U.S.

Education Timeline

1600s The Colonial Period: Informal family education, apprenticeships,

dame schools, and tutors.

- this time period established local control of schools, compulsory

education, tax-supported
schools, state standards for teaching and schools
- hornbook: most common teaching device- consisted of an alphabet sheet
covered by a thin, transparent sheet made from a cows horn. Provided
colonial children with their introduction to the alphabet and reading
- dame schools: private schools taught by women in their homes. Offered
child care for working parents willing to pay a fee. The dames who taught
here received meager wages, and the quality of instruction varied greatly.

1600s-1700s: Latin Grammar Schools- prepared wealthy men for college and
emphasized a classical
curriculum, including Latin and some Greek. Curriculum reflected belief that
the pinnacle of
civilization was reached in the Roman Empire.

1600s-1800s: Local Schools- first started in towns and later expanded to include
larger districts, these
schools were open to those who could afford to pay and taught basic skills
and religion.

1600s-1900s: Tutors- usually working for a fee and room and board, took varying
levels of education to
small towns and wealthy populations

1635: First Latin grammar school in Boston.

1636: Harvard College was established to specifically prepare ministers

1647: The Massachusetts Law of 1647 (Old Deluder Satan Law):

- every town of fifty households must appoint and pay a teacher of reading
and writing
- every town of one hundred households must provide a (Latin) grammar
school to prepare youths for the university under a monetary penalty for
failure to do so

1687-1890: New England Primer published: first real textbook

- 50-100 pages of alphabet, words, and small verses accompanied by
woodcut illustrations
- virtually the only reading text used in colonial schools until about 1800
- reflected religious orientation of colonial schools

1700s Development of a national interest in education, state

responsibility for education, growth
in secondary education.
 - Private teachers and night schools were functioning in Philadelphia and
New York, teaching
accounting, navigation, French, and Spanish
- Schools were reconstructed to meet broader, nonsectarian goals
- Thomas Jefferson: wanted to go beyond educating a small elite class
or providing only
religious instruction. Maintained that education should be more widely
available to white
children from all economic and social classes.
- commitment to educating all white Americans, rich and poor, at
government expense

- English Grammar Schools: private schools that moved away from the
classical Latin tradition to more practical studies. These schools were
viewed not as preparation for college, but as preparation for business
careers and as a means of instilling social graces. Some of these schools
set a precedent by admitting white girls, thus paving the way for the
widespread acceptance of females in other schools.
- Itinerant Schools: these teachers carried schooling from village to village;
they lived in peoples homes and provided instruction.

1700s-1800s: Private Schools: constituted a true free market, as parents paid for
the kind of private
school they desired. Curricula and quality varied greatly between schools.
- Academies: combination of Latin and English grammar schools. Taught
English, not Latin. Practical courses were taught, but history and the
classics were also included. Some academies emphasized college
preparation, and others prepared students to enter business and
vocations.

1740: First law prohibiting education of slaves, passed in South Carolina

1749: Benjamin Franklin: Proposals Relating to the Youth of Pennsylvania: suggests

a new kind of
secondary school to replace Latin grammar school the academy

1751: Franklin Academy established in Philadelphia- free of religious influence, and

offering a variety of
practical subjects including mathematics, astronomy, athletics, navigation,
dramatics, and
bookkeeping.
- Sparked establishment of six thousand academies in the following century.
- Commitment to a practical program of nonsectarian study offering
elective courses.

1783: Noah Webster- American Spelling Book: replaced New England Primer as the
most common
elementary textbook. Contained the alphabet, syllables, consonants, rules for
speaking,
 readings, short stories, and moral advice. Bulk of the book taken up by lists of
words. American
Dictionary

1785: Land Ordinance Act: required townships to reserve a section of land for
educational purposes

1787: Northwest Ordinance Act: required townships to reserve a section of land for
educational
Purposes.

1800s Increasing role of public secondary schools, increased but

segregated education for women
and minorities, attention to the field of education and teacher
preparation.

1800s- present: High Schools- secondary schools that differed from their
predecessors in that they were free; they were governed by the public. Can be
viewed as an extension of the Common School movement to the secondary level.
Open to all social classes and provided both precollege and career education.

1821: First free secondary school- English Classical School, for boys, opens in
Boston.

1821: Emma Willards Troy Female Seminary opens- first endowed secondary school
for girls.

1822: Sequoyah invented a Cherokee syllabary, allowing the Cherokee language to

be written.

1823: First (private) normal school opens in Vermont.

1823: Mississippi law prohibits six or more Negroes from gathering for educational
purposes.

1824: Federal government established the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and began
placing whole tribes
of Native peoples on reservations. BIA used education as a tool of cultural
conquest.

1827: Massachusetts requires public high schools.

1828: Andrew Jackson elected as President: voices of many more poor white people
were heard,
particularly their demands for educational access.

1830: Louisiana law imposes a prison sentence on anyone teaching a slave to read
or write.

1830-present: Common Schools- free, no tuition or fees. Open to all social classes.
1833: Prudence Crandall (1803-1889) Known for her integrity and bravery in
bringing education to
African American girls. She opened her doors to two African American girls,
and the Connecticut
legislature passed the Black Law, forbidding the founding of schools for the
education of
African Americans from other states without the permission of local
authorities.

1836-1920: McGuffy Readers- series that emphasized work ethic, patriotism,

heroism, and morality
- geared for different grade levels: paved way for graded elementary
schools

1837: Horace Mann became secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of

Education, which he helped
found. Leading advocate for the establishment of a common school open to
all (public
elementary school). The Common School Movement/father of the public
school. Began an
effort to reform education. A common school instilling common and humane
moral values could
reduce social disharmony. Normal schools were also founded because of
Manns work for higher
educational facilities.
- Henry Barnard: fought alongside Mann for public elementary schools.
- Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852): Established the kindergarten as an integral
part of a childs education.

1839: First public normal school in Lexington, Massachusetts.

1846-1848: End of the United States war with Mexico.

1850s: Chinese first began immigrating to the West Coast.

1850-1900: nation moved from agrarian to industrial, from mostly rural to urban,
and people viewed the
elementary school as inadequate to meet the needs of a more sophisticated
and industrialized society.

1852: Boston was able to maintain a similar school as the English Classical School,
for girls. Name of the
boys school was changed from the English Classical School to The English
High School, or Boys High School.

1855: First kindergarten (German language) in United States.

1862: Morrill Land Grant College Acts: established sixty-nine institutions of higher
education. Public land
 was donated to establish these.

1873: Sex in Education: Dr. Edward Clarke argued that women attending high school
and college were at
risk because the blood destined for the development and health of their
ovaries would be redirected to their brains.

1874: Kalamazoo, Michigan, case: courts ruled that taxes could be used to support
secondary schools.
The idea of a public high school slowly took hold.

1875: Francis Parker introduced the concept of progressivism.

(1875-1955) Mary McLeod Bethune: Known for her contributions in moving a people
from intellectual
slavery to education. Founded what later became known as Bethune-
Cookman College.

1880s: Traders from India arrived in New England bartering silks and spices.

1880: Approximately 106,000 Chinese had immigrated to the United States.

1880: Almost 10 million Americans were enrolled in elementary schools, and, at the
upper levels of
schooling, both private and public universities were established.

1882: Immigration Act- further Chinese immigration was blocked.

1886: Japanese government legalized emigration. Japanese came to the United

States in greater
numbers.

1890: Morrill Land Grant College Acts: established sixty-nine institutions of higher
education. Public land
was donated to establish these.

1892: National Education Association (NEA) established the Committee of Ten to

develop a national
policy for high schools. Student progress measured by Carnegie Units,
making it easier for
colleges to decide which students were prepared to do college level work.

1895: The faculty of the University of Virginia concluded that women were often
physically unsexed by
the trains of study.

1896: Segregation became legally sanctioned. Separate but equal (Plessy v

Ferguson).

1898: Puerto Rico acquired from Spain and becomes a territory of the United States.
1898: After the Spanish-American War, the United States acquired the Philippines.

1900s Increasing federal support for educational rights of under-

achieving students; increased
federal funding of specific (categorical) education programs.

- John Dewey (1859-1950s): Progressive Education.

- Approximately 200,000 Mexican Americans living in the Southwest.

1900-1920s: Ellis Island was the New York gateway for European immigration.

1907: Indian laborers were attacked by racist mobs in Bellingham, Washington

triggering other riots and
expulsions throughout the Pacific region. Further restriction of Indian
immigration.

1908: Maria Montessori (1870-1952) Established a childrens school called the

Casa dei Bambini,
designed to provide an education for disadvantaged children from the slums
of Rome. Known
for her work in identifying the educational potential of young children and
crafting an environment in which the young could learn.

1909-present: Junior High Schools- grades 7 through 9: designed to meet the unique
needs of
preadolescents and to prepare them for the high school experience.

1909: Columbus, Ohio- first junior high school.

1910-1940: Chinese immigrants detained and interrogated at Angel Island station in

San Francisco Bay.

1917: Jones Act- citizenship provided free movement between the continent and the
island of Puerto
Rico.

1917: Smith-Hughes Act- provided funds for teacher training and program
development in vocational
education at the high school level.

1918: NEA expanded- This time, committee members included education

professors, high school
principals, the U.S. commissioner of education, and others focused not on
transition to college
but on preparing adults for their life roles. Cardinal Principles of Secondary
Education identified
seven goals for high school: health, worthy home membership, command of
fundamental
 academic kills, vocation, citizenship, worthy use of leisure time, and ethical
character.

1919: Founding of the Progressive Education Association.

1920s-1930s: the Dalton and Walden schools in New York, the Beaver Country Day
School in
Massachusetts, the Oak Lane Country Day School in Pennsylvania, and
laboratory schools at
University of Chicago and Columbia began to challenge traditional practices.
The progressive
education approach soon spread to suburban and city public school systems
across the country.
- Progressive education: broadens the school program to include health
concerns, family and community life issues, and a concern for vocational
education.
- Applies new research in psychology and the social sciences to classroom
practices.
- emphasizes a more democratic educational approach, accepting the
interests and needs of an increasingly diverse student body.

1924: Congress passed an immigration bill that halted Japanese immigration to the
United States.

1930s: The Progressive Education Association initiated a study that compared

almost three thousand
graduates of progressive and of traditional schools as they made their way
through college. The
study, called the Eight-Year Study, was intended to determine which
educational approach was
more effective.

1930s: The Great Depression- federal government became more directly involved
with education,
constructing schools, providing free lunches for poor children, instituting part-
time work
programs for high school and college students, and offering educational
programs to older
Americans.

1932: New Deal education programs.

1934: Tydings-McDuffie Act- limited immigration of Filipinos to fifty per year.

1941: Japans attack on Pearl Harbor.

1942: Executive Order No. 9006: established federal relocation camps for Japanese.

1944: Servicemens Readjustment Act- paid veterans tuition and living expenses,
depending on the
 length of military service (G.I. Bill of Rights).

1946: Law allowing Indian naturalization and immigration was passed.

1949: Institution of a Communist government in mainland China causes Congress to

reverse more than a
century of immigration quotas and naturalization and anti-miscegenation
laws and grant
refugee status to five thousand highly educated Chinese in the United States.

1950s: - Puerto Rican migration to the mainland peaks. Most settle in New
York City.
- Cuban immigration to the United States increases, following the Castro-led
revolution.

1950: First middle school in Bay City, Michigan.

1950-1952: Sylvia Ashton-Warner- Developed innovative teaching techniques that

influenced teachers
around the world and especially the United States. Known for her creative
approaches placing
children at the center of the curriculum.

1950s-present: Middle Schools- grades 5-8: designed to meet the unique needs of
preadolescents and
to prepare them for the high school experience.

1954: Supreme Court decision that schools must desegregate (Brown v Board of
Education of Topeka).

1957: Launching of Sputnik by the Soviet Union- race towards the first moon
landing. Increase in federal
education funds.

1958: National Defense Education Act (NDEA): supported the improvement of

instruction and
curriculum development, funded teacher training programs, and provided
loans and
scholarships for college students that allowed them to major in subjects
deemed important to
the national defense. Provided substantial funds for student loans, the
education of school
counselors, and the strengthening of instructional programs in science,
mathematics, and
foreign languages.

1960s: Cesar Chavez- led the fight of migrant Mexican American laborers to
organize themselves in to a
 union and to demand a more responsive education that included culture-free
IQ tests,
instruction in Spanish, smaller classes, and greater cultural representation in
the curriculum.

1960: Kenneth Clark (1914-2005) First black to be tenured at City College of New
York. First African
American to receive a doctorate in psychology. Known for his work in
identifying the crippling effects of racism on all American children and in
formulating community action to overcome the educational, psychological,
and economic impacts of racism.

1964: President Johnson and Congress move to boldly eradicate racial segregation.

1964: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act

1964: Paulo Freire (1921-1997) Following the military overthrow of the Brazilian
government, he was
jailed for subversive activities and later exiled. He had a view that political
oppression is
present in developed nations as well as third world countries, that
economic privilege does no
guarantee political advantage, and that the pedagogy of the oppressed has
worldwide
significance. Known for his global effort to mobilize education in the cause of
social justice.

1964-1965: Job Corps and Head Start are funded.

- Project Head Start: provides medical, social, nutritional, and educational
services for low-
income children 3 to 6 years of age.

1965: New immigration act for Filipinos allowing for people to immigrate.

1965: Elementary and Secondary Education Act- provided financial assistance to

school districts with
low-income families, to improve libraries and instructional materials, and to
promote
educational innovations and research.

1968: Bilingual Education Act- authorized funds to provide relevant instruction to

non-English-speaking
students.

1970-1980: Filipino population more than doubled in the United States.

1970: Elementary and Secondary Education Act: expanded to include funding for
bilingual and Native
American education, drug education, and school lunch and breakfast
programs.
1972: Passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments- females saw significant
progress toward gaining
access to educational programs, but not equality.

1972: Title IX of the Education Amendments- prohibits discrimination on the basis of

sex.
1973: Marian Wright Edelman- founded the Childrens Defense Fund (CDF)- to
ensure that every child
has a Healthy Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life.

1975: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: provides assistance to local school
districts to provide
free and appropriate education for children with disabilities who are between
3 and 21 years of
age.

1975: Last Japanese relocation camp closed.

1979: Cabinet-level Department of Education is established.

1980: About 800,000 Cubans living in the United States.

1983: A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform- report of the
National Commission on
Excellence in Education.

1990-present: Increased public school diversity and competition through charter

schools, for-profit
companies, open enrollment, and technological options. Promotion of
educational goals,
standards, and testing.

1991: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act- provides assistance to local school
districts to provide
free and appropriate education for children with disabilities who are between
3 and 21 years of age.

1991-present: Charter Schools- Tax-supported elementary and secondary schools

that are free from
some of the rules and regulation that apply to other public schools. Created
with unique
missions, instructional strategies, or curriculum designs.

1994: Zero-tolerance policy

1997: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: provides assistance to local school
districts to provide
free and appropriate education for children with disabilities who are between
3 and 21 years of
 age.

2000s Increasing focus on standards, testing, and accountability.

2001: No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)- revises the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act and calls for
standards and annual testing of math, reading, and science. Imposes
penalties for failure.

2001: 9/11- Attacks on World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

2004: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act- provides assistance to local school
districts to provide
free and appropriate education for children with disabilities who are between
3 and 21 years of age.

2007: Supreme Court further backs away from desegregation efforts by striking
down plans in Seattle
and Louisville that used race to assign K-12 students to public schools.
2011-present: Federal government modifies NCLB, allowing states greater freedom
in evaluating
students and teachers.

Court rulings that affect education:

Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925) Parents can enroll their children in a private,
religious school instead
of a public school.

West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) Students can refuse to
salute the American
flag.

Zorach v. Clauson (1952) Students may be excused from public school to attend
religious classes away
from school property.

Engel v. Vitale (1962) Educators must be completely neutral with regard to religion
and may neither
encourage nor discourage prayer.

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969) Students do

not shed their
constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse
gate.

Ingraham v. Wright (1977) Physical punishment may be authorized by the states.

Stone v. Graham (1980) Schools cannot post a copy of the Ten Commandments.
Wallace v. Jaffree (1985) Schools cannot require a moment of silence for silent
prayer.

Edwards v. Aguillard (1987) Teachers cannot teach creation science instead of

evolution.

Board of Education v. Mergens (1990) Schools must provide equal access to public
facilities to all
groups, including religious organizations.

Lee v. Weisman (1992) Teachers and school leaders cannot lead prayer at public
school graduation
ceremonies.

Santa Fe Independent School District v. Jane Doe (2000) Students may say public
prayers at school
athletic events.

Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002) Parents can use public money (vouchers) to

send their children to
private religious schools.

Thompson v. Southwest School District Regarding how much personal freedom an

individual abandons
as a teacher and role model for students.

Pickering v. Board of Education After balancing the teachers interests as a citizen

in commenting on
issues of public concern against the schools interests in efficiently providing
public services, the
Supreme Court ruled in favor of the teacher.
Owasso Independent School District v. Falvo The Supreme Court ruled that
students can grade their
peers academic work and even announce the results in class without
violating the privacy act.
Under the Buckley Amendment, grades do not become private and part of
students educational
records until they are recorded in the grade book.

Goss v. Lopez When considering suspension, the Supreme Court ruled that
teachers and
administrators are required to follow certain procedures to guarantee the
students due process
rights granted by the Fourteenth Amendment.

Bethel School District v. Fraser The issue of vulgar and indecent speech also gives
boundaries to
student freedom of expression.
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeir Student newspapers may be censored
under certain
circumstances.

Bragdon v. Abbott HIV-infected students are protected under the Individuals with
Disabilities Act and
cannot be denied a public education.

Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools Extends reach of Title IX, allowing
students to sue a school
district for monetary damages in cases of sexual harassment.

Gebser v. Lago Independent School District A school district must show deliberate
indifference to
complaints about teacher and peer sexual harassment before a district would
be forced to pay
damages.

Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education A school district must show deliberate
indifference to
complaints about teacher and peer sexual harassment before a district would
be forced to pay
damages.