Public Education in the Twentieth Century and Beyond:

What have been some of the high points and disappointments of K-12 education over the past 75 years? How have shifting demographics in terms of race, ethnicity, social class and other differences shaped the educational experiences of various segments of the U.S. population? Sonia Nieto examines these questions, beginning with a discussion of the impact of demographic changes on U.S. educational policy. Nieto traverses 75 years of theory, attempting to explain the differences in achievement among U.S. students; explicating cultural inferiority, social reproduction, cultural incompatibility, voluntary and involuntary immigrant, resistance, and various other achievement theories. Nieto then discusses three movements towards the eradication of these inequities: desegregation, bilingual education, and multicultural education, contending that all three of these advancements have been systematically eroded by domestic pressure and policy. Nieto concludes that U.S. education has drifted far from its democratic ideals, and that a recommitment to the possibilities of U.S. education envisioned by Dewey and Mann is necessary.

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