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First Public School
Boston establishes a Latin School to provide a classical education, similar to the free grammar schools in Boston, England. -
New State Education Law
Massachussett’s Law required that parents and master see to it that their children knew the principles of religion and the capital laws of the commonwealth. -
Society of Friends promotes educational equity in Philadelphia 1739
The Quakers were radical agents of change in early education promoting equity for females and for black children. Anthony Benezet, a Frenchman who joined the Philadelphia Quaker by 1831, was one of the earliest American abolitionists. In 1739 he begin teaching and by 1750, he had added night classes for Black students. In 1754, he establish the first public girls school and in 1770 opened the Negro school at Philadelphia. "Anthony Benezet: biography and bibliography", -
American Academy founded by Ben Franklin (1753)
The curriculum was geared to prepare students for employment. The curriculum of this and similar schools eventually replaced the Latin grammar schools. Some of the schools admitted women as well. -
Noah Webster
Noah Webster codified spelling and grammar of American English in this weighty tome, which in many ways, is still the basis for American grammar education. He later published "A Compendious Dictionary of the American Language" in 1806 which standardized American spellings like "color" and "music" and added American words such as "skunk" -
The Northwest Ordinance
The passing of the Northwest Ordinance made sure that land was to be divided up for people to live on, but some land would be reserved for education. This law being passed showed that the United States was going to make sure that its people were educated. This is a step towards racial equality in education because there first needed to be a commitment towards education by the U.S. before equality in education could be fought for (Hunkins & Ornstein, 67) -
Massachusetts progresses in education
The state of Massachusetts passes a law requiring towns of more than 500 families to have a public high school open to all students. -
Common Schools
Common schools were funded by local property taxes, charged no tuition, were open to all white children. Beginning in the 1820's, Horace Mann, the "great Equalizer",convinced a nation to create a system of common schools - good schools were good business and the future of the economy and the democracy depended upon providing a "common" education to all children, no matter where they were born or the whom. The Common School is the precursor to today's public school. * Date is not exact. -
McGuffy Readers Introduced
The McGuffy readers were the first textbooks that were used on a massive scale and they worked. They focused on ideas of nationality, patriotism, hard work, virtuous living, etc. This was a step towards equality among races because it was a move towards educating the masses (Hunkins & Ornstein, 70). -
Franklin's Proposals Related to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania (1849)
Franklin emphasized reason over religion. His philosophy is not merely a "cash value" system. It was much more broad and humanitarian. He believed in mastering the English language writing and public speaking and thought 2nd languages were only useful for commerce. He spoke out fervently against slavery and chauvinism and promoted education for African-Americans and women. Blinderman, A. (1976). Three early champions of education: Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Rush, and Noah Webster. -
Old Deluder Satan Act of 1647
This famous law from colonial America framed ignorance as a work of Satan (i.e. The Old Deluder). The belief was that illiteracy was a tool Satan could use to keep men from understanding Bible scriptures. The law decreed that each town should provide for the foundation, operation and funding of schools. Failure to provide teachers or grammar schools could result in a find of 5 pounds. Andrew J. Milson (ed.), Readings In American Educational Thought: From Puritanism to Progressivism. -
Sputnik
The Soviets make history be being the first to launch a satellite into orbit, the Sputnik. More than $1 billion was poured into public schools for new science and math curriculums. -
Tabula Rasa
John Locke publishes work about the theory of tabula rasa, which means that the mind is a blank slate at the time of birth, not filled with innate ideas. This concept became very influential in educational psychology. -
Government funding for education
many states are still giving schools less cash now than they did before the Great Recession. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that, as of the 2017-2018 academic year, 29 states were still spending less per K-12 student than they did a decade earlier. That's why the formulas that states use to fund schools have come under fire in recent years and have even been the subjects of lawsuits. -
School safety
Over the past several years, a string of high-profile mass shootings in U.S. schools have resulted in dozens of deaths and led to debates about the best ways to keep students safe. In a poll conducted shortly after 17 people were killed in the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, 57 percent of teenagers said they were worried about the possibility of gun violence at their schools.
