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Massachusetts Law of 1642
This law required a town selectman to go family to family finding out whether parents were providing proper education to their children. If a child wasn't being taught the selectman was in charge of finding an appropriate "master" that the child could apprentice for. -
Impact of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson had a large impact on early American education. Before his involvement in the school system only boys were allowed to go to school, but he believed that for the education system to work properly both boys and girls should go to school for at least three years. His most influential educational idea was that education was essential for democracy. -
Population Growth and Immigration in the 19th Century
Many settlers would use their own money to settle towns across the United States, moving from farm to city (urbanization), and hoped that one day their towns would become successful. They used school buildings to draw settlers into their towns, this caused very large "school districts" thousands of miles long. Getting to school was a struggle for many but they did it because the impact school had on their lives. -
Integration and Sarah Roberts
Benjamin Roberts, a black man, fought for his daughter to be put in a school that was better for her education and would be closer to home but she was denied acceptance to five different schools because of her race. Roberts took the city of Boston to court for racism where his case eventually went to the supreme court and they were again denied access to school because they were African American. -
Secondary School Movement
Boston was the first to have a secondary school (1821) that was to be attended by boys only, and was intended to provide practical education. The school was so successful that years later they opened it up to girls, by 1860 there was over 200 secondary schools, and by 1918 it was required by all states that a secondary school was in place. -
Committee of Ten
The National Education Association, in an effort to standardize school curriculum, created the committee of ten. The committee decided that the curriculum should be an early introduction to basic subjects, uniform subject matter, elective classes, and should have subject matter for students who were college bound and students who were not. -
The Gary Plan
MOST IMPORTANT
The idea of the Gary Plan was to get children both physically and mentally involved in hands on learning. The Gary Plan is an important part of educational history because of the effects it had on the children. Students were able to learn anything they wanted and they were able to do it in a hands on environment. This is still in play today by schools doing hands on activities and extracurricular programs.
(http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2002/Gary-Schools.html) -
The Progressive Reform Movement
By 1910 over two million children were working in industrial factories during the day rather than going to school. When asked if they would rather be in school or working in the factories many of them said they would rather work in a factory, due to the fact that schools at this time favored the rich children as well as had a method of teaching that was unfavored by most. -
The Measurement Movement
Thorndike and Terman created ways of standardize skill measurements such as the intelligence quotient (IQ). They were used during WWI to determine the ability of the soldiers in the war, surprisingly they found that about 1/4 of the men were illiterate. -
The Impact of John Dewey
John Dewey was the father of progressive education. He had the belief that if schools would put their focus on the "whole' child (social, emotional...) then they would be more susceptible to learning and retaining information. -
The Impact of WWII
MOST IMPORTANT
Most of America during the war didn't go to school because of the responsibilities many had during the war. This caused a huge setback for America's education system. This is important because after the war many people helped the school system regain what it lost. Because of the immensity of the war there was set aside funding for veterans who fought, which is still applicable in today.
https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/world-war-ii/essays/world-war-ii-home-front -
Brown vs. Board of Education
MOST IMPORTANT
United States Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools have no place in the nation and it was unconstitutional. This was important because this was really the beginning to the civil rights movement. It also showed that the government was realizing that there was a sense of hierarchy in the nation. That sense of racial hierarchy in the world is now gone because of Brown vs. the Board of Education.
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_brown.html -
The Impact of the Civil Rights Movement
MOST IMPORTANT
The passing of the civil rights act made it so there was equality and caused there to be many other acts passed for people's rights. The civil rights movement made it so everyone in the United States had an equal chance not only at an education but in life as well. It affected everyone including other races, languages and genders. Without this act our world would be completely different. People still wouldn't be free
https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/impact.html -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act
This act, because of LBJ's "war on poverty", made it so children who came from low income families could still go to school even though their parents may not have been able to pay for it. He wanted more of an equality between people and classes. -
Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act
MOST IMPORTANT
This act made it so there was free education to students with disabilities where they would be put in a classroom that was least restrictive. This act created so much equality between everyone. There was already equality between every full functioning person but after this everyone had the same opportunities. This act is still fully functioning today and students with disabilities are able to get the same education as everyone else.
https://sites.ed.gov/idea/
