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Education in the Colonial Period
Early America was very different from the America we know today. Among other differences, children were educated in ways that would seem foreign to us today. -
Northwest Land Ordinance
The ordinance was significant for establishing a mechanism for funding public education. Section 16 in each township was reserved for the maintenance of public schools. Many schools today are still located in section sixteen of their respective townships, although a great many of the school sections were sold to raise money for public education. In later States, section 36 of each township was also designated as a "school section". -
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Common Schools
Common schools typically taught "the three Rs" (reading, [w]riting, and [a]rithmetic), history, geography, and math. There was wide variation in regard to grading (from 0-100 grading to no grades at all), but end-of-the-year recitations were a common way that parents were informed about what their children were learning. -
The Impact of Horrace Mann
Horace Mann had a huge impact on education, in Massachusetts and nationally. He is best known for his policy on compulsory education--free elementary school education for all. This was in mid-nineteenth century Massachusetts. He is almost as well known for the founding of "normal" schools to prepare elementary teachers, often a one or two-year course of training after grade 10 or so. -
Schools are dessegregated in Massachusettes
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts banned segregated schools in the state. This was the first law prohibiting segregated schools in the United States. This was a landmark court decision. -
Secondary School Movement
The United States led all other nations in the development of universal and publicly-funded secondary school education and much of the growth occurred from 1910 to 1940. The focus here is on the reasons for the high school movement' in American generally and why it occurred so early and swiftly in America's heartland - a region we dub the 'education belt.' -
Brown vs. Board of Ed.
Landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896, which allowed state-sponsored segregation, insofar as it applied to public education. Handed down on May 17, 1954, the Warren Court's unanimous (9–0) decision stated that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." -
NDEA
The National Defense Education Act (NDEA) was signed into law on September 2, 1958, providing funding to United States education institutions at all levels.[1] NDEA was among many science initiatives implemented by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958 to increase the technological sophistication and power of the United States alongside, for instance, DARPA and NASA. It followed a growing national sense that U.S. scientists were falling behind scientists in the Soviet Union. -
The Impact of John Dewey
John Dewey is probably most famous for his role in what is called progressive education. Progressive education is essentially a view of education that emphasizes the need to learn by doing. Dewey believed that human beings learn through a 'hands on' approach. This places Dewey in the educational philosophy of pragmatism. -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was passed as a part of United States President Lyndon B. Johnson's "War on Poverty" and has been the most far-reaching federal legislation affecting education ever passed by the United States Congress. The act is an extensive statute that funds primary and secondary education. It also emphasizes equal access to education and establishes high standards and accountability. -
Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act
n practice, IDEA is composed of six main elements that illuminate its main points. These six elements are: Individualized Education Program (IEP), Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), Appropriate Evaluation, Parent and Teacher Participation, and Procedural Safeguards. To go along with those six main elements there are also a few other important components that tie into IDEA: Confidentiality of Information, Transition Services, and Discipline. Through -
A Nation at Risk Report
A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform is the 1983 report of American President Ronald Reagan's National Commission on Excellence in Education. Its publication is considered a landmark event in modern American educational history. Among other things, the report contributed to the ever-growing assertion that American schools were failing,[1][2] and it touched off a wave of local, state, and federal reform efforts. -
Growth of Standardized Testing
The growth of standardized testing stemed from the 1994 act. Redirecting the focus to actual test scores was a major step in improving
education in America and was more than likely the motivational factor and idea behind the next
and current step taken in education reform. In 2001, President George W. Bush
signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act -
No Child Left Behind Act
No Child Left Behind requires all public schools receiving federal funding to administer a statewide standardized test annually to all students. Schools that receive Title I funding through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 must make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in test scores (e.g. each year, fifth graders must do better on standardized tests than the previous year's fifth graders). If the school's results are repeatedly poor, then steps are taken to improve the school. -
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School Choice Movement
school choice programs are scholarship tax credit programs, which allow individuals or corporations to receive tax credits toward their state taxes in exchange for donations made to non-profit organizations that grant private school scholarships. In other cases, a similar subsidy may be provided by the state through a school voucher program.
