-
Period: to
History of Education
-
Massachusetts Law of 1647
This law required towns of more than 50 households pay for a teacher and for towns with more than 100 households have a grammar school and teacher to "prepare youth for university" (Kaplan p. 105). This law set the pace and practice for school systems today. Our sports teams use divisions based on population, and our towns have schools that are paid for by the taxpayers. -
Creation of Public School Systems
The "friends of education" groups popped up in each state advocating for public school education pre-Civil War. At this stage, the local governments had say over the public schooling. Horace Mann and Henry Barnards were backers of public education systems Public schools depended on the regions and by the late 19th century, public schools were preparing students for a life of democracy outside the home (Kaplan p. 127-131). Without this, America's schooling woudn't be what it is today. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
Brown vs. Board of Education was a major event in the hisotry of education because of the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision. Separate but equal was no longer equal enough. Due to this decision, schools are still integrated and equal today (Kaplan p. 151-154). -
1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act
This act brought forth Head Start and Title I programs to help "economically disadvantaged" children. Head Start allows families who may not have the means to send their child to preschool a chance. Title I gives extra math and reading help to those who are less advantaged. It hasn't been as successful as Head Start, but it has kept the gap between disadvantaged and run-of-the-mill students from widening. These programs have helped many children acheive more than expected (Kaplan p. 163-164). -
Common Core State Standards
The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers implemented a simple and straightforward expectation structure for grades K-12 called the Common Core State Standards Initiative (Kaplan p. 166-167). Common Core is what all teachers follow for teaching curriculum today, no matter how many years they may have taught a different way.
