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Boston Latin School
The Boston Latin School was the first public school opened in the 13 colonies of the United States. The Massachusetts Bay Colony decreed that every town consisting of fifty families should have an elementary school and that every town having 100 families should have a Latin school. The goal was to make sure that Puritan children learned to read the Bible and receive basic instruction in their religion. -
The New England Primer
Originally printed in 1688 by Benjamin Harris, The New England Primer, became the foundational reading textbook for the American colonies. Designed to promote literacy and Puritan culture, the textbook was less than 100 pages in length, and remained in use for over 150 years. -
University of Pennsylvania
Benjamin Franklin helps to establish the first "English Academy", also known as the Publik Academy of Philadelphia, since he saw the need for an affordable academy, with a curriculum that included both classical and modern courses, such as history, geography, navigation, surveying, and modern as well as classical languages. The academy ultimately becomes the University of Pennsylvania. -
Émile, or Treatise on Education
Swiss-born Jean-Jacques Rousseau's essay, "Emile, ou de l'education", is published which describes his views on education as seen through the eyes and education of a young boy, Émile. Rousseau's ideas on the importance early childhood, nature-based gender roles, and how education should differ between men and women are in sharp contrast with the prevailing views of his time. His views influenced 20th-Century American philosopher and educational reformer John Dewey. -
A Grammatical Institute of the English Language
Because of his dissatisfaction with English textbooks of the day, Noah Webster writes "A Grammatical Institute of the English Language", consisting of three volumes: a spelling book, a grammar book, and a reader. They become very widely used throughout the United States. In fact, the spelling volume, later renamed the American Spelling Book and often called the Blue-Backed Speller, has never been out of print! -
Blackboard
James Pillans invents the modern blackboard. -
Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons
The first permanent school for the deaf in the U.S. is opened by its co-founders, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc. Called the Connecticut Asylum at Hartford for the Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons, instruction was given in sign, originally the French system Clerc used, and was gradually modified and evolved into what is now called ASL, American Sign Language. Courses consisted of math, reading, writing, geography, history, and most importantly in the Bible. -
Women Teachers
The majority of the nation's teachers (particularly in the Northeast and Mid-west) were women. The 'feminization of teaching,' continued through the early twentieth century, by which time roughly four out of five teachers were women. Virtually all teachers in elementary schools—where the greatest expansion occurred—were women. Men mainly taught in high school until the turn of the century, when teaching conditions improved and secondary schooling became more universal. -
Massachusetts' Mandatory Attendance Law
Massachusetts enacts the first mandatory attendance law in 1852. By 1885, 16 states have compulsory-attendance laws, but most of those laws are sporadically enforced at best. The 1852 law required every city and town to offer primary school, and focus on grammar and arithmetic. Parents who refused to send their children to school were fined and (in some cases) stripped of their parental rights, while their children were apprenticed to others. All states have mandatory laws by 1918. -
Land-Grant College Act of 1862
The Morrill Act donates public lands to states, to finance the "endowment, support, and maintenance of at least one college where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life." -
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
The Foundation encouraged the adoption of a standard system for equating "seat time" (the amount of time spent in a class) to high school credits, called the "Carnegie Unit." The Foundation also achieved the "landmark 'Flexner Report' on medical education, the development of the Graduate Record Examination, the founding of the Educational Testing Service, and the creation of the Teachers Insurance Annuity Association of America (TIAA-CREF)." -
Schoolbuses
Frank W. Cyr, a professor at Columbia University's Teachers College, organizes a national conference on student transportation. The conference results in adopting the standards for the nation's school buses, including the shade of yellow. -
Prayer in Schools
In the case of Engel v. Vitale, the U. S. Supreme Court rules that the state of New York's Regents prayer violates the First Amendment. The ruling specifies that "state officials may not compose an official state prayer and require that it be recited in the public schools of the State at the beginning of each school day. . . " -
Title VII: Bilingual Education Act
Federal funding that supports bilingual education programs. Inclusion for "children who come from environments where the dominant language is other than English". This act highlighted successful programs for English language learners that integrated and made use of the student's home language. Schools were introducing new bilingual education programs and giving English language learners more exposure to their home language in schools. -
Beginnings of Homeschooling
Mike Farris and Mike Smith founded the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) to preserve "the fundamental, God-given, constitutional right of parents" to direct their children's education. Homeschooling was legal in only a few states, and parents were faced with legal pressure to send their children to public school. HSLDA allowed families who paid a $100 yearly membership fee to secure legal defense against local and state systems, in exchange for payment of all fees. -
Americans with Disabilities Act-Special Education
The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush. The act promises people with special needs will have the same rights as everybody else, including both school and work. This act also stated that people with special needs cannot be discriminated against in schools, the workplace, and everyday society such as public transportation. -
No Child Left Behind Passed
The controversial No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is approved by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush on January 8, 2002. 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. -
Common Core State Standards
The Common Core State Standards Initiative, "a state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers," is launched. The Standards are a set of uniform academic standards for children K–12 to achieve in Math and English language arts (ELA). It is expected that many, perhaps most, states will adopt them. -
Citations
American Educational History: A Hypertext Timeline. (2019, November 5). Retrieved December 8, 2019, from http://www.eds-resources.com/educationhistorytimeline.html. Carter, J. (2019, October 18). 9 Things You Should Know About the History of the Homeschooling Movement. Retrieved December 8, 2019, from https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-you-should-know-about-the-history-of-the-homeschooling-movement/. -
Citations
History of Special Education. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2019, from https://www.preceden.com/timelines/326448-history-of-special-education. Werrell, B., & Reiner, D. (2017, October 5). 50 Facts and Events in U.S. Education History. Retrieved December 8, 2019, from https://blog.connectionsacademy.com/50-facts-and-events-in-u-s-education-history/.
