Dewey’s educational theories and philosophies have been debated since their origin in early 19th century (Westbook, 1993). The strongest opponents of Dewey’s progressive theory were educa-tional traditionalists or essentialists, who believed knowledge should be given directly to students in a formal, systematic fashion (Ornstein & Levine, 2003). Essentialists claimed two problem areas in applying Dewey’s progressive theory: that academic achievement, student learning, and economic productivity were diminished; and that universal truths and values were questioned (Ornstein & Levine, 2003; Westbook, 1993).