History of Education

By WilliamWright89

  • Massachusetts Law of 1647

    This Law set forth the establishment of schools in every town of fifty families or more. This law was limited to the creation of elementary schools.

  • Northwest Land Ordinance

    This ordinance outlined a plan for western expansion, banned slavery in new states, and stipulates that a portion of land in every township of each new state be set aside for support of education. It says "Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged."
    [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Northwest-Ordinances]
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    Horace Mann

    Horace Mann is often called the Father f the Common School. He was Elected to act as Secretary of the the new Massachusetts Board of Education. He used his position to enact major education reform. Those reforms include, teacher training and recruitment of women as teachers. Mann went as far as travelling to every school in the state so he could examine them physically so improvements could be made.
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    John Dewey

    Dewey is a philosopher who put forth many Educational theories that influenced our education system and is one of the most cited psychologists in the 20th century. Dewey argued that education and learning are social and interactive processes and as such the schools should be a place were students can and should take part in the process of social reform. He believed that all students should have the chance to take part in their own learning.

  • Creation of Department of Education

    The department of education is created in order to help states establish more effective schools. This department's early emphasis was on getting the information on what works in education to teachers and policymakers. This department continues to the present day.

  • Brown vs. The Board of Education

    The story of Brown vs. the Board of Education is the story that ended legal segregation in public schools.

  • Lyndon Johnson Becomes Preisdent

    After the assassination of John F. Kennedy, his vice president Lyndon Johnson became President. This is especially significant to the education world as Johnson himself was a former teacher and understood the challenges of education first hand.

  • Civil Rights

    This act ended segregation in public places and banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or nationality. This was seen as one of the crowning achievement of the civil rights movement.

  • Elementary and Secondary Education Act

    This has likely been the far reaching legislation affecting education ever passed. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act emphasizes equal access to education for all students. It was part of Johnson's "War on Poverty" and provided schools with federal funds to helped low income students.
    [https://www.nps.gov/brvb/index.htm]

  • Rehabilitation Act Section 504

    This act made it illegal to discriminate against individuals with disabilities. Specifically in regards to education to make sure students get the services they need to succeed in school.

  • A Nation At Risk Report

    This landmark publication in American educational history reported on the assertion that American schools were under performing to the point of failing. The report compared our students to ones outside the United States, with US students performing unfavorably. The commission goes on to make various recommendation in regards to education reform.
    [https://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html}

  • IDEA - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

    This piece of legislation ensures students with disabilities are provided with the same opportunities for education as students without disabilities.

  • No Child Left Behind

    This legislation was a re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. It stressed standard based education reform, as well school accountability in reaching goal of improving student standardized testing scores. States chose the standards and were given 5 years to reach those goals or would be given a failing grade and loose federal funding.

  • Common Core State Standards Initiative

    A continuation of the Standards and Accountability movement of the 1990s. The common core entails standards of education for the English Language Arts and Mathematics. 42 States have adopted the common core. Until ESSA passed the Department of Education encouraged states to adopt the Common Core Standards by grating waivers from the NCLB through adopting the Common Core Standards.

  • Every Student Succeeds Act

    The most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act which replaces its unpopular predecessor, the No Child Left Behind Act. Under this act accountability is shifted back to the states from the federal government while keeping some of the standardized testing of NCLB