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Timeline of the History of Education

  • Period: to

    Colonial Period

  • First Latin Grammar School

    Boston Latin School
  • Founding of Harvard College

    Massachusetts General Court was the founder of Harvard College
  • Massachusetts Act of 1642

    The Massachusetts School Laws were three legislative acts of 1642, 1647 and 1648 enacted in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The most famous by far is the law of 1647, also known as the Old Deluder Satan Law and The General School Law of 1642.
  • Old Deluder Satan Act

    The Massachusetts Law of 1647, also known as the Old Deluder Satan Act, is passed. It decrees that every town of at least 50 families hire a schoolmaster who would teach the town's children to read and write and that all towns of at least 100 families should have a Latin grammar school master who will prepare students to attend Harvard College.
    1948 Prayer in school
  • Friends Public School, Philadelphia

    William Penn Charter the founder
  • Period: to

    Young Nation Period

  • Common School

    The Common School is the precursor to today's public school. In the late 1830's, the reformer Horace Mann of Massachusetts proposed a system of free, universal and non-sectarian schooling. Each district would provide a school for all children, regardless of religion or social class. Previously, church groups or private schools had provided most education for children, for which students generally had to pay tuition. The new schools would be funded by taxes and special fees paid by parents.
  • Massachusetts Compulsory Attendance Law

    1st mandatory attendance law
    Massachusetts enacts the first mandatory attendance law. By 1885, 16 states have compulsory-attendance laws, but most of those laws are sporadically enforced at best. All states have them by 1918. The law included mandatory attendance for children between the ages of eight and fourteen for at least three months out of each year, of these twelve weeks at least six had to be consecutive.
  • First Morrill Act ( Land Grant Colleges)

    Land-Grant College Act of 1862, or Morrill Act, Act of the U.S. Congress 1862 that provided grants of land to states to finance the establishment of colleges specializing in agriculture and the mechanic arts.
  • First U.S. Kindergarten

    The kindergarten was founded in America by Margarethe Meyer Schurz, wife of the famous German-American statesman Carl Schurz.
  • Second Morrill Act

    Prior to the establishment of the black-land grant system in 1890, access to higher education for African Americans in the United States was primarily limited to private universities such as Howard University and Fisk University. A second Morrill Act was passed in 1890, aimed at the former Confederate states.
  • College Board Formed

    The College Board is a mission-driven not-for-profit organization that connects students to college success and opportunity.
  • Period: to

    Progressive Nation Period

  • Beginning of Progressive Movement

  • Seven Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education

    Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education were secondary education objectives created by the Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education CRSE of the National Education Association NEA in the United States in 1918 as one approach to reforming secondary schools in the U.S. by segmenting topics.
  • American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Founded

    The American Federation of Teachers AFT is founded. So is the American Educational Research Association AERA. The American Federation of Teachers is a union of professionals that champions fairness; democracy; economic opportunity; and high-quality public education, healthcare and public services for our students, their families and our communities. A.F.T
  • The Yellow School Bus Was Created

  • Period: to

    Postwar Period

  • National Defense Education Act

    National Defense Education Act NDEA, U.S. federal legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower on September 2, 1958, that provided funding to improve American schools and to promote postsecondary education.
  • Supreme Court: Prayer in School Violates 1st Amendment

    This practice was challenged in the landmark Supreme Court case Engel v. Vitale.
  • Elementary and Secondary Education Act

  • Title IX

    On June 23, 1972, the President signed Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. into law.
  • Public Law 94-142

    The Education of All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142) becomes federal law. It requires that a free, appropriate public education, suited to the student's individual needs, and offered in the least restrictive setting be provided for all "handicapped" children. States are given until 1978.
  • Period: to

    Modern Period

  • A Nation at Risk

    The Imperative for Educational Reform is the 1983 report of American President Ronald Reagan's National Commission on Excellence in Education. Its publication is considered a landmark event in modern American educational history.
  • A Nation Prepared

    Teachers for the 21st Century. The Report of the Task Force on Teaching as a Profession. Descriptors: Academic Standards, Educational Change, Educational Policy, Minority Groups, Teacher Certification, Teacher Salaries, Teaching Conditions, Teaching
  • A Nation Still at Risk

    A Nation Still at Risk. Fifteen years ago, the National Commission on Excellence in Education declared the United States a nation at risk. Our nation today does not face imminent danger of economic decline or technological inferiority. Much about America is flourishing, at least for now, at least for a lot of people.
  • GOALS 2000

    Educate America Act was signed into law on March 31, 1994 by President Bill Clinton. The Act provides resources to states and communities to ensure that all students reach their full potential.
  • IDEA Reauthorization

    On June 4, 1997, President Clinton signed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 IDEA, P.L. 105-17. This legislation guarantees a free and appropriate public education for more than 5 million children with disabilities and prohibits states from eliminating educational services to students with disabilities under any circumstances.