Nineteenth Century American Education is often referred to as “The Common School Period.” It was during this century that education went from being completely private to being available to the common masses.
The Common School movement
…not until the 1840s did an organized system exist. Education reformers like Horace Mann and Henry Barnard, working in Massachusetts and Connecticut respectively, helped create statewide common-school systems. These reformers sought to increase opportunities for all children and create common bonds among an increasingly diverse population. They also argued education could preserve social stability and prevent crime and poverty.
Common-school advocates worked to establish a free elementary education accessible to everyone and financed by public funds. As such, they advocated public schools should be accountable to local school boards and state governments. They also helped establish compulsory school attendance laws for elementary-age children. By 1918, such laws existed in all states.
Public High Schools
Public High Schools were developed in the early 1800′s as a public education alternative to the private academies of the 18th Century. The schools focused on a practical curriculum with college preparatory classes.
Comprehensive High Schools
As democratic equality and social efficiency opened access to education for larger groups of people, upper middle-class parents sought to maintain prestige in the credentials their children were attaining …. the compromise was the comprehensive high school with its vocational and academic tracks.