Chapter 8 examines school and society in several historical eras, from the colonial through the progressive periods. These periods have already been treated in Chapters 2 through subsequent chapters leading to Chapter 8, yet Chapter 8 is not a review. It focuses on an issue that has appeared too briefly in the preceding chapters: the education of girls and women. Chapter 8 begins with a discussion of the ideological origins of the differential treatment of girls and women in society. These ideological roots were in part religious. As the chapter notes, it should not be surprising that a nation founded by religious dissenters should show deep religious influences in its political thought and values. We begin with a brief discussion of how early Christian tradition contributed to justifying differential expectations for men and women in society and in schooling.

        The chapter traces the development of schooling for girls and women from colonial times through the post-Revolutionary period, the nineteenth century, and the major part of the progressive era. In each of these periods, prevailing forms (and absences) of schooling for girls and women are examined in the context of shifts in views about women's roles in society and the proper preparation for those roles. In the colonial period, the relative absence of girls from schools reflects the dominant view of women that discouraged intellectual development. In the post-Revolutionary period, contrasts between boys' and girls' schooling show increasing schooling arrangements for girls, but within specific boundaries of preparation for "feminine" work. Emma Willard's Troy Seminary is shown to be an early nineteenth-century contribution to expanding the educational and professional possibilities for women. By the middle of the nineteenth century, competing viewpoints on the role and education of girls and women had sharpened into identifiable ideological positions—conservative, liberal, and radical—each of which had antecedents in classical liberalism. This discussion of ideological heterogeneity is illustrated by the two Primary Source Readings, one of which, the Seneca Falls Declaration of 1848, is briefly referenced in the chapter.

        Nineteenth-century approaches to the higher education of women are discussed, including academies, normal schools, colleges, and high schools. As the twentieth century approached, the vocational education movement took on particular significance for the education of girls and women in secondary schools.