"History of Multicultural Education" timeline

The Association of American Universities was founded in 1900 comprising of 62 research universities in the United States. This nonprofit organization has paved the way for innovation, scholarships and solutions contributing to scientific progress. The 62 AAU universities have awarded one-half of all doctoral degrees, 55 percent of those in sciences and engineering.

America's first public community college began in 1901. Joliet Junior College offers pre-baccalaureate programs for students to transfer to a four-year university. This comprehensive community college provides adult education, student support services, literacy programs, workforce development services and occupational education leading to direct employment.

4-H began in Clark County, Ohio on January 15, 1902 by superintendent of the Springfield Township Schools, Albert Belmont Graham. 4-H is no longer only for members of the farming community but rather suburbs and inner-cities communities providing education in harvesting, planting, typing knots in rope, and identifying wildlife species. Graham became the ambassador for agriculture and sought to "raise the standard of rural life".

In 1903 at the 14th International Medical Congress in Madrid, Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov read his paper on The Experimental Psychology and Psychopathology of Animals. His paper entailed his discovery of the conditioned reflex and classical conditioning. Pavlov's theory awarded him the Nobel Prize in Physiology for his research pertaining to the digestive system.

In 1904, Mary McLeod Bethune believed education provided the key to racial advancement therefore founding the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro girls in Daytona, Florida. Combined with the Cook-man Institute for Men, this merged institution was one of the few places that African-American students could pursue a college degree. Mary McLeod Bethune served as educator, activist, and president of the the National Association of Colored Women.

In 1905, French psychologist Alfred Binet an active member of the commission of education for retarded children was called upon the French government to create a mechanism for identifying students in need of alternative education. Working closely with Theodore Simon, the Binet-Simon scale comprised of various tasks representing a child's ability at various ages increasing in complexity. Based on the score of the scale, they were able to determine educational placement of the child's mental age.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching was founded in 1905 and charted by an act of Congress. The foundation encouraged the adoption of the Carnegie Units equating seat-time with learning. In addition, the foundation also achieved the Flexner Report which reformed the standards, organization, and curriculum of North American medical schools, the development of the Graduate Record Examination, Educational Testing Service, and Teachers Insurance Annuity Association of America.

American educator Ella Flag Young became the first female superintendent of the Chicago public schools in 1909. She became known as the first woman to head the school system of a major city in the United States. Given her recognition of teaching, broadening of teacher responsibilities, and improvement of teacher training, she was elected president of the National Education Association.

Scientist, chemist, and the first woman to attend MIT, Ellen Swallow Richards founded the American Home Economics Association in 1905; now known as the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences. Richards founded this home the the primary responsibility to oversee the teaching on home economics (course outlines, bibliographies, established standards) in public schools.

The Board of Education in Columbus, Ohio created the first junior high school in the United States in 1909. Indianola Junior High School was created to improve high school graduation rates and keep a larger percentage of students enrolled in school. This junior high school allows students to learn through a variety of means using innovative approaches in the classroom enhancing education.