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Education in the Colonial Period
In the colonial period, education was heavily religious and minimal. Students would learn to read (usually the Bible, or Bible related material), but not much more than that. Colonial Education -
Massachusetts Law–First Compulsory Education
Because Puritans believed that education made a person better able to live a religious and useful life, education in the Massachusetts Bay Colony became compulsory. This law set the precedent for compulsory education in America.Massachusetts Makes Education Compulsory -
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Jefferson, Rush, and Webster
Some of the founding fathers took the first steps into a free public education. Although their ideals did not come to fruition in their lifetimes, their influence is a major reason free public education came into being. -
Blue-back Speller
Blue-back SpellerNoah Webster wrote the first American textbook. "The American Spelling Book," better known as the Blue-back Speller, was the standard for American English after the birth of the United States for many decades. -
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Secondary School Movement MOST IMPORTANT
Although the first high school was established in 1821 (English Classical School, Boston, MA), it was not until the end of the 1800s that high schools became more popular than academies. High School Movement -
Horace Mann–Massachusetts Board of Education MOST IMPORTANT
Horace Mann: Father of the Common SchoolHorace Mann, the father of American education, pushed the Common Schools movement and facilitated it's beginning in Massachusetts. His work brought about the standardization of the education system in the United States. -
Committee of Ten
The Report of the Committee of TenThis group of mostly higher educators, charied by Charles Eliot of Harvard University, made recommendations for the future of education. Their recommendations were mostly geared toward preparing students for college. This was a shift from the original practical purposes of high schools. -
Secondary School Movement
Until the late 1800s the academy was the next step for those continuing past basic education. High schools began humbly, but before the turn of the century, high schools were a regular part of American society. -
The Measurement Movement
Thorndike and Terman create a way to "objectively" measure intelligence. Standardized testing became the norm in American schools. -
John Dewey MOST IMPORTANT
John DeweyJohn Dewey lectured and wrote prolifically on the philosophy and use of education. The progressive movement was largely a result of his work. He refocused education from the subject to the student. -
World War Two and Education MOST IMPORTANT
Servicemen's Readjustment ActThe GI Bill allowed soldiers to attend college after the war. The bill also applied to soldiers returning from the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Before the GI Bill, postsecondary education was the exception -
Brown v. Board of Education MOST IMPORTANT
Brief history of Desegregation and the CourtsSupreme Court decides segregation is inherently equal. Linda Brown, at the behest of her father, had tried to attend school at all white schools. After being rejected several times, they sued the Board of Education of Topeka. With legal representation from the NAACP, the case made it all the way up to the US Supreme Court. -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act
Nixon does it again. Funding for schooling doubles and becomes a significant portion of government spending across the country. -
A Nation at Risk
"A Nation at Risk" provided a shock to the American education system. The report dramatically proclaimed that the system had failed and was getting worse. Many reforms resulted from the report. A Nation at Risk -
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School Choice Movement MOST IMPORTANT
Parents and students, frustrated with the lack of choice in schooling, put pressure on the government to provide options. The two major solutions were vouchers, state funded scholarships, and charter schools, state funded schools outside the public education system. Charter Schools and Vouchers
