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First State of Board of Education
The first secretary of education in Massachusetts was Horace Mann. He lead the state to an education that was free, nonsectarian, and universal. The State Board of Education was to make recommendations, point out defects, and to know the conditions of the education settings. After time has passed the Boards have been changed but they still are based off the founding principles. -
Subject Centered Education
Reading, writing, and math were the subjects are what most schools focused on. The secretary who was elected for the Board of Massachusetts was Henry Barnard. He created new common standards for textbooks, attendance, teachers, and buildings. He had edited his American Journal of Education to include the recent experiences. This contributed to the era at subject centered education where memorization and recitation were the main techniques. -
Student Centered Education
Psychologist G. Stanley Hall started to study children's minds after he earned his doctorate in psychology in 1878. His observations were able to change the focus of education from the subject to the student, this made a big change in curriculum and instruction so there would be a focus on students needs and not just memorization. -
Brown v. Board of Education
Children in Topeka, Kansas were claiming that segregated public schools were not equal. That they could not be made equal which meant they didn't get the equal protection as everyone else so parents of these children filed a suit on behalf of them. The supreme court agreed but was hesitant at first. This did lead to eventual integration of the schools, which didn't reach the highest level in the South until the 1970s and 1980s. -
No Child Left Behind
This was the federal governments first attempt to hold all schools, districts, and states accountable to create an equal opportunity for minority, students with disabilities, and low income families. Public system has standardized testing and has to have students pass the benchmark points in their education in science, language arts, and math. It is a public accountability system to have all students pass the standardized benchmark.
