The History of American Education
Heather WilsonEDU 324
Instructor: John GloverJuly 1, 2013
April 23, 1635 – The Founding of the Boston
Public SchoolThis was the very first public school that was created. This school was
made for boys from the ages of eight to fifteen and was created to prepare
the young men for college. This school was meant to prepare the young men for leadership for the court, state, and
church.
April 26, 1636 – Harvard College was Established
Established in Newtowne, Massachusetts. This college was the
very first college in the United States. The school was named after John
Harvard.
April 14, 1642 – The Massachusetts Bay School
LawThis was the first place to pass a law in
the New World declaring that the children should be taught how to read
and to write. The law was based on the Puritan lifestyle.
January 24, 1690 – The New England Primer
More than five million copies of this text book was sold. This was the textbook that was used in New
England and in many other English settlements in America.
August 13, 1751 – The First American Academy
Founded in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin. The purpose of this academy
was to prepare the students for employment.
April 16, 1779 – Proposal of the Two-Track System
Created by Thomas Jefferson. The two tracks were the laborers and the
learners. This was a way to separate the wealthy from the less fortunate.
April 16, 1785 – The Land Ordinance of 1785
This ordinance divided the western territories, making them into
townships. One of the townships was set aside to be the maintenance of the
public schools.
May 27, 1787 – Young Ladies Academy
This was the very first academy made for girls. It was established in
Philadelphia.
January 1, 1805 – The First Monitorial School System
Created by Joseph Lancaster and Andrew Bell. The purpose of the
school was to crate masses by having one of the better and educated
students be taught by the teacher and then that student would teach to the
other students.
April 16, 1817 – Connecticut Asylum at
HartfordFounded by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet
and Laurent Clerc. It was created for Instruction of Deaf and Special Ed
people.
1821 – Boston English High School
This was the first public high school. The high school opened in Boston,
Massachusetts.
1837- Horace Mann joined the Board of Education
He was the Secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of
Education. He believed that school should be free and also worked to
increase funding for the public schools and tried to better teachers training.
1856 – The First Kindergarten
Founded in Watertown, Wisconsin by Margarethe Schurz.
1867- The Department of Education
Created to help the states create effective school systems.
October 16, 1896 – Plessy vs. Ferguson
This was a Supreme Court case that was “separate but equal”. This case helped with the segregation laws.
May 7, 1919 – Transportation
This was a law that was passed by the states to provided funds for the
transportation to and from school.
April 17, 1962 – Engal vs. Vitale
In this Supreme Court case it is rules that the state of New York’s prayer is a
violation of the First Amendment.This is a lawsuit that happened to end prayer in the schools throughout the
United States.
July 2, 1964 – Civil Rights Act
This is a law that prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, color, religion, or national origin.
April 17, 1975 – Education of All Handicapped
Children ActThis act requires a free; public school
education that is suited to the individual handicapped child’s needs,
and has to be offered in the least restrictive way.
January 8, 2002 – No Child Left Behind Law (NCLB)
This law holds schools accountable for the student achievement levels. It also
provides penalties to those schools that do no progress toward the goals
of the NCLB.
January 24, 2012 – State of Union Address
President Barack Obama wants to require students to stay in school until they either graduate or until they are
at the age of eighteen years old.
References
• Gaither, M. (2011). History of American education. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
• (2013). American Educational History: A Hypertext Timeline. Retrieved on June 24, 2013 from http://www.eds-resources.com/educationhistorytimeline.html.
• Images retrieved from google.com/images.
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