enactments, legal decisions, and research results included in the text provide readers with a comprehensive understanding of schooling, and the educational movements behind it, in the United States. Each of the ten chapters in Behind the Blackboard addresses an important theme in education. Introductions to the chapters provide context for the selected readings. The chapters themselves present a survey of important and determinant concepts, ideas, social movements, court decisions and authoritative education treatises that have exerted significant influences on the American educational establishment from the colonial period to the present. The selected materials cover a wide range of topics including: The concept of “the purpose of education”; The role of education in promoting democracy; The two main forms of curriculum – state-mandated and hidden; Strategies and modalities used by teachers; The impact of charter schools; The impact of social movements. Behind the Blackboard is intended for use by college and university students, educators, and policy makers. The book deepens the reader’s understanding of how education has evolved over the years, and provides insight into what the future holds for such an important American institution. It can be used as the primary textbook in courses on education, or as a supplement to other books. Behind the Blackboard is also a useful guide for instructors who want to develop and enrich their syllabi, and students who are researching the educational system and its history."

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