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Horace Mann Becomes the First Secretary of Education in Massachusetts
Kaplan and Owing's (2015) wrote that Horace Mann noticed some of the pressing matters in education (130). He noticed teachers were not treating their students as individuals when they were. Kaplan (2015) identified that the work that Mann got done was "permanent" (130), meaning that without it, education would look very different today. Since American education was greatly changed by Mann's work, there is reason to believe that him taking the job as secretary was key to educational success. -
Standardized Test are Implemented in Public Schools
In Educational Foundations (2015), it is said that the tests were used in public education from the time they were developed to present-day (155). This means that educational administrators have used these tests to determine whether or not students are learning the material presented to them since 1917. This event marks the beginning of a new way of education, making it one of the influential events for determining what today's education is. -
Ruby Bridges Attends an All-White Public School
When Ruby Bridges was able to attend the all-white public school it meant that American education had finally overcome one of their largest obstacles. Before this event, Kaplan, and Owing (2015) write that even though there were federal decisions about desegregation made, the attitude was still harsh about the matter (152). This specific event is important because, despite that, Bridges was able to go, and eventually the other students and their families were able to look past race. -
A Nation at Risk is Published
In the video, "The History of American Academic Education" (2006) it was said that after "A Nation at Risk" was published, the curriculum was changed so that the youth of America might have a better chance of competing in the economic market after graduation. This was influential in American education because the curriculum that was introduced is almost identical to the curriculum students have now. "A Nation at Risk" has greatly impacted what America's education system is like in the present. -
No Child Left Behind was Implemented
The implementation of N.C.L.B. was crucial for today's education system because it was the first time that funding was directly tied to the students' success (Lary 2001). All of the different policies that were put into place after this all had some mention of how funding would be linked to student success in some fashion. This event paved the way for all of the modern educational policies to come and that is why it is one of the most influential events of American education.
