Abigail Snyder

Edu 2002
10/13/2021

American education timeline

1600’s
 In 1635 the first Latin grammar school is established in Boston Massachusetts.
 In 1635 the first free school is opened in Virginia; in most colonies schooling was taught
at home.
 1636 Harvard College is established as the first higher education school.
 The Massachusetts Act of 1642 the First Compulsory Education Law that mandated
education, if parents did not teach their children how to read and write they were
subjected to lose custody of them.
 In 1638 the first printing press is set up which was at Harvard College.
 In 1640 Henry Dunster is the president of Harvard college and teaches all the courses.
 The Massachusetts act of 1647 or otherwise known as the Old Deluder Satan Act
mandated that in town of more than 50 were to have one schoolteacher to instruct how to
read and write.
 In 1690 the New England Primer is the first used schoolbook.
 In 1690 John Locke published his Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which
greatly influenced the foundations of American education.
 In 1693 John Locke also publishes Some Thoughts Concerning Education in which he
describes his opinions on educating kids morally.
1700’s
 In 1710 Christopher Dock arrives from Germany and opens a school in Montgomery
County, PA.
 I n 1734 Christian Wolff describes the mind having powers and faculties, which is called
Faculty Psychology and it greatly influenced American education
 In 1743 Benjamin Franklin configures the American Philosophical Society, which
emphasizes secularism, science and reason.
 In 1751 Benjamin Franklin established the first English Academy which then later
becomes the university of Pennsylvania.
 In 1762 Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s book Emile on education is published which describes
his views on education.
 From 1783-1785 Noah Webster writes A Grammatical Institute of the English Language,
A spelling book, a grammar book, and a reader.
 In 1785 The university of Georgia become the first state-chartered university in America.
 In 1789 the University of North Carolina is the only public school to hand out degrees in
the 18th century
 In 1791 the Bill of Rights is passed by the first congress and now education is a function
of the state rather than federally.
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 In 1778/1779 Thomas Jefferson authors the Bill for the More General Diffusion of
Knowledge which provides a more comprehensive plan for public education.
1800’s
 In 1817 the Connecticut Asylum at Hartford for the Instruction of Deaf and Dumb
Persons opens. It is the first permanent school for the deaf.
 In 1823 Catherine Beecher founds the Hartford Female Seminary.
 In 1827 Massachusetts passes a law that towns who have more than 500 families must
have a public high school available to all students.
 In 1836 William Holms McGuffey/s first readers is published. It sets the secular tone that
differentiates between the puritan texts of before.
 In 1837 Horace Mann becomes the secretary for the Massachusetts state Board of
Education.
 In 1837 the African Institute (now called the Cheyney institute becomes the first
institution for higher learning for African Americans.
 In 1849 the case of Roberts vs. city of Boston the court rules that Boston Public schools
can deny the enrollment of African American children to segregated white-only schools.
 In 1852 Massachusetts law requires mandatory attendance.
 In 1854 the Boston Public Library opens, and it is the first free municipal library in the
United States.
 In 1855 the University of Iowa is the first university to “admit all men and women on an
equal basis.”
 In 1856 the first kindergarten school is opened and was founded by Margarethe Schurz.
 In 1867 the Department of Education is created
 In 1881 Booker T. Washington is the first principal of the new normal school in
Tuskegee, Alabama.
1900’s
 In 1904 Mary McLeod Bethune who is an African American educator founds the
Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School it eventually merges with Cookman
institute and become a coeducational college.
 in 1911 the first Montessori school opens in New York.
 In 1913 Edward Lee Thorndike’s influential book Educational Psychology; the
psychology of learning is published.
 In 1916 the American Federation of Teaches (AFT) is founded.
 In 1916 John Dewey’s Democracy and Education an Introduction to the Philosophy of
Education is published.
 In 1919 the Progressive Education Association is founded with the intention to reform
education in America.
 In 1919 every state has a law providing funding to transport children to school.
 IN 1925 the case of Tennessee vs John Scopes was the trail of high school biology
teacher is charged with teaching evolution; this controversy still lives on today.
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 In 1954 the Brown vs Board of Education case reaches a decision and announces that
separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.
 In 1960 Ruby Bridges is the first African American to attend William Frantz Elementary
school.
 In 1990 the Americans with Disabilities Act becomes a law.
2000’s
 In 2002 the No Child Left Behind Act is approved by congress. The accountability
component of this act was huge and is still felt to this day.
 In 2003 The International Association for K-12 Online Learning an organization that
enhances online learning is launched.
 In 2003 the Higher Education Act is reauthorized; this helps middle to lower income
students to receive funds for graduate studies.
 In 2004 IDEA The Individuals with Disabilities Act is reauthorized and requires school
districts to use the Response to Intervention (RIT) approach for early identification for
students at risk for learning disabilities.
 In 2008 Barrack Obama is elected and many changes come to the No Child Left Behind
act.
 In 2009 the Common Core State Standards Initiative is launched, and most states adopt
them.
 In 2009 The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act provides 90 billion dollars for
education which prevents lay-offs and school modernization.
 In 2010 the Texas social studies curriculum causes controversy, with its conservative
teachings.
 In 2015 Barrack Obama announces a plan to allow two free years of community college
for students.
 In 2015 Barrack Obama signs Every Student Succeeds act (ESSA)
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In the 1600’s education was mostly taught within the household and reading, and

writing was to help understand the bible. There were several important people during that

century that were extremely important in American Education. John Locke was one of

the most important people in this century regarding the philosophy education saying that

every person at birth has a blank slate people acquire knowledge by experience. In 1642

the First Compulsory Education Law was the first law that mandated education, this law

required parents and masters to provide an education for children to learn the basics of

literacy.

In the 1700’s education started to become more essential to the American people,

for example, Benjamin Franklin established the American Philosophy Society to further

enhance American education, In the 1700’s, education foundations were expanded.

Higher education and public education seemed to be the focus of the century. The

University of Georgia was established as the first state charted school in America, and

The University of North Carolina hands out the first degrees of the 18th century. Public

schools are now regulated by the states instead of the federal government.

America was progressing at a very rapid rate and that includes education. In the

1800’s American education advanced in many ways; secular text was becoming more

popular rather than puritan text that was being taught. The first public institution to admit

both men and women was the University of Iowa, which was obviously an extremely

progressive way of thinking during that time. In 1867 the Department of Education was

created and is which was to establish useful ways of maintaining schools. A couple of

Important people who had a profound effect on education in the 1800’s was Horace
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Mann who became the secretary of the Board of Education, and William Holms

McGuffey who published a reader that was more focused with secular ideas.

In the 1900’s American education had many challenges from the first Montessori

schools opening to segregation. Some of the most important events in education

happened during the 1900’s Brown vs. The Board of Education is probably the most well

know case in America. In the 1960’s segregation in schools was a controversial topic and

when Ruby Bridges was the first African American to go to an all-white school, people in

America were shocked and changed the education system forever.

In the 2000’s a lot of legislation was passed in terms of standardized testing. The

No Child Left Behind Act that was passed in 2002 was a huge change in the educational

system it was a law that held school accountable for test scores and achievements, this act

would be later replaced by Every Student Succeeds Act out in place in 2008. Other

legislation included the IDEA act which was reauthorized and required schools to

implement the RTI approach in identifying student who maybe at risk of a learning

disability.
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Works Cited

“American Educational History Timeline.” Www.eds-Resources.com, www.eds-

resources.com/educationhistorytimeline.

Vitalsource.com, 2015, bookshelf.vitalsource.com/reader/books/9780135185216/epubcfi/6/88.

Accessed 14 Oct. 2021.

‌Kelly. “History 120: The Massachusetts School Law of 1642 and 1647.” History 120, 15 Feb.

2011, furtadokelly.blogspot.com/2011/02/massachusetts-school-law-of-1642-and.html.

“No. 733: First U.S. Press.” Uh.edu, uh.edu/engines/epi733.htm.

“6. New England; the Massachusetts Law of 1647. XXIII. Education. Vol. 17. Later National

Literature, Part II. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature: An

Encyclopedia in Eighteen Volumes. 1907–21.” Www.bartleby.com,

www.bartleby.com/227/1606.html. Accessed 14 Oct. 2021.

‌Szalay, Jessie. “What Was the Enlightenment?” Live Science, Live Science, 8 July 2016,

www.livescience.com/55327-the-enlightenment.html.

‌Biography.com Editors. “Horace Mann.” Biography, 30 Dec. 2016,

www.biography.com/scholar/horace-mann.

‌U.S. Department of Education. “Federal Role in Education.” Ed.gov, 25 May 2017,

www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/role./www.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/role.
‌“Montessori, Maria Montessori, MD, Montessori Method, Montessori Schools, Montessori,
Italy, India, Nobel Peace Prize.” Montessori.edu, 2019, www.montessori.edu/maria.html.
‌Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954) (USSC+). 6 Nov. 2001,
nationalcenter.org/ncppr/2001/11/06/brown-v-board-of-education-347-u-s-483-1954-

ussc/.

‌Biography.com Editors. “Ruby Bridges.” Biography, 28 Apr. 2017,

www.biography.com/activist/ruby-bridges.
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“No Child Left behind - ED.gov.” Ed.gov, 2019, www2.ed.gov/nclb/landing

U.S. Department of Education. “Individuals with Disabilities Education Act | IDEA.” Ed.gov,

2017, sites.ed.gov/idea/.

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