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"American" English Speller Introduced
Noah Webster introduced his speller for "American" English, which is the second most widely used instruction book for children after the Bible. -
Inequality in Massachusetts
School system is supported by user fees in Massachusetts, which has led to massive inequalitities. Those who can afford to send their children to school do, and those who can't do not have the option to. Horace Mann accepts a position as the Secretary of the Board of Education and begins to enact reforms. -
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Common Schools
Common Schools are standardized school settings in which children across the nation had similar scholastic settings and more qualified teachers, often women. -
Catholics Upset
As a result of an influx in Catholic immigration, mainly from Ireland, there is a wide pressure to reform the public education system, which is seen as overtly Protestant in nature. Often public schools would demean Catholic and Irish heritage and favor Protestant and English. -
Segregation in Schools
Black children were sent to seperate public schools than their white counterparts, which led to mass inequalities in the quality of the education and scholastic surroundings, despite petitions of black parents to state officials and governments. -
Segregation Abolished in Mass!
Segregation in public schools is ruled as unconstitutional by the state supreme courts and chief justice Roberts, providing an argument for a similar federal decision over a hundred years later. -
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3 Million Children Immigrate to America
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Dewey Reforms
Dewey "attacks" rigid schooling practices. He believed that schools should be hospitable, that children should learn by doing, believed in exercise, and in "exploring the world." This is the birth of "child centered" education -
50% of children in the US in school
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Gary Schools Popularized
"Gary schools," schools based on the "work, study, play" system developed by Dewey and his disciple Wert, spread across the country to New York, where it was met with stiff resistance and politicized. The school reform failed in the city in favor of traditional teaching methods. -
Roosevelt Backs English-Only Schooling
President Roosevelt supports for English-only instruction and by 1918, as a result of increased patriotism and an alienation of Central European culture from American culture, the push was successful to reduce foreign langugae insrtruction and increase patriotism in the classroom. -
Bureaucratization of Schools Begins
The bureaucracies surrounding the education system begin to increase due to increased expectations of the schools and school reforms. -
Career-Tracking Begins
"Career-tracking," or the practice of counseling students to take certain classes to prepare them for certain types of jobs, begins to pervade the public education system in America. College is seen as the end-goal for "smart" kids, and the rest are divided into programs preparing them for laborer jobs. -
Termin Advocates Standardized Testing
Termin advocates using IQ tests as measurements of intelligence in order to create "social efficiency," or a society in which each individual is trained to perform a roll in which they will best serve the society. These tests are ethnocentric and lead to, or in other words exacerbate, extreme inequalities -
Child Labor Laws Increase Student Population
National child labor laws effectively increase the student population considerably, creating a bigger burden on existing school infrastructure. Young children continue to be tested for IQs at ever younger ages. -
Resistence to IQ Testing Increases
Post War America established resistance towards career tracking and IQ testing. -
Blacks Segregated!
Blacks are segregated into different schools by law in 17 different states. the NAACP coaches 13 parents in Little Rock to enroll their children in "white" public schools. The result was denail and a court case, which went all the way to the US Supreme Court. -
"Progressive" Schooling Criticized
Bestor criticizes "progressive" schooling, or the practice of students taking classes on social norms and customs, and emphasizes a more rigid academic system. -
Brown vs. Board of Education Decision
The Supreme Court handed down their decision that seperate and equal was indeed unconstitutional, and that it was no longer in accordance with federal laws to segregate public institutions, especially schools. -
Little Rock Desegregated
Desegregation finally is carried through in Little Rock, though much of the rest of the segregated states remain that way. -
National Defense Education Act Signed
The National Defense Education Act goes into effect, which provides national money to schools for programs in math and science in response to the Soviet Union "beating" America to space. Education becomes a militarized priority. -
War on Poverty!
President Johnson's "War on Poverty" included some education reform, such as low cost loans to attend college. -
Civil Right Act Enacted
The US Congress passes the Civil Rights Act, which included provisions explicitly citing schools and requiring them to be integrated and equal. The penalty for not integrating a school was to lose all federal funding. -
Title IX Passed
Title IX passed, which prohibited federal funding for gender biased schools. It was not enforced until petitioned by people like Dorothy Raffel. -
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School Choice Experimentation
East Harlem began experimenting with school choice in 1974 because it was the worst performing area in New York City. By 1983 it was better than half of all New York schools. This sparked a nationwide interest in "school choice," and has resuled in multiple hybrids of the idea. -
Regan Blames Civil Rights Act for Education Crisis
President Regan blames the Civil Rights Act for the percieved "education crisis" in America. He begins to impliment refoms, including recommending more traditional courses, longer days and years, more homework, a reduction in federal involvement, and more testing. -
Millwaulkie, Wisconson Allows School Choice
Millwaulkie begins to allow school choice for low-income students, giving them vouchers to attend private schools. Results have been mixed and continue to be debated to this day. -
New York Allows School Choice
New York City allows for all students within the city to choose their schools instead of basing them on residency. However, hardly any competetion results as parents and students continued to use the default school that they were assigned. -
Homeschooling Legalized!
Homeschooling is now legal in all 50 states thanks to a push mainly from religious oriented individuals who wanted to teach their own children from home.
