Timeline of Important Events in American 

Education 
 
Date   Event  Explanation 
(Stakeholders) 

1635  First Public School  - secondary school 

- was open to all males 
regardless of social 
status 
-goal was to prepare 
students for university 

1896  Plessy V. Ferguson  - ”separate but equal” 

- separated african 
american americans 
from whites 
- a huge turning point 

1946  School Lunches For All  - signed by president 

Truman 
- goal was to prevent 
malnutrition  
- started when WW2 
soldiers had bad 
nutrition due to poor 
school lunches 

1954  Brown V. Board  -african american female 

student attended a white 
school 
-police escorted to 
school 
-turning point in history 
-african americans were 
now joining white 
schools  

1957  Math & Science Take  - American fell behind 

Precedence  Soviet Union due to 
limited math and science 
programs during the war 
- America became 
panicked and enforced 
math and science in 
 schools 

1970  Test Results Reported to  - teachers had to start 

Gov.  teaching to “the test” 
- standardized testing 
began and scores were 
being sent to the govt. 
-evaluated teachers and 
students 

1972  Title 9 Became a Law  -no discrimination 

between men & women in 
athletics 
-all schools who received 
financial aid from the 
govt. were impacted 
-many rallies in 
Washington D.C occured 

1983  A Nation At Risk  -standards for schools 

were put in place 
-caused by American 
schools not performing 
well 
-teacher evaluations 
started  

2001  No Child Left Behind  -signed by president 

George W. Bush 
-impacted students, 
parents and teachers 
-states require students 
need to reach proficient 
-addresses special 
education in schools 
-all public schools in 
America 

2004  FERPA & IDEA  -family education right 

to privacy (FERPA) 
-parents able to view all 
of their students records 
-protects student privacy  

2015  ESSA  - signed by president 

Obama 
-includes provisions that 
ensures students and 
schools throughout the 
country 
-further expands 
educational 
opportunities and 
improves outcomes for 
students  
-replaces the “No Child 
Left Behind” act