 Factories model school, factories model schools, factory model education or industrial-era schools are terms used to describe educational organization and facilities. The terms emerged in the mid- to late-20th century as a rhetorical device used by speakers and writers advocating for a change to the American public education system. Generally speaking when people use one of the terms, they are referencing characteristics of European education that emerged in the late 18th century and then in North America in the mid-19th century that include top-down management, standardization, outcomes designed to meet societal needs, age-based classrooms, efficiency, and a focus on producing results. The phrase is typically used in the context of discussing what the author identifies as negative aspects of public or government-funded school. For example, the factory model of schools are designed to create docile subjects and factory workers. It is also used to suggest a structure and look of American schools hasn't changed in 100 years as Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has entweets and speeches. Educational historians such as Jack Schneider and Sherman Dorn describe the phrase as misleading and an inaccurate representation of the development of American public education.