1635 - The first Latin Grammar School (Boston Latin School)

History of American Education Timeline

Angela Blake

EDU324: History of American Education

Instructor: Sundra Dolberry

April 27, 2014

References:

American Educational History: A Hypertext Timeline

Barger, R.N. (2004). History of American Education Web Project. Retrieved December 21, 2004 from http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/%7Ecfrnb/index.html

Applied Research Center (2008). Historical Timeline of Public Education in the US. Retrieved December 28, 2008 from http://www.arc.org/content/view/100/53/

Helton, Gene. (No Date). Curriculum Development in 20th Century United States. Retrieved January 2, 2005 from http://www.personal.kent.edu/~whelton/index.html

Rippa, S. Alexander (1971). Education in a Free Society, (2nd. Edition ). New York: David McKay Company.

Lloyd, J. W. (2005). Chronology of Some Important Events in the History of Learning Disabilities. Retrieved June 22, 2009 from http://faculty.virginia.edu/johnlloyd/edis511/classes/LD_Times.html.

Stankiewicz, M.A. (No Date). The History of Art Education Timeline. Retrieved June 22, 2009 from http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/m/a/mas53/timelint.html

Thayer, V. T. (1965). Formative Ideas in American Education . New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company.

History of American Education Timeline

1635 First Latin Grammar School

1857 National Teachers Assoc. founded

The first Latin Grammar School (Boston Latin School) is established. Latin Grammar Schools are designed for sons of certain social classes who are destined for leadership positions in church, state, or the courts. These schools taught reading, writing and arithmetic. The purpose of these grammar schools was to prepare boys for the entrance test to Havard College and have the ability to read and speak Latin and Greek. (Holden, 2009)

The National Teachers Association (now the National Education Association) is founded by forty-three educators in Philadelphia. One hundred educators answered a national call to unite as one voice in the cause of public education. At the time, learning to read and write was a luxury for most children—and a crime for many Black children. (N.E.A)

1837 Horace Mann Secretary

1852 1st mandatory attendance law

1635 Free School

1849 Medical College for Women

1916 American Federation of Teachers founded

1853 Private School

1647 Old Deluder Satan Act

The first "free school" in Virginia opens. However, education in the Southern colonies is more typically provided at home by parents or tutors. Southern states did not have a tradition of public education to build on, as the North did, and in fact, it was well after the Civil War before the South legislated for state supported schools. This occurred for several different reasons.

Horace Mann becomes Secretary of the newly formed Massachusetts State Board of Education. A visionary educator and proponent of public (or "free") schools, Mann works tirelessly for increased funding of public schools and better training for teachers. As Editor of the Common School Journal, his belief in the importance of free, universal public education gains a national audience. He resigns his position as Secretary in 1848 to take the Congressional seat vacated by the death of John Quincy Adams and later becomes the first president of Antioch College.

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is founded. So is the American Educational Research Association (AERA). The American Federation of Teachers is a union of professionals that champions fairness; democracy; economic opportunity; and high-quality public education, healthcare and public services for our students, their families and our communities. (A.F.T)

Elizabeth Blackwell graduates from Geneva Medical College, becoming the first woman to graduate from medical school. She later becomes a pioneer in the education of women in medicine. Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman doctor in the United States of America in 1889. She also opened a medical college for women. During the Civil War she organized a unit of woman nurses for field service. Another reason she is remembered is that she organized a National Health Society. Most importantly she fought for the admission of women to medical colleges.

The Massachusetts Law of 1647, also known as the Old Deluder Satan Act, is passed. It decrees that every town of at least 50 families hire a schoolmaster who would teach the town's children to read and write and that all towns of at least 100 families should have a Latin grammar school master who will prepare students to attend Harvard College.

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. The law included mandatory attendance for children between the ages of eight and fourteen for at least three months out of each year, of these twelve weeks at least six had to be consecutive. (Vicky Grocke)

Pennsylvania begins funding the Pennsylvania Training School for Feeble-Minded Children, a private school for children with intellectual disabilities. Elwyn, founded in 1852, is one of the oldest and largest care facilities in the United States, serving children and adults with a wide range of physical, developmental, sensory (deaf/blindness), and emotional disabilities, as well as those with mental illness, those with disabilities due to age, and those who are economically disadvantaged.

1965 Project Head Start

1948 Prayer in school

1968 Bilingual Education Act

1944 G.I Bill Signed

2001 NCLB Approved

1975 Act PL 94-142

2008 Barack Obama elected President

In the case of McCollum vs. Board of Education, the Supreme Court rules that schools cannot allow "released time" during the school day which allows students to participate in religious education in their public school classrooms. This allowed the school to have prayer in the classrooms.

Project Head Start, a preschool education program for children from low-income families, begins as an eight-week summer program. Part of the "War on Poverty," the program continues to this day as the longest-running anti-poverty program in the U.S. This project was intended to provide low income students the knowledge needed to prepare them when they started kindergarten and also get them used to the idea of school at a young age. (Hypertext timeline)

The G.I. Bill officially known as the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, is signed by FDR on June 22. Some 7.8 million World War II veterans take advantage of the GI Bill during the seven years benefits are offered. More than two-million attend colleges or universities, nearly doubling the college population. About 238,000 become teachers. Because the law provides the same opportunity to every veteran, regardless of background, the long-standing tradition that a college education was only for the wealthy is broken.

The Bilingual Education Act, also known 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. The NCLB act basically means one size fits all and no child will left behind and this leaves the teachers accountable for the student’s scores on the testing and all. This has brought many issues today and questions from parents and teachers. (N.E.A)

Barack Obama defeats John McCain and is elected the 44th President of the United States. Substantial changes in the No Child Left Behind Act are eventually expected, but with two ongoing wars as well as the current preoccupation with our nation's economic problems, re-authorization of NCLB is unlikely to happen any time soon.

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. The law, which reauthorizes the ESEA of 1965 and replaces the Bilingual Education Act of 1968, mandates high-stakes student testing, holds schools accountable for student achievement levels, and provides penalties for schools that do not make adequate yearly progress toward meeting the goals of NCLB.

The Education of All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142) becomes federal law. It requires that a free, appropriate public education, suited to the student's individual needs, and offered in the least restrictive setting be provided for all "handicapped" children. States are given until 1978 (later extended to 1981) to fully implement the law. (Education of All Handicapped Children Act)

1963 Court Prayer & Religion

1931-1946 Court

1990 Public Law 101-476

2012 NCLB Update

Public Law 101-476, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), renames and amends Public Law 94-142. In addition to changing terminology from handicap to disability, it mandates transition services and adds autism and traumatic brain injury to the eligibility list.

In the cases of School District of Abington Township, Pennsylvania v. Schempp and Murray v. Curlett, the U. S. Supreme Court reaffirms Engel vs. Vitale by ruling that "no state law or school board may require that passages from the Bible be read or that the Lord's Prayer be recited in the public schools . . . even if individual students may be excused from attending or participating . . ." This basically took religion back out of the classroom with this ruling. This is one prime example of how history changed so much over the years.

President Barack Obama announces on February 9 that the applications of ten states seeking waivers from some of the requirements of the No Child Left Behind law were approved. New Mexico's application is approved a few days later, bringing the number of states receiving waivers to 11. An additional 26 states applied for waivers in late February.

Alvarez vs. the Board of Trustees of the Lemon Grove (California) School District becomes the first successful school desegregation court case in the United States, as the local court forbids the school district from placing Mexican-American children in a separate "Americanization" school. In the landmark court case of Mendez vs. Westminster and the California Board of Education, the U. S. District Court in Los Angeles rules that educating children of Mexican descent in separate facilities is unconstitutional, thus prohibiting segregation in California schools and setting an important precedent for Brown vs. Board of Education. (Hypertext timeline)