This chapter details simplified versions of neoliberalism, existentialism, and postmodernism as a means of grounding the late twentieth century philosophically. It examines major shifts in public schools, including increasing security in post-Columbine schools, the increase in federal intervention with the No Child Left Behind and Every Student Succeeds Acts, and the Common Core movement. It concludes with a discussion on the educational legacies of this period and recommendations for further reading.

1. 1.

   Amara S. Chaudhry, “Lessons from Jim Crow: What Those Seeking Self-Determination for Transgender Individuals Can Learn from America’s History with Racial Classification Categories,”Temple Political and Civil Rights Law Review 18, no. 2 (2009): 505–514.

2. 2.

   Paulo Freire,Pedagogy of the Oppressed (New York: Continuum Books, 1993).

3. 3.

   Howard Gardner,Frames of Mind (New York: Basic Books, 1983).

4. 4.

   Karen Graves, “‘So You Think You Have a History?’: Taking a Q from Lesbian and Gay Studies in Writing Education History,”History of Education Quarterly 52, no. 4 (2012): 465–487.

5. 5.

   Maxine Greene,Releasing the Imagination: Essays on Education, the Arts, and Social Change (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995).

6. 6.

   bell hooks,Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom (New York: Routledge Books, 1994).

7. 7.

   Kevin Kosar,Failing Grades: The Federal Politics of Education Standards (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2005).

8. 8.

   Jonathan Kozol,The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America (New York: Crown Publishers, 2005).

9. 9.

   Sharon Nichols and David C. Berliner,Collateral Damage: How High-Stakes Testing Corrupts America’s Schools (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008).

10. 10.

    Peter McLaren,Life in Schools: An Introduction to Critical Pedagogy in the Foundations of Education (New York: Longman Books, 1989).

11. 11.

    National Governor’s Association,Common Core State Standards Initiative (Accessed athttp://www.corestandards.org/).

12. 12.

    Nel Noddings,Happiness and Education (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003).

13. 13.

    Diane Ravitch,The Death and Life of the American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education (New York: Basic Books, 2010).

14. 14.

    Theodore Sizer,Horace’s Compromise: The Dilemma of the American High School (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 1984).

Authors and Affiliations

1. Gillham Hall 5000-C, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA

   Edward Janak

Corresponding author

Correspondence toEdward Janak.

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