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427 BCE
Plato
Plato was born 427 BCE and died in 347 BCE. Plato was a Greek philosopher that was taught by Socrates. He believed in education in developmental stages. He valued all children from all social classes and all genders get an education. He focused on the value of play and that the early stages of childhood is very important. His ideas on developmental stages is seen in todays way of teaching in how we separate children into groups based on their age. -
Nov 10, 1483
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was most significantly a priest and a theologian among many things. He is most notably known for his Ninety-Five Theses as well as him being a figure in the Protestant Reformation. The ideology of Lutheranism is coined from his ideology. He advocated for universal mandatory education as he believed it was important for all to learn the teachings of the Christian Bible. -
1500
Dame Schools
Dame schools were small schools that were owned privately. These schools gave the working class children access to education, before they were of age to work. They learned skills such as sewing, reading, writing, and more. Dame Schools were a thing from around the sixteenth to 19th century. -
John Amos Comenius
Comenius was a Czech philosopher who advocated for an educational reform that placed children in a full-time schooling system. Comenius believed that the best way to teach children was in a way that naturally appealed to them. He sought to achieve this goal by educating adults on the best practices. Comenius specialized in pansophy, or a universal knowledge, and sought to pass on those ideals to students to help them better understand the greater world around them. -
John Locke
John Locke was an English philosopher, also called the "Father of Liberalism" during the Enlightenment period. He believed in "blank slate", or all children are born with no personality, and fain it through the environment. He believed, "all persons are endowed with natural rights to life, liberty, and property and that rulers who fail to protect those rights may be removed by the people, by force if necessary" (britannica). -
Jean Jacques Rousseau
Rousseau was a philosopher from what is now Switzerland. His ideas impacted many historical events, such as the French Revolution and the Enlightenment in Europe. He viewed children as inherently good, and believed that they should not bear the weight of adulthood at such a young age. Rousseau and his wife had five children, but abandoned them at the hospital. His ideas have an impact on how we view child development today. (plato.stanford.edu) -
Robert Owen
Robert Owen was born in 1771 and died in 1858. He was known for being a Welsh manufacturer turned reformer and is said to be one of the most influential early advocates of utopian socialism. Owen's greatest success was in educating the young due to the fact that in 1816, he opened the first infant school in Great Britain, at the New Lanark mills; the school was known for it's corporal punishment- emphasizing character development, where he included dancing and music in the curriculum. -
Horace Mann
Horace Mann was also known as the "Father of the Common School Movement". He believed and fought for the right of education to be free. In order to fight to make education free, Mann founded the Common School Movement. The Common School Movement started public schools which focused on making sure every child could receive a free basic education funded on local taxes. -
Fredrich Froebel
Was a German educator and was the founder of kindergarten. He was one of the most influential educators of the 19th century. His mother died when he was only nine months and was neglected until his uncle provided for him and was the one who sent him to school. He wrote a lot of articles and in 1826 published his first treatise, which is an exposition or argument in writing discussing facts and principles. He also accepted the Swiss gov. invite to train elementary school teachers. -
Alexander Twilight
Alexander Twilight was not only an educator but also a minister, politician and was the first African American man to receive a bachelors degree at an American college. He used his knowledge to become a principal right out of college and continued to work in education but then became the first African American elected as state legislator. He created the Athenian Hall in Vermont and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. -
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin was an English naturalist, geologist and biologist, best known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. Charles Darwin's theory of evolution states that evolution happens by natural selection. Individuals in a species show variation in physical characteristics. Individuals with characteristics best suited to their environment are more likely to survive, finding food, avoiding predators and resisting disease. -
Adlai Stevenson
Adlai Stevenson was an American politician, also the 23rd United States-Vice President from 1893-1897 in the democratic administration. Formerly serving as a U.S. representative from Illinois. Adlai helped to remove thousands of Republican postmasters all over the country. He fired republican postal workers and gave the jobs to southern democrats. While in office he was a big supporter of the "free-silver" lobby which was against the "gold-standard" men, but was praised for non-biased manner. -
Froebel's Gifts
Froebel developed 5 gifts, or learning materials, to be used in his kindergarten classroom. The gifts were designed to foster children's understanding of their environment, using common shapes and materials. He also envisioned that the gifts would enhance children's spirituality. The gifts are numbered and teachers are supposed to present the gifts in that order. After his death, there were 5 more gifts that were published. -
Floating Freedom Schools
The Floating Freedom School used a legal loophole in order to give an education to hundreds of African American children, both enslaved and free. It was started by Pastor John Berry Meachum and his wife Mary. The classroom was on a steamboat in the Mississippi River, making it so it functioned outside the jurisdiction of Missouri law. This meant it was legal and safe for students of all social statuses to attend. -
Margaret Bancroft
Margaret Bancroft was born in 1854 and died in 1912. She is known for creating the Haddonfield Bancroft Training School for the multiply disabled. Bancroft's institution hoped to pave the way for teaching developmentally disabled children; the institution believed in proper nutrition, personal hygiene, exercise, daily prayers, sensory and artistic development, and lessons suited to mental age. -
Booker T. Washington
Washington was an educator in the pre civil rights era of the United States. He was a popular and influential public speaker who sought to improve the status of education for African Americans. At his Atlanta Exposition address in 1895 he advocated for African Americans to focus the education of their students on skills like industrial education and a focus on gaining wealth to prove their ability to participate in American Society. -
John Dewey
John Dewey wrote many pieces on education in his lifetime, all surrounding the important idea that education shouldn't just be used to be smarter, but also be a place where you can learn life skills. To accomplish this, he proposed a system in that children could learn new things based on prior experiences in their life. So out of that, hands-on learning was born. Without being able to physically learn, Dewey said that it would be impossible to gain knowledge and learn new things. -
McMillian Sisters ( Margaret and Rachel)
Margaret McMillan was born In the USA July 20. 1860 and Rachel was born March 25, 1859. Rachel and Margaret McMillan were Christian Socialists active in British politics and in campaigning for better health and education for the underprivileged children of England's working class. Rachel and Margaret McMillan believed that children needed the opportunity to develop and learn by being healthy, clean and well fed. -
Betsey Stockton
Was born into slavery in Princeton New Jersey in 1798. She was a black domestic and a teacher. She received education from reading in the library and was homeschooled by Dr. Green and wanted to go as a missionary to Africa. She was the first single African American woman sent overseas to do missionary work. She was the teacher of the first mission school in Hawaii. In 1835 she taught in school for people of color. She helped found Princeton's First Presbyterian Church of Color in 1839. -
Caroline Pratt
She opened her own school in 1914 called Play School. Her teaching style was centered on the children's interests, she encouraged them to learn experimentally via their experiences in their immediate surroundings by allowing them to play. Real-world experiences were provided through field trips, and the classroom was stuffed with play materials and loose parts, such as blocks, paper, crayons, and clay, to pique students' interests. She’s credited for wooden blocks, called unit blocks. -
Patty Smith Hill
She believed that children required free play and social interaction in order to gain an understanding of the world. Hill created large blocks, called Patty Smith Hill blocks, that required cooperation between children for them to build a structure. In 1910 she became the head of development at Teachers College at Columbia University and she created classroom environments that met the needs of children. -
Mary McLeod Bethune
Bethune was one of the first black female activists for the Civil Rights Movement. She founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Black Girls in 1904 in Florida. She wanted to be free of discrimination, especially in education so that there was equality and that everyone got the education they needed. She held the highest rank of a black woman in a position of The Division of Black Affairs of the National Youth Administration. -
Lucy Sprague Mitchell
Lucy was an American educator, children’s writer, and the founder of Bank Street College of Education. She was the first dean of women at UC Berkeley, helping women with educational opportunities. The Bank college was a private teacher training and graduate school in New York City that was established in 1916. By being the founder of this education system, she and others were able to better study children's nature, their growth, theories, and understand the development of children. -
Tape v. Hurley
Tape v. Hurley was a supreme court case that made found it unlawful for public schools to discriminate against Chinese Americans based upon their ancestry. The case made it so that minority students have the right to attend public school in California. This was a landmark court case. -
Maria Montessori Method of Education
The Montessori method of education is an approach on classroom learning that focuses on independence and choice. She believed in observing the children and guidance. Montessori has 4 different planes of development of methods, that start at 0, up to 24. She introduced with the 5 senses, language, then slowly to academic subjects, finishing with how the individual can embrace what they learned and lead themselves to adulthood. Her programs are still used all around the world today. -
Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson (May 1907-April 1964) was a scientist and author from Pennsylvania. She was passionate about the environment and conservation, and laid the foundation for how we see the field of ecology today. She worked for the US Fish and Wildlife service until 1952 when she retired to focus solely on writing. Today, the Girl Scouts of western Pennsylvania can earn a badge for studying the environment and learning how to make an impact in her honor. -
Australia's Stolen Generations
Between 1910 and the 1970s, First Nations or aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their families due to government policies rooted in the beliefs that the lives of aboriginals would be better if they were assimilated into white society. The stolen children were taught to reject their heritage and were forbidden from speaking their language. If the children didn't get adopted by white families, they were put into abusive and neglectful institutions. These children faced lifelong trauma. -
Margaret Wise Brown
Margaret Wise Brown was a well-known children's book author in the 1900s. She published several books including the popular Goodnight Moon and Bumble Bugs and Elephants which is considered one of the best books for babies. The reason her books were so famous is that they were like no other in her time, focusing on sensory feelings and fears. She said children who were first learning to read learned best from things they knew like a table, phone or chair, which she wrote about in her books. -
Loris Malaguzzi
Loris Malaguzzi was a childhood educator who got a degree in pedagogy and during the time of the war he worked with children in schools which lead him to create Reggio Emilia Approach. This was a center that allowed him to give help to children with disabilities and children who struggled with learning and comprehending. Malaguzzi was able to open summer camps and schools to help keep the children on track and give them the best help. -
NAEYC
In 1926, Patty Smith Hill and Lois Meek Stolz founded the National Association for Nursery Education in order to ensure preschool children were receiving appropriate education by well-trained and effective teachers. In the early 1960s, the organization was renamed as the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Today, it’s a nonprofit organization that works to ensure educators provide high-quality education to children from birth through eight years of age. -
Ruben Salazar
Ruben Salazar was a Journalist that worked locally in Petaluma for The Santa Rosa Press Democrat! He continued on to also work for The San Francisco News and the LA Times. Ruben published many articles as a "domestic reporter" that spread awareness towards Mexican Americans and the poor quality of education received. He also touched a lot upon lack of jobs and housing. As many of you may know, Ruben has building at Sonoma State named after him because of his advocacy! -
James Meredith
James Meredith was born on June 25th 1933. He was the first African American who was accepted into a segregated school, which was the University of Mississippi. He was also known as a American civil rights movement figure. After becoming a civil rights movement he was shortly shot by a sniper in 1962. James being accepted being the first African American being accepted into a segregated school was a huge accomplishment and he was then fighting for the civil right of all other African Americans. -
US Federal Child Labor Law
The Federal Child Labor Law restricted the kinds of work children could do, how many hours were allowed, and also included age restrictions. This law was put in place to ensure child safety and health, while also making sure children had ample time to receive an education. Any work they were allowed to do could no longer jeopardize their health or opportunity for education. -
Mariah Wright Edelman
Mariah Wright Edelman is an activist for children's rights. She is the founder of the Children's Defense Fund which advocates for children's rights. Alongside that, she founded Washington Research Project which is the law firm that inspired the Children's Defense Fund. The Washington Research Project is a law firm that monitored federal programs for low-income families. -
Operation Pied Piper
Two days before Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany, a commission of members for the Committee on Air Raids Precaution initiated the evacuation and placement of 1.5 million civilians. 800,000 of the evacuees were children from their ‘target’ urban areas; London, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow, (History.Blog.Gov.UK). The civilians were placed among rural areas not of high interest to Nazi invasion and attacks. -
Lanham Act of 1940
The Lanham Act of 1940 was an act that subsidized public works including federal child care. The act stated that whether good income or bad families were able to obtain child care six out of the seven days in the week. However, this resource was only available to families in which the mother was a part of the effort of the war. -
Mendez v. Westminster
In 1945, Gonzalo Mendez and others sued the Orange County school districts. David Marcus argued this discrimination violated the 14th Amendment & provided evidence that the discrimination hurt Mexican-American children & would make them less productive Americans. The Court and U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Mendez. This ended the segregation of public schools for those of Mexican descent. This case has been known as a precedent for Brown v. Board of Education. -
National School Lunch Act
"Feeding the future with healthy school lunches" was the motto of the National School Lunch Act. It was put into place by Richard B. Russell. It provided meals that were low-cost or free and nutritionally balanced. This is important because it helps students facing food insecurities and is still very relevant to this day. -
Brown VS Board of Education
Brown VS Board of Education was a super important court case in USA history that deemed segregation in schools a violation of the 14th amendment. This came about when a little girl had to walk miles to her school even though she lived right by a school she was denied attendance to due to her skin color. Although this court case was not the complete solution to the blatant racism and segregation problems seen during this time period, it was an important part of the Civil rights movement. -
Little Rock Nine
Little Rock Nine were a group of African American students who enrolled at an all white high school, in Arkansas. They challenged public school segregation, this was also seen as a test for the Brown vs. Board of Education. Governor Orval Faubus called in the national guard to not them enter the school and were forced to go home. Weeks later, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent in federal troops to escort them into the school. -
Ruby Bridges
In 1960, Ruby Bridges moved to New Orleans with her family. For her kindergarten year, Ruby was given a test to determine if she could attend an all-white-school. As in 1954, the Supreme Ruling of Brown vs. Board of Education demanded schools to desegregate. Ruby was one of six students to pass the exam, and her parents sent her to an all-white-school. She was met with extreme racism, but in her second year she no longer needed to be escorted and she paved the way for other black students. -
The Perry Preschool
The Perry Preschool Program was designed by David Weikart for 3 to 4 year-olds to learn and develop by new methods. The teaching methods for the program were to enhance cognitive development-“…stimulating children’s brains, increasing their vocabulary, teaching them letters and numbers”(American RadioWorks). The Perry Preschool emphasized school is more than a test score. -
Head Start
Head Start was created in response to the War on Poverty just after World War II. The idea was that the government should help those in disadvantaged groups to help compensate for the inequality. This program aimed to support the development of young, low-income children and their families. Health screenings, nutritious meals, and the family education and involvement all came from Head Start's approach on helping low-income families. -
Early Head Start
Head starts programs are beneficial to all children ages 3-5. Early head start was created to benefit low-income children ages birth to 3. Early head start began in 1965 and was put into place by Lyndon B. Johnson as a solution to low-income families during the war and break the cycle of poverty. -
Freedom House Ambulance Service
The first emergency medical service in the US to employ paramedics with advanced medical training beyond basic first aid, the majority of the staff was African American. Helped give jobs to those who may be unemployed and or young black men. Not only replace the police in a position where they were ineffective but also redefined the role of Black residents in improving the community's health and contributed to the establishment of national standards for emergency medical treatment. -
East LA High School Walkouts
The East LA High School Walkouts or also known as the Chicano Blowouts took place because Chicano students enrolled in Los Angeles Unified School District High Schools were protesting the quality of their education. Many students felt that the school system ignored their culture, history, and wanted a more diverse faculty. From the walkouts, students were able to meet with the Board of Education to present their most concerning issues with their schools that impacted their education. -
Title IX
Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or other education program. It covers sexual harassment and sexual violence. "Under Title IX, schools are legally required to respond and remedy hostile educational environments and failure to do so is a violation that means a school could risk losing its federal funding" (knowyourix). -
Abecedarian Project
A project to determine if children should begin learning before the normal age of 3 years old. At 15 months, it became apparent that all the games and IQ tests were changing how the children thought. When the children reached the age of three and began preschool, they were much farther ahead than normal children, showing that earlier stimulation had a lasting effect. -
Indian Education Act
This act established that 8.3 percent of federal funds go to supporting the education of American Indian and Alaska Native children of all grade levels through funding in school districts, tribes and organizations, and post-secondary institutions. Every year at least $3,000 is given to each district to provide for new programs, supplies, scholarships, and many more resources. This Act was established as a result of seeing the damaging effects of American Indian reformation schooling. -
Individuals with Disabilities Act
In 1975, IDEA was founded. IDEA guarantees a free, suitable education for individuals for disabilities. Services are typically from age 3 - 21 and the school itself has programs, such as IEP's for the children and their families. Prior to IDEA, children with disabilities were not guaranteed an education. Thus, IDEA provides equity for all children in the United States, as every child deserves an education. IDEA is the governor of how states run the education and if all needs are in place. -
Chicago Child-Parent Center Longitudinal Study
The Chicago CPC Longitudinal Study is an ongoing study that began in 1986. The study seeks to investigate the effects of government-funded preschool programs in the Chicago Public School system; these effects include short and long-term effects of early childhood interventions, scholastic and social development, and how family and school practices contribute to children's behavior. These CPC preschools have already been shown to increase earnings and reduce drug use and crime in adulthood. -
California Proposition 10: The CA Children and Families Act
Known as ‘first 5 California’, proposition 10 promoted and improved early childhood development practices for children in the first 5 years through coordinated programs that direct them toward success later in life. Revenues from this act were gained through tobacco taxes that helped pay for new programs, research and campaigns. Prop.10 is still in place today, 24 years later, and continues to implement strategies for the health, social, creative, and cognitive skills in young children. -
Kindergarten Readiness Act (SB 1381)
This senate bill was passed in September of 2010. Before this date children in order to be able to register for kinder must have to turn 5 before December 2nd. Those not eligible would have two repeat preschools. This act allowed that requirement to change the date to be anyone turning 5 before September 1 was eligible to do so. If a child's birthday was between September 2-December 2nd then they must now register for T-K (transitional kindergarten). -
Common Core Standards
The Common Core Standards were first adopted in California in 2010. The common core standards are set shared goals and expectations for skills and knowledge. The common core standards were adopted for both the English and Math departments for most kindergarten through high school schools. These goals are set so that each student and teacher know what the kids should learn, know and do by the end of each school year. Many teachers -
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed by president Obama in place of the "No child left behind law", to create a more flexible education program within states, with a laid out plan, stating the expectations for students, families and communities. ESSA has new requirements for student performances in reading, math and science. This act helped to create a more understandable "state report card" allowing parents to access information with hopes to direct better choices for children. -
CA School Immunization Law
Senate Bill was signed by Governor Brown changing immunization requirements for children in regards to school and child care. Personal Belief exemptions would no longer be allowed for currently required vaccinations. Students wouldn't be required to have immunizations if they attend a home-based private school
or an independent study program with no classroom-based instruction. (California Department of Education) -
CA Proposition 58: CA Multilingual Education Act
Proposition 58 allowed children to speak and learn other languages in the school other than English. This act passed was important as it now made bilingual problems accessible in schools. There was still a requirement that English learners must pass the English proficiency exam.
