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Harvard University established in Cambridge, MA
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Colonial America and the Early Democracy
With emphasis on frontier survival and agriculture, most education was reserved for vocations, clergymen, and the wealthy. Children would take the place of their parents.
Noah Webster: Building a national identity and culture through common history and legends. -
Horace Mann, “The Common School Journal”
The School Reform movement begins; Education as the great equalizer. Providing free, high quality education for all could enable upward mobility for all American families. -
Potato Famine begins in Ireland
The Great Hunger leads to increased emigration, including one million new Irish-Americans. -
National Education Association established
(National Teachers Association until 1870.) Commissioned and published several studies advocating for a traditional programme of Education, calling back to emphasis on subject matter. -
Morrill Act
Amongst other things, allocated land for new, centralized public school facilities across the country. -
US Civil War ends; Reconstruction begins
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John Dewey - “School and Society”
The father of the Progressive movement in education stressed the development of the whole child: Social, Intellectual, Physical, and Emotional facets must all be nurtured. Schools become a means of socializing children, and teaching evolved, so as to better engage and interest the learner. -
Mass production of the Ford Model T begins in Detroit
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The Great War ends with the Treaty of Versailles
During WWI, Lewis Terman had administered an IQ test to approximately 1.7 million soldiers, and had used the results to determine individual capacity for particular roles (Officer corps, administration, unskilled/front line, etc.). After the war, he pushed for this system to be used in classrooms. (Social Efficiency) -
SAT testing introduced by the College Board
Results showed a strong racial and cultural bias inherent to the test questions, but were initially interpreted as affirming white superiority. -
Child Labor abolished in the US
(Fair Labor Standards Act), after unsuccessful attempts at regulation by Congress in 1918, ‘22, and ‘24 were struck down by the Supreme Court.
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USA enters World War 2
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G.I. Bill sends servicemen to college
Nearly half (7.8 million) of American veterans will participate in postwar education or other training programs. Link text -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, KS
Separate but Equal inherently unequal and therefore unconstitutional. It would take ten years and the financial incentives and penalties offered by the federal government and LBJ in the Covil Rights Act of 1964 before Brown was widely enforced. -
Sputnik Launched; Space Race begins
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High School diploma widely considered a necessity
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Ruby Bridges escorted to school
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Civil Rights Act
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Voting Rights Act
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Busing begins; Gentrification segregates entire communities
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Supreme Court strikes down Detroit busing plan
Gentrification would be preserved as a means of leveraging economic power to isolate and segregate entire neighborhoods and school districts. -
Title IX expands opportunities for women in education
Dorothy Raffel and co-ed programs. Women would grow in every area of education, including sports and postgraduate work. -
Lau v. Nichols - Bilingual Education required in schools
An equal education requires diversified learning tools and avenues for all students. -
“A Nation at Risk” published
Under the Reagan Administration, the National Commission on Excellence in Education published an alarming report claiming that the US was growing more vulnerable as its relative educational standing waned compared to other nations. This further increased focus on certain core subjects and on rigorous testing. -
No Child Left Behind Act
Links federal funding bonuses and penalties with school test scores - ostensibly rewarding schools for good teaching, in practice it disproportionately affects underserved communities and the growth it mandates results in a dangerously limited curriculum: teaching to the test. This fails to live up to any of Marsh’s Three Focal Points (Subject matter, Society, or the Individual) -
USA Global Ranking
From the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA, 2015): Out of 71 countries, the US ranks 38th in Math and 24th in Science.
Link text From the CIA World Factbook: Education expenditure, 5% of GDP (69th). In a 2016 study by the Department of Education, the literacy rate in the USA is 86%, with 32 million adults unable to read, and 21% of adults reading below a 5th grade level.