Educational Reform in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era

The Gilded Age and Progressive Era is a time period where there was immense change in the United States in terms of education reform. Without the key innovations of dedicated people with the aim of transforming education in America, it is impossible to tell what may have been and what might have happened, but it is obvious that education would look very different, and not in a positive manner. More than merely acquiring knowledge, education is crucial since it gives students access to social and life skills as well as protection from a potential negative home environment throughout the day. The changes that happened throughout the Gilded Age and Progressive Era are crucial, from creating places for kids to go while moms work, like Hull House, to creating tools to determine whether a student has a disability and needs additional support, such as the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale. Reformers such as John Dewey and Jane Addams steered the way for many years of education reform to follow.