The United States and Germany in the Era of the Cold War, 1945–1990

Traditionally, American and German educational systems have shown more contrasts than similarities. This was the case in 1945 and, despite some changes, it still holds true today at all levels. Nevertheless, during the occupation, American officials sought earnestly to alter German education, especially elementary and secondary education, under the banner of democratization. The American reformers concluded that Germany's multitrack schools separated a small elite from the main schoolage population and gave them a superior secondary education in the advanced-level high schools (Gymnasien), which in turn gave them a virtual monopoly on securing a university education. Seeing education as a kind of “pressure point” that could aid in the formation of a more democratic society in Germany, American officials adopted public school restructuring as part of their “reeducation” program. This reform effort continued until the conflicting pressures of the Cold War directed the occupiers' chief concerns elsewhere.

a confused start

In the immediate aftermath of the war against National Socialism, American reformers were concerned with forging tools of democracy. In education, that translated into three basic goals: to increase the number of school years of primary education that all pupils shared in common; to upgrade the professional status of all primary and secondary teachers by providing university training for both groups rather than for secondary teachers alone; and to end tuition for pupils in primary and secondary education. Although they were successful in securing this last goal, reform measures failed to achieve the first and second.