American Education Timeline- Jessica Robert Shugart

The Founding of the Boston Latin School

1635

Five signers of the Declaration of Independence, including Benjamin Franklin, attended the first public school for males of all socioeconomic classes in the United States. At this time, females were still educated in their homes. Interestingly, Benjamin Franklin dropped out of school; however, his statue can still be found in the original schoolhouse today. Source

The Founding of Harvard University

1636

The “Great and General Court of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England" approved America's first "colledge" in Newetowne (later changed to Cambrige), Massachusetts. In 1642, the first class graduates with nine students. Interestingly, eight Harvard alumni sign the Declaration of Independence. Also noteworthy, eight United States Presidents have graduated from Harvard. Source

Massachusetts Education Law of 1647

1647

In 1642, the Massachusetts Bay Colony passed the first law the required children to learn to read and write. In 1647, a new law stated that towns had to create and maintain schools. Schools were primarily for boys to prepare them for the ministry. The law of 1647 set the path for publicly funded school districts.
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The New England Primer

1690

The first textbook published in America was used to teach reading so that children could read and study the Bible. It would take children several years to work through the Primer. The children's prayer, "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" was found in the Primer. Scholars believe most or all of the Founding Fathers used it to learn to read and write.
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The Founding of The College of William and Mary

1693

This is the second-oldest college in America, behind Harvard University. It is often called the Alma Mater of the Nation because of its history with the Founding Fathers. Thomas Jefferson graduated from here. It is the first college to have a Royal Charter and the first to have a student honor code.
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Benjamin Franklin's American Philosophical Society

1743

The country's first learned organization was founded for thinking about knowledge in areas such as sciences and humanities. Many Founding Fathers, such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Rush, were members. In addition to improving agriculture and transportation in America, it also encouraged the study of astronomy.
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Jefferson's Proposal- "The Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge"

1779

Jefferson believed that educated men would be better for the general public so he proposed a bill that would create publicly-funded schooling for three years for white children in Virginia. The top male students would then promote to grammar school and finally to the College of William and Mary, his alma mater. The Virginia Legislature rejected his proposal many times.
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Bill of Rights

1791

The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution are referred to as the Bill of Rights. Madison wrote the amendments to prevent the federal government from exercising too much control over its people. For educational purposes, the tenth amendment is extremely important as it gives states rights that are not reserved specifically to the United States.

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First School for the Deaf

1817

The Connecticut Asylum for the Education of Deaf and Dumb Persons (later becoming the American School for the Deaf) was founded after a physician took an interest in his neighbor's young daughter who was deaf. There were no American schools for the deaf at the time. After visiting schools for deaf students in Paris, together the two men founded the first school for the deaf in the United States.
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McGuffey's Readers

1836

It is estimated that at least 120 million copies of William Holmes McGuffey's Readers were sold between 1836 and 1960. The books are still sold today. McGuffey, a young teacher, had students aged anywhere from 6-21 in his classroom. Later, a friend, Harriet Beecher Stowe, recommended to a small publishing firm that McGuffey write graded readers. McGuffey's personal values and beliefs can be found in the readers.
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Horace Mann, Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education

1837

Horace Mann believed a free, public education was important for America's socioeconomic and moral future. He did believe that Christianity should be included in schooling but he did not promote any one denomination. He founded The Common School Journal. While a believer to public education, he was also somewhat controversial. He did not approve of Gallaudet's approach to teaching deaf students.
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First Normal School

1839

Founded in Lexington, Massachusetts, the nation's first normal school trained elementary teachers in preparation for teaching in common schools. With the establishment of normal schools, teaching soon began to be viewed as a profession.
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Experimental School for Teaching and Training Idiotic Children

1848

Samuel G. Howe, with $2,500 from the Legislature, worked with Dr. Walter E. Fernald to establish a model educational facility in the field of mental retardation in Massachusetts. In 1925, the Legislature renamed the school the Walter E. Fernald State School. Until its closing in 2014, it was the nation's oldest school of its kind.
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Compulsory Attendance Act of 1852

1852

Enacted in Massachusetts, the law stated that all children between eight and fourteen must attend school in the city or town he/she resided for at least twelve weeks of the year. Six of those weeks had to be consecutive unless the school closed. While there were exemptions, there was also a twenty dollar fine if found truant.
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United States' First Kindergarten

1856

The first kindergarten was founded by Margarethe Meyer Schurz, a native German. Her sister founded the first kindergarten in London. While Margarethe's husband was busy with politics, Margarethe started a small kindergarten in her home. Her first class included her own children and cousins. When the class was too noisy for her husband, she moved her class to a small building and then to finally to Milwaukee.
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Founding National Teachers Assocation

1857

In Philadelphia, 43 educators met to try to unite teachers in the United States. The NTA held many firsts- it voted a woman as President ten years before women were granted the right to vote. It also allowed African American members before the Civil War. Today, due to a merger, it is known as the National Education Association. The NEA is the largest professional organization in the United States.
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Founding of Department of Education

1867

The Department of Education was founded to collect information on schools in order to help create and maintain effective school systems. In 1890, the Department of Education began to provide support for colleges and universities. Today, the department serves over 50 million elementary and secondary students and 12 million postsecondary students.
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Creation of the Dewey Decimal System

1876

Melvil Dewey, a librarian, developed the Dewey Classification System to help organize a library's materials into ten main groups. Using a system of letters and numbers, information is easier to find and locate. Dewey is credited with the development of library science in the United States. The system is used in more than 200,000 libraries worldwide and has been translated in over 35 language.
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The Committee of Ten

1892

Charles Eliot, President of Harvard University, chaired the Committee on Secondary Schools Studies (commonly called the Committee of Ten). The Committee's report outlined a high school curriculum geared toward the college-bound student. The curriculum standardized learning as the committee felt how and what was taught in high school should be the same.
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Plessy vs. Ferguson

1896

Homer Plessy, a shoemaker, was arrested because he believed segregation on trains was wrong as it implied African Americans were inferior. The Supreme Court ruled against Plessy. The ruling was a setback in race relations, especially in education. Segregated schools often meant that students received unequal opportunities in education.

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Founding of the National Congress of Mothers

1897

Alice McLellan Birney and Phoebe Apperson Hearst began this campaign to eliminate threats that endangered children. More than 2,000 attended the first convocation in Washington, D.C. The women worked hard for the education, health, and safety of children. Later, a merger would rename the organization to Parent Teacher Association (PTA). Today, the PTA is a strong advocate for public education.
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Mary McLeod Bethune

1904

The youngest of seventeen children and born to former slaves, Bethune opened a boarding school, the Daytona Beach and Literary and Industrial School for Training Negro Schools. Her school soon became a college and merged to form the Bethune-Cookman College. Bethune fought for gender and racial equality and eventually worked under President Roosevelt.
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Founding of Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

1905

Andrew Carnegie's organization still provides research and writing in all areas of education. The organization is noted for founding the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA), creating the Carnegie Unit, founding the Educational Testing Service, and is also seen as a leader in providing federal grants for higher education.
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Carnegie Unit

1906

The basic credit system developed that allowed administrators and teachers to track course credits in American secondary schools. College admissions officers used the units to interpret credits on secondary transcripts. To gain acceptance to college, students had to attend four years of high school and accumulate 120 60-minute hours.
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Maria Montessori

1907

An Italian physician, educator, and innovator who believed in a child-centered approach to education. While also a medical doctor, she also trained special education teachers. She even opened a childcare center in a low socioeconomic area. Her schools, called Montessori schools, quickly spread to the United States. Today, Montessori Schools can be found in at least 110 countries.
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Ella Flagg Young

1909

She became the first woman superintendent of a large school district, Chicago. The following year she was the first woman elected president of the National Education Association (NEA). She wrote her dissertation under John Dewey's direction. One of her accomplishments as superintendent of Chicago is that she was one of the first to add a sex hygiene program in schools.
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Opening of Indianola Junior High School

1909

The Columbus Ohio School Board approved the nation's first junior high school opening to help increase high school graduation rates. At the time only 7% of Columbus' students graduated high school. School officials hoped that keeping grades seventh, eighth, and ninth together would help students with the rigor required of high school.
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Edward L. Thorndike's Educational Psychology: The Psychology of Learning is published

1913

A psychologist, Thorndike studied the learning process which led to the theory of connectionism. Due to his book, psychology was incorporated in classroom instruction in the areas of algebra, arithmetic, reading, writing, and language. His work also helped portray the inequalities and shortcomings in the American educational system.
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Lewis M. Terman

1916

During his dissertation, Terman studied the individual differences in intelligence using multiple tests. He took the already utilized Binet-Simon scale, added some of his own tests, and borrowed tests others had created. By 1916, he and his team published the Stanford revision. This revision included a numerical index to represent test performance. This was called the intelligence quotient or IQ.
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Public Funds Used to Transport Students to School

1919

With the final addition of Delaware and Wyoming, all 48 contiguous states enacted laws that allowed public funding to be used to transport students to school. Providing transportation for students helped schools with compulsory attendance requirements. While the mode of transportation has evolved over the years, many students still rely on transportation today.
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Tennessee v. John Scopes

1925

In 1925, Tennessee's legislature banned the teaching of evolution in all schools. A young, popular high school teacher, John Scopes, ignored this mandate and continued to teach evolution. He was then arrested. This was the first trial broadcasted live on the radio. Scopes was found guilty of violating the law. The decision was soon reversed and states started reversing laws that prohibited teaching evolution.
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Alvarez v. Board of Trustees of the Lemon Grove School District

1931

Known as the Lemon Grove Incident, it was the first successful desegregation court case in American history. At the time the school board and principal refused to allow Mexican students to enter. They sent them to a different building. The court ruled the school board's decision was unconstitutional. This was huge for San Diego and American as the country favored segregation and the deportation of the Mexican community.
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National School Lunch Act

1946

President Harry Truman signed this act which established the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Basic nutritional guidelines were also established. Federal funds were used so that students in need of financial assistance were afforded nutritional free or reduced lunches. The Department of Agriculture sent billions of dollars to the states to help with the cost of food.
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McCollum v. Board of Education

1948

The US Supreme Court ruled that the Illinois public school board had violated the Establishment Cause of the First Amendment when the district allowed religious education in school building by church leaders once a week during the instructional day. One parent sued stating that public funding was used for the school building and that the district was promoting religion to students.
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Brown v. Board of Education

1954

The Supreme Court, in possibly its greatest decision of the 20th century, ruled that racial segregation of students violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. While Plessy v. Ferguson allowed for racial segregation if the schools were equal to each other, the Supreme Court in the Brown case stated that racial segregation is unequal and unconstitutional.
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Benjamin S. Bloom

1956

For over five decades, Benjamin Bloom's research and writing influenced education policy and practice. Bloom was interested in the relationship between instructional methods, outcomes, and how to measure the outcomes. His most popular book, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain was published in 1956. Also known as Bloom's Taxonomy, it promoted higher thinking in lieu of rote memorization. Bloom's is still used today.
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Ruby Bridges

1960

While Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 ruled racial segregation was unconstitutional, it wasn't until 1960 that Ruby Bridges, a 6 year old African American student integrated an elementary school in the South. White parents pulled their students and Ruby, escorted to school daily by federal marshals, was taught by the only teacher who agreed to teach her at William Frantz Elementary, in a class of one.
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Engel v. Vitale

1962

A New York state law mandated that public schools open the day with the Pledge of Allegiance and a nondenominational prayer. If students objected, they could excuse themselves from the prayer. One parent stated the law violated the Establishment Cause of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court agreed. The Court stated the government shouldn't get involved in religious affairs.
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Samuel A. Kirk

1963

Known as the father of special education, Kirk worked with students who were mentally handicapped. Kirk believed there were many students who weren't mentally retarded but had other neurological disorders. In 1963, he coined the term "learning disabilities." His work contributed to the training of teachers and laws requiring schools to assist students with learning disabilities.
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Apple II

1977

The upgraded Apple II started the boom in personal computer sales. Personally speaking, my mother bought our family one. Storage was on cassette tapes and then floppy discs. Soon, Apple worked to get the Apple II in classrooms. Students played games such as The Oregon Trail. This led to the introduction of computers in classrooms. Today, smaller, more efficient computers and iPads are frequently found in classrooms.
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