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Northwest Land Ordinance
Northwest Land Ordinance: Probably the most important law pass by the Confederation Congress. It made land available to settlement in the Northwest, meaning Indiana and Ohio, available to the settlers. Originally won from the French during the French and Indian War, the land had been unavailable for settlers due to legislation from the British. It was instrumental for education because it allowed for the sale of public lands, to the people, and funded education during a time when Congress co -
Impact of Jefferson and Webster
Webster, which later had a dictionary named after him, wanted to have nationalism taught in American schools. They created a new form of spelling, Americanized grammar, and taught colonial ideals rather than British, from British textbooks. Jefferson believed that education was essential to the survival of democracy. Without an informed voting base, the people wouldn’t be able to vote for the correct ideals. Congress passes laws, Jefferson wanted the people to be able to understand those law -
Imporatant - The Impact of Horace Mann
The Impact of Horace Mann: A Massachusetts Senator, he became Secretary of the Board of Education in the state. He saw the inequality of schools, where some districts had great buildings,while the rural areas met in buildings he considered unsafe. He began writing reports, held conventions, wanted common schools, with common education, and equal funds. He felt schools shouldn’t be run through fees, but by taxes, and those funds should be equalized among the districts. From his persistence, -
Common School Movement
While public education may have seemed like a good idea, the question then arose, who would teach them? Teachers were seen as baby sitters, often with little or no education. The men were all busy working, so women filled the roles. With promises of double pay, schools being built around the West, women entered teacher training in masses. If every child has a right to education, the government should be the one to provide it, was the thought. Common schools was championed by Horace Mann, a -
Committee of Ten
Were high schools meant to be a terminal school, or a college prep? Would the skills they learned in high school prepare them for life, or should students be expected to go to college for work? They decided that students should be taught skills, not just academic and philosophical lessons. The goal, they decided was to make students to be contributing members of society, and to prepare others for college. In a nutshell, they took the middle ground and decided it was both a terminal and a col -
Population Growth and Immigration
With population growth, came changing demographics. Specifically, Italians and Eastern Europeans flooded America at the start of the 19th century. These immigrants came with their own standards, their own religious practices, practices that the Protestants didn’t particularly like. Protestants wanted to use their version of the bible, while Catholics wished to be taught traditional views of religion. Religion and education went hand in hand, there was no separation. These kids also typicall -
The Gary Plan
With a huge influx of immigration, the Gary Plan was implemented in Gary, Indiana, an industrial center of the United States in 1907. Those immigrants brought with them different ideas, and different perspectives. The Gary Plan was implanted in the classroom to teach kids the daily life, proper hygiene, how to work, help parents with assimilation, all with the idea of making them American citizens. Riots broke out over the plan, for the immigrants felt the government was trying to indoctrinat -
Secondary Schools Movement
Began in 1821 in Massachusetts. The schools were boys only, women didn’t need “higher education.” At the time period, very few kids stayed in school past elementary school and only learned basic skills like reading and math. Only large cities could afford to create secondary schools, due to lack of students and cost. It wasn’t until the 1900’s that secondary schools became large and had enough students to fill them, and only because it was now compulsory to be in them. -
Important-Growth of Standardization
TestingGrowth of Standardized Testing: Began in WWI for military applicants to determine if they were officer caliber. While this part of it was a success, the rest of standardized testing has been a failure. The important factor to determine is whether or not intelligence can be measured. Choosing an officer isn’t necessarily about intelligence, it’s whether or not they can perform a task and do it well. In the case of schools, teaching lots of different subjects and a fluid core, it is impossibl -
Important-Impact of John Dewey
The Impact of John Dewey: Dewey believed that education needed to be meaningful, and not just teachers lecturing from the front. He wanted students to learn by doing, a hands-on approach to education. The school would become a facilitator of contributing members of society. They’d become so by seeing the importance of education, education that was focused on the students’ lives, not on what people thought should be taught. Critics were worried that academic standards would be lost, and tha -
Impact of WW2
War excited the students. Students stopped reading school newspapers and became involved with national newspapers instead. They wanted to work with a goal in mind, whether it be to join the military, or work in a war factory. Current events mattered to them, but they also got filled with propaganda and racism. WW2 had a lot of positive aspects for the economy, but for internationalism, it was a terrible tragedy and truth was lost in education. Japanese students were expelled, anti-German li -
Important-Brown vs Board of Education
*Brown vs. Board of Education, 1954: Segregation was a big part of the educational system, especially in the South. The Supreme Court had already ruled in Plessy vs Ferguson, that segregation was constitutional so long as separate facilities were equal. What it really meant was that if you had an old building, your facility was sufficient for education and blacks could go there while the whites attended the nice schools. Brown vs the BOE overturned that ruling, and integration became law. T -
War on Poverty
The Impact of John Dewey: Dewey believed that education needed to be meaningful, and not just teachers lecturing from the front. He wanted students to learn by doing, a hands-on approach to education. The school would become a facilitator of contributing members of society. They’d become so by seeing the importance of education, education that was focused on the students’ lives, not on what people thought should be taught. Critics were worried that academic standards would be lost, and tha -
Most Important-Elementary and Secondary Education Act 1965
I’d argue that this act was far more important than Brown vs The Board of Education and the most important event in the Civil rights movements. While you can pass laws, it doesn’t mean that people will always obey them. The act was the most expensive educational bill ever passed. Due to the amount, it had considerable power for punishing schools who didn’t follow federal guidelines of integration. Before, there wasn’t enough money to pay for enforcement of integration. Now, a government off -
A Nation at Risk
Gardner, the Secretary of Edu under Reagan, issued an accurate depiction of American Education. He stated that our nation was at risk of becoming ok with mediocrity and that we were doing it to ourselves. “If a foreign nation had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that today exists, we might well have viewed it as an act of war,” he stated. Strong words and not true by themselves, the point is that we had become ok with being taught basic principles, but not b
