-
1492
Early Stage of Colonialism
Led by Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, and Netherlands - Common cultural and educational background was brought by the colonist and reshaped by the American environment (included variations of educational institutions and processes) -
English Poor Laws 1601
Required apprenticeship of pauper children; (1) property owners could be taxed to support the education of pauper children (2) poor and dependent children would be bound out for apprenticeships to learn a useful trade. -
Early Education Laws 1642
Required parents and guardians of children to attend to their dependent's ability to read, understand the principles of religion, and the laws of the Commonwealth. (Massachusetts Bay Colony General Court) -
Old Deluder Satan Law 1647
Required that every town with fifty or more families hire a reading and writing teacher. -
College of William and Mary (Charter Granted)
The college was organized as a grammar school, School of Philosophy, and a School of Divinity -
Benjamin Franklin's Proposal 1749
Benjamin Franklin proposed schools in which English was the primary language (as opposed to Latin); a curriculum of scientific subjects and utilitarian skills; and the preparation of students to enter the world of work - vocations, occupations, and professions. -
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
Rousseau challenged traditional assumptions about childhood and children's education. Rousseau's novel, Emile, was published in 1762. The novel argued that children are naturally good and organized education in terms of stages of development. The stages are: infancy (birth to 5), boyhood (five to 12), third stage (12 to 15), fourth stage "adolescence" (15 to 18), and fifth stage "age of humanity" (18 to 20). -
Thomas Jefferson "Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge"
Jefferson proposed a system of education and secondary schools in Virginia and had a role in founding the University of Virginia. For Jefferson, government requires educated and literate citizens. Educations primary function is civic rather than religious; and support of educational institutions are state responsibilities. -
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
Pestalozzi wrote Leonard and Gertrude, a novel whose fictionalized story revealed Pestalozzi's belief that: natural education can develop a person's intellectual, moral, and physical powers; education should unite school, home and community; and education can uplift individuals and reform society. Pestalozzi designed general and special methods that stressed sensory learning through object lessons. The lessons were endorsed in 1865 by the National Teachers' Association. -
Noah Webster's Contribution to American Education
Webster was significant for giving the textbook prominence in American Schools. His work was to standardize the Americanized form of the English Language and promote education. Developed "language arts" in elementary school curriculum (reading, writing, listening, and speaking). Cultural Nationalism -
Northwest Ordinance 1785
Confederation's initial effort in education. The ordinance directed the income generated from the sixteenth section in each township be reserved for the support of education as "necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind." -
Benjamin Rush's Plan
Benjamin Rush's plan called for a comprehensive system of state schools and colleges funded by public and private funds. Curriculum included English, arithmetic and simple math, science, geography, and French and German. -
Ratification of the US Constitution (1787-1790)
Actually occurred throughout 1787 until 1790 when, at last, Rhode Island became the last of the thirteen states to ratify the consitution -
Lancasterian Monitorial Schools
Established by Joseph Lancaster, monitor schools used older, advanced students as trained assistants to teach reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion to a large number of students (pupil-teacher). Master teachers taught older, advanced students as instructional aids. Lessons were in factory-like units. Students moved from one unit to the next unit together. Monitor schools relied on recitation, memorization, and rote methods. -
Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776-1841)
Herbart influenced curriculum and instruction in the upper grades of elementary schools and with secondary schools. Herbert emphasized the need to apply psychology and logic to instruction, especially in history and literature. Herbarts "appreciative mass" recognizes that the mind possesses the power to reorganize ideas that are similar and related. Herbart's instructional method included five phases: preparation, presentation, association, generalization, and application. -
Public High Schools Established
Public high schools grew out of academies, which were primarily for wealthy families. The first high school was the English Classical High School in Boston. -
Infant Schools Established
As a precurser to modern daycare centers, infant schools were established by Robert Owens. Owens brought infant schools to New Harmony, Indiana in 1825. Infant schools provided education to students (2 years old to six years old). Students were given meals, physical care, and some basic lessons. -
American Institute of Instruction (1829)
Started by Samuel Reed Hull in 1829, the institute addressed problems facing teachers, school buildings, qualifications of teachers, classroom management, and instruction. -
1st States to Establish Common Schools
The first states to establish common schools were Massachusetts and Connecticut during the 1830's to 1840's. Contemporary education developed from common schools. Common schools are publicly funded schools opened to all children in a given community. Children were provided with education in reading, writing, spelling, and arithmetic. As time passed, common schools added the following subjects: history, geography, health, natural science, music, drawing, and art. -
Horace Mann (1796-1859)
Horace Mann, the father of common schools, was a major proponent of public education. Mann was the Secretary of the Board of Education in Mass achusetts. Mann believed that a state-funded and supervised school system would educate morally responsible and economically productive citizens. He argued "the great equalizer of the conditions of men -- the balance-wheel of the social machinery." -
Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852)
Froebel designed a method of early childhood education that led to the establishment of kindergarten. Froebel, who studied under Pestalozzi, included symbolic meanings into the object lessons. Froebel established many schools. In 1837, he founded the kindergaten that emphasized the importance of play in children's early development, adopted object lessons, devised games and physical exercises, and wrote songs and rhymes. (gifts and occupations) -
Normal Schools
In 1844, the New York legislature authorized the establishment of a normal school for "instruction and practice of teachers of common schools." The were state-funded institutions for teacher education. By 1900, there were 139 state-operated normal schools. -
American Missionary Association (AMA)
The AMA was established by northern chases and philanthropic organizations to support education efforts for African Americans in the south. By 1871, the AMA had established 21 secondary and normal schools. These schools were led by northern teachers to educate the freed men and women. Based on Puritanism, students learned diligence, orderliness, punctuality, and basic literacy skills (reading, writing, and arithmetic). -
Freedman's Bureau
Under the direction of General Oliver O. Howard, the Freedman's Bureau was established to maintain a school system that enrolled almost a quarter of a million African American students. By 1868, the bureau's schools were staffed by 8,004 teachers (4213 were African American). -
Ratification of the 13th and 14th Amendment
The ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment (1865) and the Fourteenth Amendment (1868) formally ended of the enslavement of black people and of black servitude. Because of the laws prohibiting teaching reading to slaves, few members of black population were literate. Less than 10% of the newly freed African Americans could read and write. -
Teacher Education Programs in Colleges and Universities
Colleges and universities began to establish teacher and administrator education programs. By 1893, thirty-one universities established teacher preparation programs. Normal schools were reorganized into four-year, degree-granting teachers' colleges. -
Kalamazoo Case
The Kalamazoo Case of 1874 is cited as a significant precedent that upheld the legality of using public taxes to support high schools. The Michigan Supreme Court upheld the power of Kalamazoo school district to levy taxes to support the high school. The state was also required to provide elementary education and to maintain equal educational opportunity for all. -
The Committee of Ten
The Committee of Ten was established by the National Education Association. The Committee of Ten was composed of members of higher education, secondary education, and the Commissioner of Education. The committee was focused on improving the instructional proficiency of all levels of schooling and to introduce more academic subject matter into upper elementary and high school's curriculum. The committee recommended standardizing of subjects and instruction to vertically align with higher ed. -
Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)
Washington became the principal of the Tuskegee Institute in 1881. He was a strong proponent of industrial education. Washington wrote an autobiography, Up From Slavery, that told the story of the Tuskegee Institute. Tuskegee became the model for African American education. Washington used Tuskegee to affirm industrial education. Washington walked the tightrope of competing interest - northern white philanthropist and improving the conditions of African American - "Atlanta Compromise" -
John Dewey (1859-1952)
Dewey's ideas helped shape American education. Dewey's version of pragmatism, called experimentalism emphasized "experience". Dewey founded the University Laboratory School at the University of Chicago. The curriculum featured scientific method, problem-solving mode of instruction, collaborative groups, and was experience-based. -
Plessy v.s Ferguson
Established the "separate but equal" doctrine that stood until 1954 (and after). Homer Plessy sued to question the constitutionality of an Alabama law that require separate railway carriages for white and "colored" passengers. This legal defeat gave national legal sanction to segregation. This doctrine had a profound impact on public school systems, resulting in decidedly unequal educational facilities. -
W. E. B. DuBois (1868-1963)
DuBois challenged Washington's model of industrial education and his position on race relations and civil rights. DuBois emphasized the need for academically talented African Americans to enroll in universities and professional schools. DuBois authored the "Souls of Black Folk" in 1903 which spoke of Washington's philosophy to keep African Americans in a perpetually subordinate socioeconomic position. "The Talented Tenth" Helped found the NAACP -
Maria Montessori (1870-1952)
Montessori developed an international method of early childhood education to educate children physically, intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, and socially. Montessori established her first school, Casa dei Bambini 1907. The curriculum developed competencies in: practical life skills, motor and sensory training, and language and mathematics skills. Writing and reading were closely related, as were sensory training, motor skills exercises, language learning, and socialization. -
American Progressive Movement (1890-1920)
Reform-minded educators and leaders formed a broad coalition to reform American life and institutions. It was an effort to bring new ideas about children's learning and socialization into schools. Progressivism has a strategy of reform through legislation and regulation at the local, state, and national levels. This included a push to remove children from labor and to push to create juvenile courts and special institutions for the youth. -
Suppression of Civil, Legal, and Political Rights of African Americans (1877-1917 (?))
Rights of African Americans in the south were eroded and restricted during this period. These included: rigid segregation laws, voter disenfranchisement and suppression, and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan. -
Committee on Reorganization of Secondary Education
The CRSE was charged with reexamining the high school's purpose, scope, and function. The members were primarily secondary school and teacher educators, including the Commissioner of Education. CRSE's philosophy related to "social efficiency" - that is, advocating the inclusion of only subjects that prepared the student to be a citizen, wage earner, parent, and consumer (cardinal principles). CRSE saw high school as a comprehensive social agency. -
Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka
Prior to 1950s, NAACP had challenged legally mandated racial segregation in higher education. By 1950, NAACP was ready to challenge racial segregation in public elementary and secondary schools. Argued by Thurgood Marshall, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that state-imposed racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. -
National Defense Education Act
In response to the launch of Sputnik, the US established the NDEA. The rationale was that the federal government had a responsibility to support those subjects that contributed to national defense and security. NDEA provided federal funds for science, mathematics, and foreign language education. -
PL 94-142 Education for all Handicapped Children Act
The law, enacted in 1975, guaranteed free, appropriate public education to each child with a disability in every state and locality across the country. The law also requires the development of Individual Education Plans for handicapped children and the provision of educational services in the "least restrictive" environment. -
A Nation at Risk
Published in 1983, A Nation at Risk was a scathing commission report that described 13% of all 17-year-olds and 40% of minority youth as illiterate. The report resulted in states establishing standards to assess teachers' and students' competency in learning academic skills and subjects. This standards setting effort was eventually the precursor to No Child Left Behind -
No Child Left Behind
NCLB put into federal law the requirements: states required to have all students proficient by 2013-2014, required remediation of underperforming schools, required reading and mathematics annual testing.
