For this assignment, you can choose between two options:
Regardless of which path you choose, you must use at least 4 high-quality sources, defined as scholarly/academic sources or primary artifacts. Additionally, students may only use two webpages.
Finished papers should be 10-12 pages double spaced, not including title page or references. All sources should be cited using APA 7th edition citation style.
For information on finding and accessing primary sources in the University of Arkansas Libraries Special Collections, please see our online guide:
Find digitized primary sources at the U of A in our digital collections:
Selecting your topic is often the most challenging part of this assignment! Some questions I encourage you to consider as you develop your topic:
What grade or subject do you want to teach?
What time in history are you most interested in?
What’s something that happened while you were in school that you have strong feelings or memories about, either good or bad?
What have you learned about in this course or by talking to your parents or other older adults about the history of education in the US that has surprised you?
What social or political issues do you care about?
Still not sure what to write about? Take a look at the History of Education in the United States Wikipedia page for a good overview of time periods and topics that you could use for this assignment.
Created with the intent to educate or inform
Written by people with authority in their field
Written with specialized or advanced language
Reports on original research, or write-ups synthesizing and analyzing the original research of others
Published through traditional avenues
Present the findings of original research or analyze and synthesize the original research of others
Written for other researchers and meant to share knowledge
Cite other authors in the field and include a sizable reference list
Often published in peer-reviewed journals and undergo stricter editing and review procedures to help ensure the content is credible and authoritative
Concise articles that provide background or foundational information on a topic
Dictionary entries, encyclopedia articles, and handbook entries that can help you with the context of a topic, quick definitions, an overview of an issue, facts, dates, and more
Written by experts
Typically do not use jargon or other specialized language
May cite some sources but do not typically have an extensive reference list
For this assignment, it is best to start by reviewing a reference article. This will help you further develop your topic and identify important time periods, legal mandates, people, etc. related to your topic.
Journal articles are a great addition to your paper, and can give you insight into how various education related topics have been researched and discussed throughout time.
Did you know that the University of Arkansas has primary source databases? You can find them by navigating to the "databases by title and subject" option from the library homepage. Step by step instructions are below.
First, select the "Databases" option in the drop-down menu.
Below the search bar, select "databases by title and subject."
From the "All Database Types" drop-down menu, select "Primary Source."
Now, you can select a primary source database from the alphabetical list and search within it. Searching within a more specific database like those in this list can be helpful if you are interested in a specific topic or time period.