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History of Secondary Education in America

  • First Public High School Opens

    English High School was established in Boston offering college preparatory curriculum.
    English High School Website
  • Beginning of The Civil War

  • End of The Civil War

  • The New England Association of Schools and Colleges was founded

    It is the oldest of the six regional accrediting agencies servicing the United States in the early twenty-first century.
  • Committee of Ten created by National Education Association

    <Ten influential educators, mostly from colleges and universities, debated the appropriate role of secondary schools. The report of this committee examined a central question in the ongoing curriculum debate–what constitutes a good secondary education?
    The Committee of Ten recommended a rigorous academic curriculum for all students, regardless of their future plans, and elucidated the pursuit of knowledge and training of the intellect as the mission of secondary schools.
    a href='http://tmh.floon
  • College Entrance Examination Board came into existence in 1899

    The boards goal is to provide uniform examinations for college admission
  • Cummings v. School Board of Richmond Co., Georgia

    In an 1899 decision (Cummings v. School Board of Richmond County, Georgia), the Supreme Court decided that school boards were not required to provide public secondary education for African Americans. This decision restrained the evolution of black secondary education.
    Cummings v. School Board of Education Facts
  • Now Over 6,000 Public Schools in America

  • The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching founded

    This nonprofit corporation developed the Carnegie unit as a measure of the amount of time a student had studied a subject. One Carnegie unit was equivalent to 120 hours of contact time, and fourteen units was established as the minimum for an academic high school course of study.
  • 8.8 percent of seventeen-year-olds in high school

  • First Junior High School Opens

    This organization allowed for greater flexibility in the curriculum and slowly assimilated students into the world of high school subjects, classes, and teaching styles. The junior high school pattern typically includes six years of elementary school, three years of junior high school, and three years of senior high school. The first schools were located in Ohio and California.
  • Cardinal Principles of Education published

    This report, released in 1918 and authored by the NEA's Committee on the Reorganization of Secondary Education, did not emphasize intellectual skills or the standard school subjects. Rather, the committee recommended that secondary education focus on health, the command of fundamental processes, worthy home membership, vocation, citizenship, worthy use of leisure time, and ethical character.
    Carnegie Foundation
  • 30 percent of seventeen year olds in high school

  • Education for All American Youth released

    In 1944 the Educational Policies Commission released Education for All American Youth, a report calling for a highly practical curriculum similar to that described in the Cardinal Principles.
  • Plessy v. Ferguson

    In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the Supreme Court unanimously struck down the Plessy v. Ferguson separate but equal ruling, arguing that the separation of children in public schools by race violates the Fourteenth Amendment. This 1954 ruling sent shock waves through the state of Kansas and several other states that had segregated school systems.
    Plessy V. Ferguson
  • National Defense Education Act

    This act provided financial aid to states for the improvement of the teaching of science, mathematics, and foreign languages.
  • No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 Passed

    The reauthorization of the national Elementary and Secondary Education Act, known as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, reconfirmed this push for accountability by requiring states to develop annual testing programs for students in grades three through eight in reading and mathematics. School districts must be able to show that all students reach proficiency or will be subject to corrective procedures.
    Ed.gov