-
First Education Laws: Massachusetts
When colonists came to America, they had big plans for the education of their children. Massachusetts was the first to legislate a requirement that every child receive an education. State representatives had the right to find out if parents or masters of apprentices were fulfilling their duties in educating a child, and if it was determined that they weren't, the child could be removed and placed elsewhere. -
Jefferson's Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge
In Virginia, Thomas Jefferson developed a plan with public support for schools, and for scholarships so that poor but competent students could attend the College of William and Mary. However, the basis of the plan was general education for the general (white) public. School would be required and free for both boys and girls, for at least three years. -
Webster's Blue Backed Speller
Noah Webster had the idea that, for the United States to truly escape British rule, it needed control of its own language. He published a three-volume work, intended to systematically teach the English language to children in a sequence they could easily follow. He included more phonetic spellings, and prescribed ages where different material should be taught, corresponding to his impressions of child development. -
Period: to
Impact of Horace Mann- Most Important
Horace Mann gave up his political ambitions to put his efforts into the school system. He was one of the first to promote the idea of free schools, paid for by tax dollars. He spent his time riding horseback from district to district, inspecting the physical facilities of different schools. He suggested the use of chairs with backs, chalkboards. and standardized textbooks. He also pioneered "Normal Schools," for the training of teachers.
<a href='http://www.pbs.org/onlyateacher/horace.html' >PBS -
Period: to
Common Schools
Common schools took a few different forms. At this time, schools were not yet free and open to the public, but efforts were being made to go that direction. Monitorial and charity schools were free-ish to poor boys. Usually there were wealthy donors or personal benefactors providing for the boys' education. In monitorial schools, small classes rotated around different parts of the room, studying and then reciting lessons. There was one teacher at the head, and 'monitors' working with each group. -
Secondary School Movement-- Most Important
The first American secondary school was established in Boston in 1821. Secondary schools were similar to grammar schools of former days, which were essentially private university prep schools for boys. Where grammar schools were private, and focused on Latin and Greek, secondary schools were free, open to the public, and focused on a more 'practical' curriculum. In 1827 states began to require public high schools by law.
http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2411/Secondary-Education.html -
Population Growth and Immigration in the 19th c.-- Most Important
Beginning around 1845, Irish immigrants, largely Catholic, began immigrating to the United States. They suffered from widespread discrimination, including extremely negative commentary within school textbooks. This sparked one of the earliest legal battles relative to discrimination in schools, ultimately requiring schoolteachers to cross out offensive passages in texts by hand.
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/immigration/irish2.html -
Period: to
Growth of Education After the Civil War
After the Civil War, settlers began heading West. Catherine Beecher posited that women should be primary teachers, since they had a natural affinity for nurturing children, and the common idea was that school ought to be more home-like and loving than before. She established colleges expressly for training women to go West as teachers. She later explained that she wanted to prepare a career path for women. To this day, schoolteachers are predominantly women, especially at an elementary level. -
Impact of John Dewey
John Dewey is called the Father of Liberal Education. He believed that the curriculum should be 'child-centered' rather than 'subject-centered,' and he believed children should learn by doing. He started an experimental school in 1894, amidst a career in philosophy and psychology. -
Emerson School
The Emerson School was more or less the brainchild of William Wirt. His 'work-study-play' model encompassed the goal to 'make every working man a scholar, and every scholar a working man.' Students traveled around a huge school to classes where they worked on the newspaper, ran a zoo, and worked in the shop. It was made affordable because every part of the facility was in constant use. It looked much like our high schools, with different subjects available to students of all talents and types. -
Measurement Movement
When the United States entered WWI, there was heavy emphasis on measuring capability. Different kinds of testing were used to determine who was eligible for service, and what kind. At that time, one quarter of soldiers tested were deemed illiterate. This was the beginning of the movement to look for data to show intelligence, aptitude and progress. -
Brown vs. Board of Education-- Most Important
Linda Brown was taken by her father to an all-white school in Topeka, Kansas, to try to register for classes. When she was denied, the Browns and several other families filed suit against the Board of Education. The case went before the US Supreme Court, who determined unanimously that separate facilities were inherently unequal, and segregation of schools was unconstitutional.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education -
Impact of the Civil Rights Movement
In the 1950s and 60s, the Civil Rights movement gained ground. Ten years after Brown vs. Board of Education, 98% of Black students were still in all-Black schools. Despite the ruling, in 1957, nine students were barred from a Little Rock, AR school by state troops. Federal troops were called in to counter the state forces. The nine were isolated at school and struggled to find acceptance. It can't really be said that American schools are fully integrated, even to this day. -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act
The ESEA is a bill signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson, a former teacher. The idea was to provide grants and assistance to lower income schools, to ensure that every school and every student had an equal shot at success. It wasn't as successful as expected, perhaps due to less money and less innovation than would have been necessary. But it paved the way for progress in the educational system overall. -
A Nation at Risk Report-- Most Important
The Nation at Risk Report was published by the Reagan administration's Commission for Excellence in Education. The report asserted for the first time that American schools were failing, and suggested 38 ways to improve the situation, including time spent in school, content, and fiscal support. The actual data used in the study has come under serious question, but the school system at large has since maintained lower confidence levels than ever.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Nation_at_Risk
