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John Locke
Published "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding" where he characterized the human brain at birth as a "blank slate". He explained that knowledge is obtained through experiences. His beliefs greatly influenced education. -
John Amos Comenius
John Amos Comenius was a Czech philosopher. Believed that teachers should "follow in the footsteps of nature", meaning that they should be paying attention to the minds of children and how they learn. He was one of the first school organizers. Outlined the system of schooling, that we still use today. It went to kindergarten, elementary school, secondary school or high school, and college. -
Noah Webster
While he was teaching in New York he did not like the texts for children. He then began his lifelong effort to promote a distinctly American education. His first step was the preparation of "A Grammatical Institute of the English Language". He created "The American Spelling Book" in 1782. He also wrote the "American Dictionary of the English Language" in 1828. -
The Horn Book
The hornbook was a wooden pallet that was originally used for the alphabet. A sheet with the letters would be put on a pallet of wood and then a clear sheet of horn would be put over top. The hornbook had a handle and also usually had a string to hang from the students' belts. -
Margerethe Schurz
Opened the first kindergarten in Watertown, Wisconsin in 1856. It was a German-speaking kindergarten because Watertown was a town where many of her and her husband's German family members had moved to. She opened the kindergarten in her living room for her daughter Agatha and four young cousins. She taught them songs and games that she learned from Friedrich Froebel. Later on, she moved her kindergarten to the center of Watertown so more kids could attend. -
Dame Schools
A dame school is a privately run school for young children. The teachings included reading and writing. The first known dame school was in 1810. -
Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori was a physician, educator, and innovator. She had a theory that children essentially teach themselves. If given the ability to be mobile and learn from their surroundings rather than be lectured. Children started to flourish under her method and it was called the Montessori Method. She opened the first Montessori school in Rome in 1907. -
Ella Flagg Young
Ella Flagg Young was the first woman to be in the administrative area of the major American school system. She was a superintendent in the Chicago school system. She was later elected the first female president of the National Education Association. -
American Federation of Teachers
The AFT was created so there was a group that shed light on teachers and their interests. The AFT was one of the first groups to extend membership to African Americans. The AFT now works towards higher pay, better benefits, and working conditions for its members. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Beginning in 1951 after the "Separate but Equal" doctrine explaining that segregation was allowed as long as everything was equal. This case began when Oliver Brown filed a suit against the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas after his daughter, Linda Brown, was denied entrance to the all-white schools in Topeka. Mr. Brown claimed that the all-black schools in Topeka were not equal to the all-white schools. The courts decided that the "separate but equal" doctrine had no place in education. -
Bilingual Education Act
The Bilingual Education Act is a law that provided funding to school districts to develop bilingual education programs. It is also talked about as Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. This was the first federal legislation to realize the unique needs of students that have limited English-speaking ability. -
Education for All Handicapped Children Act
This act was put into place in 1975 and required all public schools that accepted federal funding to provide equal access to education for children that have physical and mental disabilities. The act also was made so parents of disabled children had a say in their child's education. -
Standardized Testing
Standardized tests have been a small part of education since the 1800s. Although they did not become a big part of education until the early 2000s. They became a very big part of the education system after the No Child Left Behind Act was signed in 2002. The NCLBA mandated annual testing in all 50 states. In 1926 the first SAT was administered. -
No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act was the update of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Made schools responsible for the academic progress of all of their students. This act put a focus on making sure that groups like English language learners, special education students, and students are poor and minority children. -
The Common Core State Standards
The Common Core State Standards Initiative was the first-ever to set unified standards for what students kindergarten through 12th grade should know and be able to do in each grade. The Common Core standards cover two areas: Math and English Language Arts. In the United States, 44 states have adopted the Common Core standards.
