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First Education Laws: Massachusetts
Founding Fathers parly leftf Britain to escape religious oppression. The masses had to be educated in order to be able to understand the written codes the colonies were now living under, both religious and secular. Without some sort of education this idea would be impossible. The law required that parents and master see to it that children knew the principles of religion and the capital laws of the commonwealth.
https://www3.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/masslaws.html -
Common Schools
Most Important
The belief that public or free schools wer only for children of the poor. the idea that publicly supported schools could and should exist for all chidren, regardless of social class, gender, religion, ethnicity, or country of origin. The European and colonial insistence that responsible parents should worry about the education of their own children through family and church.
http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1871/Common-School-Movement.html -
Academies for Women
Education beyond elementary training of female teachers. Teaching was one of the few professions open to women. they were thought to be good with children. Catherine Beecher promoted women as teachers as a civilizing force for the West. She said that women were made to educate. She founded colleges to educate women and to train them for service. She made teaching respectable for middle class women.
https://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/catharine-beecher/ -
Noah Webster
Different from our nation's founders, who sought political independence from England, Webster sought cultural independence. He believed the primary purpose of education should be the practice of patriotism, that what was needed was an American education rid of European influence. To accomplish this he believed in creating a distinctive national language and curriculum. He prepared many spelling, grammar and reading books to replace the English text then in use.
http://ahsreform.wikifoundry.com/ -
Benjamin Rush
Rush strongly opposed the death sentence and encouraged penal reform and the establishment of institutions for the mentally ill. Along with Ben Franklin, he organized the first abolition society in Philadelphia. Rush proposed that in every town of 100 or more families a free school should be established where children would be taught to read/write English, German and arithmetic. He was also an advocate for women and founded the first female academies in the U.S.
http://www.ushistory.org/declarat -
Thomas Jefferson
He instilled a legacy of self-improvement through education that has remained central to the American dream. His revolutionary ideals for education were based on science and philosophy when almost all academics were based around religious sects. He proposed a system of public education to be tax-funded for 3 years for "all the free children, male and female", which was an unusual perspective for the time.
http://dailysignal.com/2013/04/14/18th-century-advice-thomas-jefferson-on-education-reform -
Horace Mann
Most Important
"Father of American Education", "Father of Common School". He was elected as Secretary of the Board of Education in Massachusetts. He led the Common School Movement, ensuring that every child could receive a basic education funded vby local texes. Over 6 years, he visited 1,000 schools and was not proud of the state of the schools. He said schools should be free and the same everywhere you go.
http://www.pbs.org/onlyateacher/horace.html -
1st legal case concerning Integration & Sarah Roberts
Most Important
Public schools were segregated.Benjamin Roberts, an African American father, tried to enroll his daughter, Sarah into a better school near their home. She was refused admission. Mr. Roberts sued the city of Boston for these actions against his daugher. The case went to the Supreme Court, they ruled against Sarah. They then took their case to the state legislature. In 1855 a law was passed abolishing segregation.
http://www.aaregistry.org/?q=historic_events/view/roberts-vs-city-bo -
Progressive Reform Movement
Many of the schools were in terrible condition. Education reformers called for making the schools, mainly those in cities, more sanitary, more open to air and sunlight, and more conducive to creative activity. They asked for lowered pupil-teacher ratios and added the provision of basic health care and food services to the responsibilities of the school.
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1061.html -
John Dewey
Most Important
Known as the "Father of Progressive Education. He established his own school at the University of Chicago. Dewey provided the intellectual foundation for progressive education. Dewey rejected the old, rigid, subject-centered curriculum in favor of the child-centered curriculum in which learning came by doing, exercising, and exploring outside and not memorization.
http://www.biography.com/people/john-dewey-9273497 -
Education during The Great Depression
After the stock market crash in 1929, the nation experienced the greatest depression we had ever known. Along with the failures of banks, businesses and factories the operation of schools also experienced a severe impact. In many states, schools were closed or the school year shortened. By 1934 an estimated 20,000 schools nationwide had closed, affecting more than 1 million pupils.
http://www.thenewamerican.com/reviews/opinion/item/10883-life-and-education-during-the-great-depression -
Brown vs. Board of Education
Most Important
As part of the civil rights movement, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that "...segregated educational facilities have no place in public education and generate a feeling of inferiority that affects the child's motivation to learn...". How can children succeed when they aren't given the same chance?
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_brown.html -
The Impact of the Civil Rights Movement
In 1964 the Civil Rights Act further involved the federal government in schools. One section prohibits discrimination against students on the basis of race, color, or national origin in all schools receiving federal funds. Another section forbids discrimination in employment based on race, religion, national orgin, or sex. The Civil Rights Act led to the Bilingual Education Act of 1974, the Indian Education Act of 1972, and others.
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/impact.html -
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
This is a federal law that requires schools to serve the educational needs of eligible students with disabilities. Students with disabilities have access to a free and appropriatae education, just like other children. Children with disabilities are now in mainstream schools, they are no longer isolated/hidden. In 2008, 95% of disabled students were educated in local schools. A large number of those students were in general education classes for at least part of the day.
http://www.apa.org/about/ -
No Child Left Behind
Said to be the most sweeping education reform legislation since the ESEA of 1965. NCLB required that by the 2005-06 school year all states must have developed standards for what every child should know and learn in math and reading and that 95% of all students in grades 3-8 be tested annually and at least once in grades 10-12 to determine their progress in meeting the standards.
http://www.ed.gov/esea
