exclusively by tax dollars.[10][11] On June 17, 1898, a monument was unveiled by Governor Frederic T. Greenhalge on the grounds of the First Church Green, near the site of the original schoolhouse, declaring Dedham's school to be the first.[12]

In several towns the local Native American or Indian population supported the colonists and in turn were tolerated. Starting in 1734 English missionaries set up a series of schools for Indians in Stockbridge. The goal was to teach English ways before what was considered "savagery" became indelible. The schools were free boarding schools, where children were sent to live and study away from their families. The curriculum was designed to teach English, Christianity, and vocational skills. However, pedagogical failures, financial mismanagement, and political factionalism in the town doomed the experiment. All the schools shut down by 1754 and no similar experiments were attempted in Massachusetts.[13]

Horace Mann was by far the most influential American educator of the 19th century.

Mann's importance came in multiple areas. He was an energetic and highly articulate advocate, especially universal education. He envisioned local common schools available to every white boy, regardless of their family poverty. He argued that education was the great equalizer and essential for a democratic society. He made convincing arguments that convinced politicians and local leaders, especially when he argued that higher education levels in the work force made for a richer and more profitable economy.[14] Mann thus earned the accolade of the "Father" of the Common School Movement that swept the Northeast and West in the 1830-1860 era. The Movement called on state governments to provide a basic public school education to every child funded by local taxes. To operate all the new schools, Mann played a crucial role in the development of teacher training schools and the professionalization of teaching. He was instrumental in establishing the first Normal schools in Massachusetts, recognizing the importance of raising the quality of rural schools through well-trained teachers. Young women could get a teaching credential in two years of study after they finished 8th grade.

Francis Wayland Parker (1837 – 1902) was a pioneer of the progressive school movement. He believed that education should include the complete development of an individual — mental, physical, and moral. John Dewey called him the "father of progressive education." He worked to create curriculum that centered on the whole child and a strong language background. He was against standardization, isolated drill and rote learning. He helped to show that education was not just about cramming information into students' minds, but about teaching students to think for themselves and become independent people. As superintendent of schools in Quincy, Massachusetts. He was offered the job because of his dynamic personality and passion to change the current schooling system. There, he developed the Quincy Method, which eliminated harsh discipline and de-emphasized rote memorization, replacing them with elements of progressive education, such as group activities, the teaching of the arts and sciences, and informal methods of instruction. He rejected tests, grading and ranking systems. The model was hailed as successful, when in 1879, responding to critics of the progressive methods, state-ordered testing showed that Quincy pupils surpassed the scores of other school children in Massachusetts.[15]

• Heiter, Celeste, ed. American boarding schools: The American boarding school experience (2009) online.
• Levine, Steven B. "The rise of American boarding schools and the development of a national upper class." Social Problems 28.1 (1980): 63–94.
• McLachlan, James. American boarding schools: A historical study (1970). online
• Seybolt, Robert Francis. "The Private Schools of Seventeenth-Century Boston." New England Quarterly 8.3 (1935): 418–424. online

• Curti, Merle. The Social Ideas of American Educators (1935) online, covers many leaders including Horace Mann; Francis Wayland Parker; G. Stanley Hall at Clark U.; and William James at Harvard.

• Katz, M.B. "The 'New Departure' in Quincy, 1873-1881: The Nature of Nineteenth Century Educational Reform," New England Quarterly (1967), pp. 3–30 on Francis Wayland Parker.
• Murphy, Garry Paul.  "Professional development of Massachusetts school teachers: An examination of the Horace Mann Teacher Program" (PhD dissertation, Boston College; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1990. 9101677).

• Breitborde, Mary-Lou, and Kelly Kolodny. "The People's Schools for Teachers of the People: The Development of Massachusetts' State Teachers Colleges." Historical Journal of Massachusetts 43#2 (2015), pp. 2+. online
• Bush, George Gary. History of higher education in Massachusetts (1891), detailed coverage for all types. online
• Freeland, Richard M. Academia's Golden Age: Universities in Massachusetts, 1945–1970 (1992) online
• Morison, Samuel E. Three Centuries of Harvard, 1636-1936 (1936) online
• Robie, Curt Douglas. "The Massachusetts state colleges: an unsupported past, an uncertain future" (dissertation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1991). online
• Struik, Dirk. Yankee science in the making (1962).