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Harvard College
Harvard Collage was the first higher education intuition in The United States. it was established in Newtowne (now Cambridge), Massachusetts. -
50 Family Decree
The General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony mandates that every town with fifty families or more in it need to have a school system in place to provide education. -
College Of William and Mary
The second college to open in the early colonial years, The College Of William And Mary, opened in Virginia in 1693. -
First Chartered School
The University of Georgia becomes America's first state chartered University. -
Blackboard
The blackboard is invented by James Pillans. This is what most teachers used before the more modern whiteboard of today's classrooms. -
Building Skills
New York Public School Society is formed by wealthy businessmen to promote giving poor children an education, hoping to build skills suitable for workers in factories. -
The First School For Impaired Students Opens
The Connecticut Asylum at Hartford for the Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons opens. It is the first permanent school for the deaf in the U.S. -
First Of Many
The first public high school in the U.S., Boston English, opens. -
Free Public School
Massachusetts passes a law making all grades of public school open to all children, free of charge. -
Another First
The New England Asylum for the Blind, opens in Massachusetts, becoming the first school in the U.S. for children with visual disabilities. -
The Beginning's Of A Movement
The common school movement began in the 1830's, reformers began to argue for a greater government role in the education that is provided to and for children. -
A State Board Of Education
Horace Mann becomes head of the newly formed Massachusetts State Board of Education. -
Superintendent
Louisville, Kentucky appoints the first school superintendent. -
The African Institute
The African Institute opens in Cheyney, Pennsylvania. Now called Cheyney University, it's the oldest institution of higher learning for African Americans. -
Coeducational
Oberlin College admits its first group of women. It is the first college in the United States to become coeducational. -
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Immigrants Arriving
Over a 10 year timespan, 3.1 million immigrants move to the Untied States, owners of factories and industries looked to public schools to provide said immigrants with the necessary skills to be able to work for them. -
Reform School
Massachusetts Reform School at Westboro is opened, this where children who refuse to attend public schools are sent. This is also the start of the term "Reform School". -
Mandatory Attendance
Massachusetts enacts the first mandatory attendance law. By 1885, 16 states have compulsory-attendance laws, but most of those laws are sporadically enforced at best. All states have them by 1918. -
National Teachers Association
The National Teachers Association (now the National Education Association) is founded by forty-three educators in Philadelphia. -
Department Of Education
The Department of Education is created in order to help states establish effective school systems. -
Typewriter
Christopher Sholes invents the typewriter. -
Dewey Decimal System
The Dewey Decimal System, developed by Melvil Dewey in 1873, is published and patented. The is still the most common way to organize library systems. -
Plessy v.Ferguson
Homer Plessy loses a court trail, he went to court because of an incident in a train cart where he refused to move out of the "White's Only" section, stating in court that asking him to move sections violated his Constitutional Rights given in the 14th amendment. On May 18th, 1896, The Supreme Court ruled that the separation law did not violate his Constitutional Rights, that the protections of the 14th Amendment applied only to political and civil rights, not “social rights”. -
School Curriculum
Formed by the National Education Association to establish a standard secondary school curriculum, the Committee of Ten, recommends a college-oriented high school curriculum. -
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Size Cut
The size of school boards in the country's 28 biggest cities is cut in half, many people lose control of their local schools. -
First Community College
Joliet Junior College, in Joliet, Illinois, opens. It is the first public community college in the U.S. -
Carnegie Unit
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching is founded. It is charted by an act of Congress in 1906, the same year the Foundation encouraged the adoption of a standard system for equating "seat time" (the amount of time spent in a class) to high school credits. Still in use today, this system came to be called the "Carnegie Unit." -
First Junior High School
In order to improve high school graduation rates, the Columbus Ohio School Board authorizes the creation of junior high schools. Indianola Junior High School opens that fall and becomes the first junior high school in the U.S. -
Associations Founded
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is founded. So is the American Educational Research Association (AERA). -
Transportation
All states have laws providing funds for transporting children to school. -
The Great Depression
The Great Depression begins, public education funding suffers greatly, resulting in school closings, teacher layoffs, and lower salaries. -
School Lunch
Recognizing "the need for a permanent legislative basis for a school lunch program," the 79th Congress approves the National School Lunch Act. -
Brown v. Board Of Education Of Topeka
The Supreme Court ruled that Racial Segregation in Public Schools was unconstitutional, this was a cornerstone of The Civil Rights Movement. It established that “separate-but-equal” education was not equal at all. -
ACT Test
The ACT Test is first administered. -
Engel v. Vitale
Schools in New York started the day out in a prayer to God, it was argued in Court as an unconstitutional state establishment of religion in violation of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court agreed, stating that the government could not sponsor such religious activities. -
The Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act becomes law. It prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion or national origin. -
Elementary And Secondary Education Act
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is passed on April 9, it provides federal funds to help low-income students. -
Higher Education Act
The Higher Education Act is signed at Southwest Texas State College on November 8. It increases federal aid to higher education and provides for scholarships, student loans, and establishes a National Teachers Corps. -
Bilingual Education Act
The Bilingual Education Act, also know as Title VII, becomes law. After many years of controversy, the law is repealed in 2002 and replaced by the No Child Left Behind Act. -
E-Book
Michael Hart, invents the e-Book. -
Title IX
Title IX is a civil rights law in the United States of America. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or other education program that receives federal money. -
The Rehabilitation Act
The Rehabilitation Act becomes law. Section 504 of this act guarantees civil rights for people with disabilities in the context of federally funded institutions and requires accommodations in schools including participation in programs and activities as well as access to buildings. Today, "504 Plans" are used to provide accommodations for students with disabilities who do not qualify for special education or an IEP. -
National Association Of Bilingual Education
The National Association of Bilingual Education is founded. -
Education Of All Handicapped Children Act
An Act established by The United States Congress that required all public schools accepting federal funds to provide equal access to education and one free meal a day for children with physical and mental disabilities. -
Apple Computer
Apple Computer, now Apple Inc., introduces the Apple II, one of the first successful personal computers. It and its offspring, the Apple IIe, become popular in schools as students begin to learn with computer games such as Oregon Trail and Odell Lake. -
Pyler v. Doe
It was argued in court that Texas had a statue that enabled the school districts from withholding educational funds to schools that provided education to children not born in the United States. The Supreme Court ruled that such children fell under the 14h amendment and thereby their educational needs must be met by said school districts. -
Force v Pierce City R-Vl School District
When a female middle-school student was unable to try out for her school’s football team, because the football team was for male students only, she went to court arguing that the school’s policy violated her Fourteenth Amendment equal protection rights. The district court ruled in the student’s favor, finding that the school offered no justifiable reason for preventing girls from trying out. -
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows 1.0, the first independent version of Windows, is released. -
New Jersey v. T.L.O.
When a student was accused of smoking in the bathroom she denied it. The principle thereafter searched her purse and found cigarettes and marijuana paraphernalia. A family court declared the student a delinquent, The Supreme Court ruled that her rights were not violated since students have reduced expectations of privacy in school. -
School Teachings
In response to the report of the National Commission on Excellence in Education, A Nation at Risk, the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards is formed and National Board Certification, based in these standards, is established as a means of "recognizing accomplished teaching." -
Online College
The University of Phoenix establishes their "online campus," the first to offer online bachelor's and master's degrees. -
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Metal Detectors
Mumford High School in Detroit, Michigan becomes one of the first schools in the United States to install Metal detectors to improve school safety. -
Smart Board
The smart board (interactive white board) is introduced by SMART Technologies. -
State Testing
The Massachusetts Education Reform Act requires a common curriculum and statewide tests. As has often been the case, other states follow Massachusetts' lead and implement similar, high-stakes testing programs. -
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White Boards replace Black Boards
Whiteboards find their way into U.S. classrooms in increasing numbers and begin to replace the blackboard. -
Report Cards
The Higher Education Act is amended and reauthorized requiring institutions and states to produce "report cards" about teacher education. -
No Child Left Behind Act
The controversial No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is approved by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush on January 8, 2002. -
American Reinvestment And Recovery Act
The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 provides more than 90-billion dollars for education, nearly half of which goes to local school districts to prevent layoffs and for school modernization and repair. It includes the Race to the Top initiative, a 4.35-billion-dollar program designed to induce reform in K-12 education.
