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Lev Vygotsky's book, Thought and Language is introduced to the English-speaking world first published.
Though he lives to only 38, Vygotsky's ideas regarding the social nature of learning provide important foundational principles for contemporary social constructivist theories. He is perhaps best known for his concept of "Zone of Proximal Development." -
Burrhus Frederic (B.F.) Skinner's Science and Human Behavior is published.
His form of behaviorism (operant conditioning), which emphasizes changes in behavior due to reinforcement, becomes widely accepted and influences many aspects of American education -
"separate educational facilities are inherently unequal,"
the U.S. Supreme Court announces its decision in the case of Brown v. Board. of Education of Topeka, ruling that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal," thus overturning its previous ruling in the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson. Brown v. Board of Education is actually a combination of five cases from different parts of the country. It is a historic first step in the long and still unfinished journey toward equality in U.S. education. -
The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Cassification of Educational Goals; Handbook I: Cognitive Domain is published
Often referred to simply as “Bloom’s Taxonomy” because of its primary author, Benjamin S. Bloom, the document actually has four coauthors (M.D. Engelhart, E.J. Furst, W.H. Hill, and David Krathwohl). Still widely used today, Bloom’s Taxonomy divides the cognitive domain into six levels: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis. Handbook II: Affective Domain, edited by Krathwohl, Bloom, and Masia, is published in 1964. Taxonomies for the psychomotor domain have been published by -
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 is voted into law in spite of Strom Thurmond's filibuster
Essentially a voting-rights bill, it is the first civil rights legislation since reconstruction and is a precursor to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Samuel A. Kirk uses the term "learning disability" at a Chicago conference on children with perceptual disorders.
The term sticks, and in 1964, the Association for Children with Learning Disabilities, now the Learning Disabilities Association of America, is formed. Today, nearly one-half of all students in the U.S. who receive special education have been identified as having learning disabilities. -
The Civil Rights Act becomes law.
It prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion or national origin. -
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is passed on April 9.
Part of Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty," it provides federal funds to help low-income students, which results in the initiation of educational programs such as Title I and bilingual education. -
U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ends on January 27
More than 58,000 U.S. service personnel are killed in action during the war. The fighting continues until April 30, 1975 when South Vietnam surrenders to the communist North Vietnamese forces. -
The Refugee Act of 1980 is signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on March 18th.
Building on the Immigration Act of 1965, it reforms immigration law to admit refugees for humanitarian reasons and results in the resettlement of more than three-million refugees in the United States including many children who bring special needs and issues to their classrooms. -
two Columbine High School students go on a killing spree that leaves 15 dead and 23 wounded at the Littleton, Colorado school
making it the nations' deadliest school shooting incident. Though schools tighten safety procedures as a result of the Columbine massacre, school shootings continue to occur at an alarming rate.
