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1. Education in the Colonial Period (1620-1640)
The first colonies were in New England and were predominantly Puritan. Schooling was privileged for mainly boys from wealthy families. The bible served as the textbook and the most common book was the Primer. Another book the children used was the hornbook. Fortunately we do not have these restrictions on the textbooks anymore. Throughout the changing reforms of the school system opportunities and freedom to more knowledge grew. https://www.landofthebrave.info/colonial-education.htm -
The Impact of Jefferson, Rush, & Webster
Thomas Jefferson had a strong interest in public education. He believed that education is essential to democracy. He founded the State University of Virginia.
Benjamin Rush founded the first university for woman, the Young Ladies Academy of Philadelphia.
Noah Webster eliminated the British textbooks and introduced the Blue Back Speller to teach the history of America. It also introduced the new American language. Soon thereafter he published millions of copies of the Webster dictionary. -
2. The Impact of Horace Mann (1796-1859)
Horace Mann was also called “The Father of the Common School Movement,” or "Father of American Education". As the board's first secretary and later chief state school officer he promoted the free school system without the distinction between rich and poor. This is still applicable until today and I really think his idea that all children should have equal rights is still of great importance today. I would like to say that this also contributed to the No Child Left Behind. -
Monitorial Schools, Charity Schools, & Infant Schools
Monitorial schools: Hundreds of students would be taught by one teacher and monitors the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic.
The Charity Schools were founded due to rapid urbanization. Donations such as cash, rent, fuel, food, clot and others helped the schools to function.
Infant schools were established in England by Robert Owen. Children at the age of 4-7 were taught by women to then send the children off to factory labor. -
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Common Schools
Victory of the Common School Movement: A Turning Point in American ... Decisions about the provision of schools were made town-by-town. ... and its visibility, established free schools for the moral education of poor children..
iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/. -
The Progressive Reform Movement (1890-1920)
A strong supporter of the Progressive movement was John Dewey. He introduced the change form subject related curriculum to child related curriculum.
http://www.uvm.edu/~dewey/articles/proged.html -
3. The Impact of John Dewey
John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer. He strongly supported and promoted social change and education form. Dewey's philosophy was mainly based on human experience, the human as the center. He firmly believed that people learn best by doing. His teachings found response all over the world. His fundamentals are still useful within the education with the child being the main focus instead of the strict subject curriculum.
https://www.education.com/ -
Population Growth and Immigration (1890-1920)
The population rate heavily increased through the immigration wave from all over the world. Between 1890 and 1940 over 20 million flooded the United Sates, including 3 million children. The effect was overcrowded schools.
www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities -
3. Impact of WW 2
Teachers and young adults were scarce due to enlisting. Funds for schools were scarce, the money went into the war-budget. Decline of participation and dropouts became the norm. Children were collecting items from metal scraps to anything that could be useful for the war. I wonder what if something similar would happen today. All of sudden education glides into the minor range. This is definitely an issue in the poverty and war-stricken countries in the Middle East.
https://www.gilderlehrman.org -
Brown vs. Board of Education (1954)
Brown v. Board of Education (1954) ruled the end of school segregation. I am grateful for people like Brown; the father of Sarah Roberts; Rosa Park; the students of Central High School, AR and other who paced the way for equal rights to stop the segregation. The civil rights are the foundation for a free life within our society. http://www.chalkbeat.org/
landmarkcases.org/en/landmark/cases/brown_v_board_of_education -
The Civil Rights Movement & The War on Poverty (1960s)
The goal of the civil Right movement was to have everyone in the States to have the same access to schools, work,and health care no matter what status people came from. President Lyndon Johnson declared "war on poverty" by subsidizing low-income housing, expanding welfare, offering job training etc. Vocational Education Act 1963 provided federal funds. Other laws were passed, such as The Economic Opportunity Act (1964),The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965)
www.globalcitizen.org -
4. Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, 1975
On Nov. 29, 1975, the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, now known as the Individuals with Disabilities. This is a very powerful law and within the past 30 years a lot of changes based on the integration principle have occurred with the benefits for the disabled and the non-disabled children. .
https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/idea35 -
A Nation at Risk Report (1983)
A seminal education reform report from President Ronald Reagan’s National Commission on Excellence in Education warning of the deteriorating state of American education.
President Reagan called for a reform for the public education system for "urgent improvement" focusing his emphasis on excellence embedded in technology, sports, academics, homework,an other basic skills.
www.edweek.org -
Growth of Standardized Testing (2000)
By 2000 48 states adapted the standards and schools had to meet their requirements. It has become a controversial issue due to children that come form low-income families or have limited English vocabulary.
http://www.chalkbeat.org/ -
5. School Choice Movement: Charter Schools, Vouchers
School choice allows public education funds to follow students to the schools or ... their needs—whether that's to a public school, private school, charter school. Parents have the right to choose a school for their children. I am a strong supporter of this right. Parents have more options to enroll their children into a school that they prefer over a public school e.g. or into a school for gifted children.
https://www.edchoice.org/school-choice/what-is-school-choice/ -
No Child Left Behind (2001)
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support in 2001 and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on Jan. 8, 2002, is the name for the most recent update to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
http://www.edweek.org/
