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Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge (IMPORTANT)
Thomas Jefferson proposed a bill to the House of Delegates regarding education. It was his plan to offer white children three years of education, supported by taxes. They would study reading, writing, and arithmetic. This bill was proposed several times before eventually being passed into law as an Act to Establish Public Schools. Jefferson's ideas for a free, universal, public education got the ball rolling. -
Blue Back Speller Published
Noah Webster published his book called the Elementary Spelling Book, better known as the Blue Back Speller. This book was widely used for a hundred years, and was the most popular book of its time. Webster believed that independence from Britain included language and culture, so he wrote several books that introduced new spelling and contained moral and patriotic content. He supported the idea of free public schools. -
English Classical School
Boston inaugurated the high school movement with the opening of the English Classical School, later renamed the Boston English High School. This would lead to a push for more secondary schools that provided a practical education. Down the road, states would open co-ed high schools funded by taxes that provide higher order learning for students. -
Horace Mann, Secretary of the Board of Education (IMPORTANT)
Horace Mann greatly impacted education in Massachusetts, and the rest of the country as well. Horace took his position very seriously, dropping all other duties when he was appointed secretary. He rode by horseback to over 1000 schools, taking meticulous notes of their conditions and various states of disrepair. We have him to thank for things like chairs with backs and blackboards being common items in the classroom. Mann also started the first schools for training teachers. -
Roberts v. City of Boston
This was a court case between Sarah Roberts, an African American schoolgirl, and Boston. Sarah had to walk a long way to her African American school, and she passed several white schools along the way. Her dad tried to sue the city and failed, but the case was later brought up to the state legislature, who banned segregated laws in the state. This was the first law of its kind. -
Commitee of Ten
The Commitee of Ten was formed in an effort to standardize the curriculum in schools. It was made up of men from colleges around the country, who recommended courses like language that would be beneficial to both students who were going to attend college, and those that would be done after high school. They believed vocational training should come after high school was completed. -
John Dewey establishes lab school at University of Chicago
John Dewey is looked at as the father of progressive education. He pushed for school curriculum to be centered on the student, not on the subject. He said that education is most effective when it focuses on the "social, emotional, and physical needs of the child." Progressive Reform pushed for schools to be more sanitary, open to sunlight, and conducive to creativity. -
World War I
World War I helped lead to major growth in the Measurement Movement. Because the military needed a way to place people in different positions based on their strengths, many test were developed to help sort those who enlisted. Educators became fascinated with the ability to evaluate groups of students based on test results, and this became a permanent part of American Education. -
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8 Year Study
This study, performed by the Progressive Education Association, was conducted using over 3,000 students from progressive and non-progressive high schools in order to see which students were better prepared for college. What it showed was that graduated from progressive high schools achieved higher and were more socially prepared for life after high school. -
Word War II
World War II impacted schools heavily. One-third of teachers went off to war, and many students left school in favor of work. Enrollments declined, and much of the funding was diverted to the war effort rather than to the public school system. After the war, the G.I. bill helped repopularize higher education by providing benefits to veterans who missed out on college because of the war. -
Brown v. Board of Education (IMPORTANT)
Brown v Board led to a unanimous decision by the supreme court to end the state sponsored segregation of public schools. For decades, African Americans had to go to school in "separate but equal" schoolhouses. The supreme court ruled that separate is inherently unequal, and this was a major victory for the civil rights movement. Making someone feel unwelcome or apart already sets them up for failure, and that has no place in the public school system. -
Sputnik Launch
The launch of Sputnik helped put an end to the era of Progressive Education. When they realized how far they had fallen behind the rest of the world, the United States became greatly more interested in Math and Science, and thus progressive education became out of place. Educators turned back to the ideas of emphasizing curriculum rather than focusing on turning out better citizens of the world. This also brought about the NDEA, and much more federal involvement in education. -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (IMPORTANT)
The ESEA was put in place by President Johnson as part of his War on Poverty. It is the most far reaching legislation passed by congress in regards to public education. It emphasizes equal access to education through things like Title I, which provides funding to low income families, or at risk students. -
A Nation at Risk Report
The A Nation at Risk Report led to a wave of education reform in the United States. It was brought about during Ronald Reagan's presidency, and called for things like higher standards, more standardized testing, longer school days, longer school years, and performance-based teaching salaries. -
No Child Left Behind (IMPORTANT)
The No Child Left Behind Act is the most broad sweeping piece of education legislation since ESEA. It calls for higher standards, and for states to develop their own tests to assess students at specific grade levels. If schools fail to test a certain percentage, they lose government aid, among other sanctions. It also called for teachers to be "rigorously tested" in their fields, and for parents to recieve yearly report cards showing their childs progress.
