Literacy Timeline

  • 3000 BCE

    Clay Tablets to the Printing Press

    literacy can be traced back to southern Mesopotamia circa 3,000 BCE. Ancient Sumerians writing on clay tablets and subsequently invented cuneiform script, the first known writing system. While this early writing was comprised of rudimentary symbols, it would be a precursor to scripts and modern language. The evolution of literacy education: UT Permian Basin Online. UTPB. (2021, January 7). https://online.utpb.edu/about-us/articles/education/the-evolution-of-literacy-education/
  • Virginia Act against education of slaves

    it was consequently enacted in the law to prevent Black people from reading or congregating to read and write, with the justification being that if the enslaved were to learn to read, it would challenge the institution of slavery itself (which the country heavily relies on.) 19, J. J. M. (2022, April 4). History of literacy laws in America and the fight in 2022. Black Organizing Project. https://blackorganizingproject.org/the-power-of-books-and-the-fight-in-2022/
  • Denny Taylor

    Denny Taylor coined the term family literacy to describe the ways in which reading and writing were embedded in the daily lives of the middle-class families with whom she worked with Dr. Denny Taylor. (n.d.). https://www.dennytaylor.com/
  • Louise Rosenblatt

    Pioneer of reading theory and the teaching of literature. “Readers Response” is the term she created. Engages all learners by stressing the importance of the transaction that occurs between a reader and a text. Wikimedia Foundation. (2023, August 21). Louise Rosenblatt. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Rosenblatt
  • Technology within education

    Educational technology is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning. Wikimedia Foundation. (2023b, September 10). Educational Technology. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_technology
  • Georgia Early Literacy Act

    the Department of Early Care and Learning must require teachers to have training on "developmentally appropriate evidence-based literacy instruction" beginning July 1, 2025. 19, J. J. M. (2022, April 4). History of literacy laws in America and the fight in 2022. Black Organizing Project. https://blackorganizingproject.org/the-power-of-books-and-the-fight-in-2022/