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Ella Flagg Young becomes superintendent of the Chicago Public Schools.
She is the first female superintendent of a large city school system. One year later she is elected president of the National Education Association. -
Edward Lee Thorndike's book, Educational Psychology: The Psychology of Learning, is published
It describes his theory that human learning involves habit formation, or connections between stimuli (or situations as Thorndike preferred to call them) and responses (Connectionism). He believes that such connections are strengthened by repetition ("Law of Exercise") and achieving satisfying consequences ("Law of Effect"). These ideas, which contradict traditional faculty psychology and mental discipline, come to dominate American educational psychology for much of the Twentieth Century and gre -
The Smith-Lever Act
The Smith-Lever Act establishes a system of cooperative extension services connected to land grant universities and provides federal funds for extension activities. -
Louis M. Terman and his team of Stanford University
Louis M. Terman and his team of Stanford University graduate students complete an American version of the Binet-Simon Scale. The Stanford Revision of the Binet-Simon Scale becomes a widely-used individual intelligence test, and along with it, the concept of the intelligence quotient (or IQ) is born. The Fifth Edition of the Stanford-Binet Scales is among the most popular individual intelligence tests today. For additional information on the history of intelligence testing, see A.C.E. Detailed -
The AFT and AERA
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is founded. So is the American Educational Research Association (AERA) -
Smith-Hughes Act passes
Smith-Hughes Act passes, providing federal funding for vocational education. Big manufacturing corporations push this, because they want to remove job skill training from the apprenticeship programs of trade unions and bring it under their own control. -
As the U.S. enters W.W.I the army has no means of screening the intellectual ability of its recruits.
As the U.S. enters W.W.I the army has no means of screening the intellectual ability of its recruits. Robert Yerkes, then President of the American Psychological Association and an army officer, becomes Chairman of the Committee on Psychological Examination of Recruits. The committee, which includes Louis Terman, has the task of developing a group intelligence test. He and his team of psychologists design the Army Alpha and Beta tests. Though these tests have little impact on the war, they lay t -
All states have laws requirinng mandtory school attendance for childreen trhough elementary school.
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The Progressive Education Association is founded
The Progressive Education Association is founded with the goal of reforming American education. -
All states have laws providing funds for transporting children to school
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The country begin teaching sex education
About 20 percent to 40 percent schools acroos the country begin teaching sex education, some under the title of “moral education" -
Tennessee vs. John Scopes ("the Monkey Trial")
Tennessee vs. John Scopes ("the Monkey Trial") captures national attention as John Scopes, a high school biology teacher, is charged with the heinous crime of teaching evolution. The trial ends in Scopes' conviction. The evolution versus creationism controversy persists to this day. -
The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)
The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is first administered. It is based on the Army Alpha test. -
The Great Depression begins with the stock market crash
The Great Depression begins with the stock market crash in October. The U.S. economy is devastated. Public education funding suffers greatly, resulting in school closings, teacher layoffs, and lower salaries. -
Alvarez vs. the Board of Trustees of the Lemon Grove (California) School District
Alvarez vs. the Board of Trustees of the Lemon Grove (California) School District becomes the first successful school desegregation court case in the United States, as the local court forbids the school district from placing Mexican-American children in a separate "Americanization" school. -
A survey of 150 school districts reveals that three quarters of them are using so-called intelligence testing to place students in different academic tracks.
