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Education in Colonial Era
The very beginnings of American education is founded in the Colonial era. The schooling and education of those times were largely influenced by the Colonial's European traditions mainly the English, French & Spanish. Schools began as the English practice, relying solely on the private benefactors to support education, and limited involvement with the state. Any secondary education was established for the benefit of young boys of wealthy decent. -
Impact of Jefferson, Rush & Webster
Thomas Jefferson believed that democracy depended on the education of citizens, so he helped establish elementary schooling for 3 years to all citizens, excluding slaves. Benjamin Rush was also an advocate for free public schools for all. He was even an advocate of education for women and even blacks. Noah Webster believed that the purpose of education should be the centered around American patriotism. He created a number of spelling, grammar and reading books, including the Blue-Back Speller. -
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Secondary School Movement
The first secondary school was established in Boston in 1821. It was only offered for boys and taught a Classical education. 1831 was the year the first comprehensive & coeducational high school opened. The development of secondary schools was slow at first, but as the industry and economy grew, so did the movement. The population was growing because of immigrants, and the need for skilled workers increaced quite a bit. In 1870 there were 500 high schools, versus 6000 in the year 1900! -
Horace Mann & the Common School Movement (1930-1965) (MOST IMPORTANT) http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1871/Common-School-Movement.html'
Horace Mann is considered the Father of American Education. As the first Secretary of the Board of Education, he noticed how broadly education varried accross towns, cities and states. He increased the public support for education, raised training of teachers, and began the Common Schools movement. The Common Schools Movement was put in place to teach a common body of knowledge to all, providing students an equal chance at life. His influence has led to the equal opportunity of education in USA -
Committee of Ten
In 1892 the National Education Association established the Committee of Ten in effort to standardize curriculum. The curriculum recommended the four curricula: Classical, Latin-specific, Modern Language, and English as courses for college prep. The objectives of the secondary curriculum were health, command of fundamental academic skills, worthy home membership, vocational preparation, citizenship, worthwhile use of leisure time, and ethical character. -
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Progressive Reform Movement
In 1910 there were over 2 million children in America who were working rather than attending school. This number proved that too many children spent their time in factories instead of schools. The Progressive Reform Movement lobbied for laws that banned child labor and made school attendance compulsory. They wanted to change the form of education itself. Rather than the "toe-the-line" method, they wanted a more active, full body and mind education for their children. It was quite controversive. -
Impact of John Dewey (MOST IMPORTANT) http://dewey.pragmatism.org/
John Dewey is the father of the Progressive Movement. He belived that curriculum should be child-centered rather than subject-centered. Learning comes through experience, and motivation was at the center of learning. He wrote "Democracy and Education" in 1916. William Kilpatrick took Dewey's theories and created the project method to make education "like life." Dewey's influence also led to The Eight Year Study and The Child Sudy Movement. Furthermore, it has lead to many current teaching method -
The Measurement Movement (IQ, Thorndike, Terman) (MOST IMPORTANT) http://sitemaker.umich.edu/356.loh/lewis_terman
Lewis Terman reivsed the Binet-Simon scale of comparing intellegence to normal individuals, and founded the Intelligence Quotient (IQ). IQ is a number that indicates a personsl mental development. Edward Thorndike created scales to measure growth in arithmetic, spelling, reading, language, etc. World War I was a big perponant for this testing, so that they could test recruites. This form of testing has sense been used in many many schools, to compare student's development in a subject area. -
Brown Vs. Board of Education
The ruling of Brown vs. Board of Education launched the desegregation of America. Unfortunatley the eventual desegregation did not come until later, but it was a very important stepping stone. It also lead tot he advancement of women's rights, racial and ethnic groups' rights, and disabled people's rights. -
Sputnik & NDEA (MOST IMPORTANT) http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2007/10/how-sputnik-changed-u-s-education/
The Soviet Union launched the first satelite for the Earth, Sputnik in 1957. It became very clear that America was behind the Soviet Union in technology and military advancement. This was attributed to the lack of trained teachers, engineers and students. In 1958 the federal government enacted the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) to give more funding to specific curricular subjects; mathematics, science, and modern foreign languages.This has lead to the STEM education coalition and teaching -
The Civil Rights Movement (MOST IMPORTANT) http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-civil-rights-movement-organizations-events-impact-on-the-us.html
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 invited the involvement of the federal government into the schools. It prohibits discrimination against students based on race, color, or national decent. Following that Act, came Education Acts of 1965, Bilingual Education Act of 1974, Education Assistance Act of 1975, and the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. All of these were a part of the Civil Rights Movement in education, moving America forward to more equal learning opportunities for all. -
War on Poverty
In the 1960's post-war America, there became a crisis of poverity, resulting in high crime rates, low military personel, and other social economic problems. In 1964 a War on Poverty was declared. Education was seen as the solution for elimintating poverty. The Vocational Education Act of 1963 quadrupled the federal funds for education to those entering vocational or technical schools and programs. The EOA was enacted to train youth in basic litterary skills to be put into the workforce. -
A Nation at Risk Report
During Reagan's presidency "A Nation at Risk Report" was released claiming that there was a "rising tide of mediocrity" in America's education system and students. This report led to the Educational Reform Movement of the 1980's. The first wave of the Reform movement was states creating higher requirements and increased standardized testing. The second wave of the movement was a call for change from the local and family level. -
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The Standards Movement
The Educate America Act included a description of the formal development of national standards among other things. The act requries states to develop plans to measure student progress in meeting content and performance standards. Through the 1990's the push for standards came with high-stakes testing, a test predetermining who would be successful and who would not. Based on test scores, there were connections made between low test scores and low socio-economic groups. -
No Child Left Behind Act (MOST IMPORTANT) https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/107/hr1
Under George W. Bush, the No Child Left Behind Act was passed. This act required that in 4 years State's would have clear standards for what every child should know in math and reading. Tests would take place to make sure the students are meeting the standards. The implications of not meeting the standards are harsh on the teachers and the schools. Many people critique that it sets goals and uses punishment as a motivator to meet those goals. It also is underfunded from the federal government.
