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"Old Deluder Satan": Massachusetts Law of 1647
For the Puritans, an uneducated child was easily tempted by the Devil. This law is important to education because it is the beginning of the government deeming education to be morally purposeful. From here on, the realm of American education is influenced by purposeful objectives. -
First Primary Schools
Allowing children six and under to not work in factories and to have a right to be educated was a novel idea in the 1850s. Primary schools, then and now, celebrate the child as a small human who can learn through playing and stimulating activities. This allows children to become ready to enter years of schooling so they can THEN choose a profession they enjoy (not forced labor). -
Brown v. Board of Education
With a unanimous vote, the Supreme Court deemed "separate but equal" no longer practice-able in public schools. This event is significant because it brought about a much-needed system shock to the United States political and cultural movements surrounding Civil Rights. -
Coleman Report
Students from different socioeconomic backgrounds are not getting the same educational experience from school. This report brings an important issue to light (then and now): educators and administration need to keep in mind the challenges students face when impoverished. These issues can persist in the classroom and also made worse on occasion - ex: being asked to purchase inordinate amounts of school supplies. -
Public Law 94-142: Education of All Handicapped Children Act
Free and appropriate education for all students, by law, changed the landscape of American public schools. Every child, no matter what their capabilities are - developmentally, physically, emotionally - deserves access to the best schooling they can receive.
