“Schools of Tomorrow,” Schools of Today Revisited: Histories of Five Contemporary Progressive Schools

• In Event: Roundtable Session 66

Session Submission Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract

The discussion of discussion of contemporary progressive education traces its history to the alternative and open schools in the 1960s and the development of small urban schools in the 1980s. However, the practices of contemporary progressive schools and the small-school movement have some of their roots in the progressive movement of the early twentieth century. The purpose of this symposium is to provide historical case studies of five contemporary progressive schools that serve urban low income students and to examine how they are related to early progressive education. The discussants will provide a thematic analysis of the five schools that links them back to the history of progressive education and their effectiveness in serving low-income students.

Sub Unit

• Division F - Historical Inquiry in Education

Chair

• Alan R. Sadovnik, Rutgers University

Papers

• The Weekday Independent School in New York City - Amita Gupta, City College of New York - CUNY

• The Wikwam Public School in New York City - Kirsten Cole, CUNY - Graduate Center

• A Look Into KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) Culture Through the Prism of Progressive Schools - Andrew Robert Ratner, City College of New York - CUNY

• The Discovery Charter School in Newark - Susan F. Semel, City College of New York - CUNY

• The Learning Community Charter School in Jersey City - Elizabeth Morrison-Brown, William Paterson University