Early Vanguards of Progressive Education: The Committee of Ten, the Committee of Seven, and Social Education

By the early 20th century, a new citizenship education curriculum had emerged that endorsed a significantly broadened definition of citizenship. Early vanguards of transformation in the social education curriculum were evidenced in the 1890s in the reports of the Committee of Ten and the Committee of Seven, commissioned by the National Education Association and the American Historical Association, respectively. The hallmarks of early Progressive Era educational change were the development of new social science methods of research and investigation, expanded social studies course sequences, innovative experiential teaching methods, social studies curricula designed for younger children, and ultimately the development of new community civics courses. Based upon examinations of the reports and the deliberations of the committees, the historical record indicates that the progressive education movement had antecedents in the 1890s, much earlier than the founding of the Progressive Education Association in 1919. The work of the Committee of Ten and the Committee of Seven ought to be viewed as an early part of a larger progressive movement that helped to gradually transform the schools. The legacy was lasting. Evidence of the resultant curriculum changes remain today