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1900
The Association of American Universities is founded to promote higher standards and put U.S. universities on an equal footing with their European counterparts. -
1901
Joliet Junior College, in Joliet, Illinois, opens. It is the first public community college in the U.S. -
1905
The U.S. Supreme Court requires California to extend public education to the children of Chinese immigrants. -
1906
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching is founded. The foundation is committed to solve problems throughout education. -
1909
In order to improve high school graduation rates, the Columbus Ohio School Board authorizes the creation of junior high schools. Indianola Junior High School opens that fall and becomes the first junior high school in the U.S. -
1913
Edward Lee Thorndike's book, Educational Psychology: The Psychology of Learning, is published. It describes his theory that human learning involves habit formation, or connections between stimuli and responses. He believed that the connections are strengthened by repetition and achieving satisfying consequences. -
1914
The Smith-Lever Act establishes a system of cooperative extension services connected to land grant universities, provides federal funds for extension activities, and nationalizes 4-H. -
1917
Smith-Hughes Act passes, providing federal funding for vocational education. Big manufacturing corporations push this, because they want to remove job skill training from the apprenticeship programs of trade unions and bring it under their own control. -
1919
The Progressive Education Association is founded with the goal of reforming American education. The PEA spread progressive education throughout American public schools from 1919-1955. -
1919
All states have laws providing funds for transporting children to school. -
1929
The Great Depression begins with the stock market crash in October. The U.S. economy is devastated. Public education funding suffers greatly, resulting in school closings, teacher layoffs, and lower salaries. -
(happened from 1930 - 1950)
The NAACP brings a series of suits over unequal teachers' pay for Blacks and whites in southern states. At the same time, southern states realize they are losing African American labor to the northern cities. These two sources of pressure resulted in some increase of spending on Black schools in the South. -
1931
Alvarez vs. the Board of Trustees of the Lemon Grove (California) School District becomes the first successful school desegregation court case in the United States, as the local court forbids the school district from placing Mexican-American children in a separate "Americanization" school. -
1946
Recognizing "the need for a permanent legislative basis for a school lunch program," the 79th Congress approves the National School Lunch Act. It provided free lunch to students who qualified. -
1954
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. The Supreme Court unanimously agrees that segregated schools are "inherently unequal" and must be abolished. Almost 45 years later in 1998, schools, especially in the north, are as segregated as ever. -
1963
Samuel A. Kirk uses the term "learning disability" at a Chicago conference on children with perceptual disorders. The term sticks, and in 1964, the Association for Children with Learning Disabilities, now the Learning Disabilities Association of America, is formed. Today, nearly one-half of all students in the U.S. who receive special education have been identified as having learning disabilities. -
1965
Project Head Start, a preschool education program for children from low-income families, begins as an eight-week summer program -
1972
Dartmouth becomes the last of the Ivy League schools to begin admitting women. -
1980's
The federal Tribal Colleges Act establishes a community college on every Indian reservation, which allows young people to go to college without leaving their families. -
1990
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) becomes law. Essentially a civil rights law, it prohibits discrimination against those with disabilities in all areas, including education. -
(became approved in the beginning of 2002)
The controversial No Child Left Behind Act is approved by Congress. The law, which reauthorizes the ESEA of 1965 and replaces the Bilingual Education Act of 1968, mandates high-stakes student testing, holds schools accountable for student achievement levels, and provides penalties for schools that do not make adequate yearly progress toward meeting the goals of NCLB. -
2003
The Higher Education Act is again amended and reauthorized, expanding access to higher education for low and middle income students, providing additional funds for graduate studies, and increasing accountability. -
2014
President Barack Obama signs the 1.1-trillion dollar bipartisan budget bill on January 17. The bill restores some, but not all, of the cuts to federal education programs that resulted from sequestration. It is the first budget to be agreed to by our divided government since 2009! -
2020
On March 11, the World Health Organization declares COVID-19 a pandemic. Two days later, President Trump declares a national emergency. States close schools, and many colleges and universities suspend "in-person classes." -
2021
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services directs states to make teachers and other school staff eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations. -
2021
On March 11, President Joe Biden signs the 1.9-trillion dollar COVID-19 relief bill into law. In addition to providing stimulus payments to most Americans, the bill also extends federal unemployment benefits, increases child tax credits, and provides 125 billion dollars to help schools reopen.
