Ancestry Magazine

In the 1970s, it was the open classroom. The 1980s saw no pass, no play. In the 1990s, music and art programs were forfeited for the sake of money. And today, education reform is getting hammered by school vouchers, charter schools, and “No Child Left Behind.”

So what would happen if we took education back to where it all started?

In the midst of historic educational chaos, one modern teaching model looks to America’s educational roots: the multiage classroom, where one teacher instructs students spanning two or more grade levels. Younger students are exposed to lessons geared toward older students, and older students guide younger students through their studies.

Sound familiar? It should. The multiage classroom is based on the one-room schoolhouse—a model commonly associated with Old West frontier towns and romanticized as the simple days of education. But in its heyday, the one-room schoolhouse actually represented a radical, modernizing shift in education.

Historically, rich people paid to educate their children, and churches provided schools for select poor children. The idea of free schooling for all children was controversial at best.

Wealthy people balked to think of their children attending school alongside paupers. Churches described these community schools as “godless.” Some people considered education a parental responsibility and saw public schools as government intrusion. And then there was the issue of funding—more public schools meant higher taxes.

The switch to a government-sponsored, education-for-all program was gradual—even in progressive, rebellious, equality-focused America. Over time, many communities established one-room public schoolhouses. And the educational scandals continued from there. Over the years, we’ve seen controversy surrounding public education beyond the elementary level, educating women, desegregating classrooms in the South, year-round school, and on and on.

Will the one-room schoolhouse again revolutionize American education via the multiage classroom? Maybe. But one thing seems certain—the controversy that surrounded education when your grandparents went to school and when you attended will continue as long as there are children counting down the days to summer vacation.