History of Education in the United States

By sawozniak
  • Period: to

    History of Public Education

  • Average Lifetime School Attendance

    The average lifetime school attendence at this time was less than 82 days.

  • Jefferson Proposes Free Education

    -Thomas Jefferson drafted a proposal guaranteeing three free years of education to all, with continuation to a select few.
    - His idea was defeated three times over the course of several years.

  • The Blue Back Speller

    Noah Webster created the Blue Back Speller, as well as a new Americanized national langauge.

  • The University of Virginia is established

    Thomas Jefferson established the state supported school, which is now the only university in the United States designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

  • Catharine Beecher Moves West

    -Catharine Beecher moves West with her father to campaign for more teachers and schools on the frontier.
    -Beecher believed that teaching was a woman's moral calling, and advocated for the creation of colleges to educate women in teaching.

  • Horace Mann made Secretary of Education in Massacheusetts

    -Horace Mann was made the first Secretary of Education in Massacheusetts
    -Mann declared that the education system was one built on inequity.
    -Mann proposed "Common Schools" free of charge and of high quality; he was instantly opposed.

  • Average School Attendence in Massacheusetts

    -Average school attendence in Massacheusetts in 1837 was four months.
    -The average annual per pupil cost was $2.81.

  • Philadelphia Bible Riots

    -All Pennsylvania children were required to read the King James Bible in public school.

    -The Catholics saw this as an attempt to undermine their religion because subsitution of the Catholic Bible was not permitted.
    -Division of the city and riots resulted.

  • Petition to Boston School Committee

    A petition was made to the Boston School Committee to end segregation. No action was taken.

  • Average School Attendence in Massacheusetts

    -Average school attendence in Massacheusetts in the year of 1848 was seven months.
    -The average annual per pupil cost was $4.80.

  • Roberts versus Boston

    -Benjamin Roberts, the father of Sarah Roberts, challenged the Boston School Committee's policy of racial segreation.

  • Bishop Hughes made Archbishop of New York

    -Hughes campaigned on behalf of the Irish immigrants and the creation of Catholics schools.

  • Segregation of Schools Abolished in Massacheusetts

    Massacheusetts abolished the segregation of schools.

  • End of the Civil War

    -Not only was this the end of the Civil War, but the end of slavery in the United States.

  • Separate But Equal

    -Separate but equal was a legal docterine under United States Constitutional Law which justified segregation.

    -Services, facilities and public accomodations were allowed to be separated by race so long as the quality remained equal.

  • "The School and Society" by John Dewey

    -Dewey presents his belief that education and learning are social and interactive processes.
    -Dewey is called the "Father of Progressive Education."

  • Average Schooling

    -The average schooling of Americans in 1910 was five years.
    -Approximately 50% of American children were in school.

  • Children Working in the United States

    In the United States in 1910 approximately two million children were working.

  • Lewis Terman Popularizes the Stanford-Binet IQ Test

    Terman released the "Stanford Revision of the Binet-Simon Scale" or the "Stanford-Binet for short.

  • Keating-Owen Act

    -U.S. Congress passed the Keating-Owen Act, the first federal child labor law.

    -The law was struck down two years later in Hammer v. Dagenhart, which claimed the act violated a child's right to contract their labor.

  • Ellwood P. Cubberly Made Dean of Stanford School of Education

    Cubberly was made Dean of Stanford School of Education in 1917 and remained in that position until he retired in 1933.

  • End of World War I

    At 11 a.m. on 11 November 1918, a cease fire came into effect and World War I ended.

  • Percentage of Graduating 17 Year Olds

    17% of 17 year olds graduated in the year of 1920.

  • Life Adjustment Education

    Life Adjustment Education became popularized in the 1940s and 1950s. It advocated the teaching of the practical aspects of living to schoolchildren.

  • The Cold War

    The political and military tension between the Western World and Communism sparked a reversal of progressivism across the board, including in public education.

  • The Era of the Baby Boomers Begins

    A baby boomer is someone born during post-war America between the years of 1946 and 1964. It is most often used in a cultural context.

  • Three Fifths of Students Graduating

    Three fifths of students graduated in this year and 50% went on to college.

  • African Americans Segregated by Law

    African Americans were segregated by law in 17 states.

  • Average School Attendence

    Average school attendence was nine years in 1950.

  • Brown v Board of Education

    -13 black parents in Topeka, Kansas tried to enroll their children in white schools. Each was turned away.

    -The matter went to the Supreme Court, which outlawed segregation.
    -This did not include black teachers, who were displaced and put out of jobs.

  • "Educational Wastelands" by Arthur Bestor

    Bestor's manifesto on declining educational standards.

  • Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas Calls in the National Guard

    -Governor Faubus called out the National Guard to prevent the entry into Little Rock Central High School of nine African American students who sued for their right to attend an integrated school.

  • Sputnik

    -The USSR launches the first artificial satellite into Earth's orbit, beating the United States into space.

    -Shook the belief that the United States was superior in math and science to all other countries.

  • National Defense Education Act

    -Result of Sputnik
    -Provided funding to United States education institutions at all levels.

  • Segregation

    98%of African Americans in the South were still segregated.

  • Lyndon B. Johnson

    -Johnson was sworn in as president on Air Force One at Love Field Airport in Dallas after President Kennedy was assasinated.

    -Johnson believed that an equal chance at education provided an equal chance at life.

  • Civil Rights Act of 1964

    Outlaws all major forms of discrimination against African Americans as well as women, including racial segregation.

  • Elementary and Secondary Education Act

    -Part of Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty.
    -Funds elementary and secondary education while explicitly forbidding a national curriculum.

  • Bilingual Education Act

    -Title VII of the Elementary ad Secondary Education Act
    -Purpose was to provide school districts with federal funds to establish innovative education plans for students with limited English.

  • Medical and Law Degrees Awarded to Women

    In 1970 1% of medical and law degrees were awarded to women.

  • Title IX

    Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 states that educational programs cannot discriminate based on sex in any activity or program receiving Federal funds.

  • Students with Disabilities

    In the United States in 1976 there were 3.7 million students with disabilities.

  • Average School Attendence

    Average school attendence in 1980 was 12.5 years.

  • Higher Grade Requirements for Graduation

    -Higher grade requirements were needed to graduate high school in 35 states.
    -The annual cost of standardized testing was $500 million.

  • Core Knowledge Foundation

    -Core Knowledge Foundation was founded in 1986 by E.D. Hirsch, Jr.

    -Core Knowledge emphasises a grade-by-grade core of common learning to ensure fair education.

  • Voucher System Implemented

    The voucher system is first implemented in Milwaukee, WI.

  • New York begins Choice Education

    The use of Magnet Schools and "choice" education becomes popularized.

  • EAI Signs Contract in Arizona

    Education Alternatives Inc. signs contract in Arizona to run charter schools under the Tesseract system.

  • Charter Schools Run by For Profit Companies

    173 charter schools were run by for profit companies out of 2,100 total charter schools in the year 2000.

  • Public School Enrollment

    In 2001 there were 47.8 million children enrolled in public school, which is 90% of children enrolled in school.

  • No Child Left Behind

    -No Child Left Behind was proposed by President George W. Bush in January of 2001.

    -The bill was signed into being on 2 January of 2002.
    -The bill supports standards-based education reform and requires states to develop assessments in basic skills to be given to all students at certain grade levels in order to receive federal funding.