-
Boston Latin School was established in 1635 and is the oldest existing school in the United States. The school was open to boys, regardless of social class and set the precedent for a tax-supported public education.
-
Massachusetts Law of 1647 required that a schoolmaster be hired to teach reading and writing in towns of over 50 families. These schoolmasters must also teach grammar if the town had 100 families.
-
In 1701, the Connecticut Legislature wanted to start a collegiate school. In 1718, the school officially became known as Yale College.
-
In 1785, A Grammatical Institute of the English Language was published by Noah Webster. This English textbook had three sections which were reading, spelling, and grammar.
-
In 1801 James Pillans is credited with creating the first modern blackboard. Pillans was a geography teacher at the Old High School in Edinburgh, Scotland. He hung a large piece of slate on the classroom wall, thus creating the blackboard.
-
Margarethe Schurz opened the first Kindergarten in Watertown, Wisconsin, in 1856.
-
The Department of Education was created in 1867 and its job was to collect information on schools and teaching to be able to help states establish effective school systems.
-
On May 18, 1896, the Plessy v. Ferguson case established "separate but equal" facilities to teach black and white students.
-
In 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka declared that “separate but equal” facilities were unconstitutional and started the beginning of integrated schools.
-
On October 30, 1990, George H.W. Bush signed the Individuals with Disabilities Act into law. This act ensured that students with disabilities are provided with Free Appropriate Public Education that would be adjusted to their individual needs.
-
On April 20, 1999, two teens walked into Columbine High School and went on a shooting spree. Thirteen people were killed and over 20 more were injured. At the time, this school shooting was the worst in U.S. history and promoted a national debate on school safety and gun control. After the shooting, many schools started to enact a “Zero-Tolerance Policy” which were in regard to disruptive behavior and threats of violence.
-
On January 8, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act. This law required each state to develop assessments on basic skills. To receive federal funding the schools had to give these assessments to all students at select grade levels.
-
In 2008, Claude Goldenburg compiled three guidelines to follow when teaching ELL students, Teaching English Language Learners: What the Research Does – and Does Not – Say.
-
Common Core Standards was adapted in 2009 and set expected expectations for what students K-12 should know in Language Arts and Mathematics.
-
in 2015, President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) into law and this law would replace the No Child Left Behind Act. ESSA modified the No Child Left Behind Act but did not get rid of the standardized testing.
