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Period of significant immigration
In excess of 22 million immigrants move to the United States -- a wave of individuals that included more than 3 million children.
Excerpt from School: The Story of American Public Education, 1900-1950 -
"The Contents of Children's Minds" is published
Article by developmentalist G. Stanley Hall (a professor at Johns Hopkins who became the president of Clark University). Hall resisted a universal and strictly academic approach to education. He promoted differentiated instruction based on a child's individual needs and path in life. -
Committee of Ten report
NEA calls for a standardized high school curriculum that includes science. Formed in 1892, the committee hoped to address the difficulty schools had in meeting a variety of college entrance requirements. Committee chairman, Charles Eliot, was a humanist and the president of Harvard University. The academic nature of the report failed to be inclusive or responsive to rapid social change.
The Traditional High School article -
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John Dewey's Laboratory School in operation
The school was established in Chicago. Dewey's vision of education included the arts and scientific exploration, as well as an emphasis on helping mold students into good citizens. This stood in stark contrast to the rote learning that was common practice in public schools of the time.
[LabSchool article] (file:///C:/Users/elizabeth/Downloads/ISCHE-2016LabSchoollongversion.pdf) -
Plessy vs. Ferguson
Supreme Court declares "separate but equal" constitutional. -
The School and Society by John Dewey is published
Dewey deemed "the father of progressive education." Inspired a curriculum based on practical, well-rounded activities that would interest students. Served as the basis for the creation of schools like those in Gary, IN designed by William Wirt. -
Social Control by Edward Ross is published
Social efficiency educators, like David Snedden and John Bobbitt, use the work of Edward Ross and scientific management specialist Frederick Taylor as the foundation for their curriculum theories which focus on school management. -
Douglas Commission (Massachusetts Commission on Technical and Industrial Education)
Commission tasked with designing a more utilitarian curriculum demanded by both the developmentalists and the social meliorists for the betterment of both the individual student and society as a whole. Resulted in the creation of vocational schools. -
Henry Goddard promotes the use of IQ testing in public schools
Goddard translates French psychologist Alfred Binet's intelligence testing for use in schools as a means of evaluating children. Goddard's work is supported by Edward Thorndike, whose studies discredit the notion of mental discipline. Later, Lewis Terman uses a version of the Stanford-Binet test to evaluate soldiers and students.
APA article -
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America's involvement in WWI
Only 20% of soldiers have an 8th grade education.
Interactive WWI timeline -
Smith-Hughes Act
Funded vocational education programs in public schools. Businessmen and unions hoped it would produce a steady stream of skilled workers to fix the nation's labor shortage.
Britannica article -
Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education
Published by the NEA's Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education, the document emphasized the need for courses addressing personal health, ethics, civics, and leisure.
Copy of the report -
The Senior High School Curriculum by George Counts is published
Counts, a social reconstructionist, believed that schools could be used to reform society. He was very concerned about social and economic inequalities. -
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The Great Depression
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Eight Year Study
Educational reformers believed that college requirements were impeding curriculum changes. The Committee on the Relation of School and College was formed under the direction of Wilford Aikin. Roughly 3,600 students from 29 high schools participated in the study. Many schools combined subjects into a core curriculum, outlined in Harold Alberty's book Reorganizing the High-School Curriculum (1947). -
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High school enrollment drops from 6.7 million to 5.5 million
Declining enrollment is probably due to the effects of the Great Depression and WWII, but reformers blame disinterest in schooling on prevalence of academic subjects. -
Period: to
America's involvement in WWII
Nearly 70% of soldiers have an 8th grade education. Schools are charged with promoting and preserving democratic ideals, improving ethnic relations, and providing civilians with appropriate training.
Complete WWII timeline -
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Life adjustment education
Anti-intellectual movement promoted by Charles Prosser, based on the premise that only 20% of America's youth is fit for intellectual studies.
Life Adjustment article by Sister Mary Janet
Coursera video from American Education: History, Policy, Practice -
Brown vs. Board of Education
Supreme Court declares segregation in public schools unconstitutional. -
Sputnik
The Soviet Union launches the world's first satellite into orbit. -
National Defense Education Act
Billions in federal funds allotted to provide for improvements in math and science curricula. A large portion of the funding is distributed by the National Science Foundation for the creation of high school science labs.
Eisenhower's Address on science education
