Guerrero 1

Gisselle Guerrero

Instructor Sgobba

EDU 201- 2002

2 October 2021

United States Education Timeline

1600’s – 1700’s:

 1600- Schooling was not in existence, children often had chores around the home.

The girls’ chores around the home consisted of sewing, cooking, and cleaning.

The boys helped around the farm often guided by their fathers.

 1635 - The first Latin Grammar School called the Boston Latin School is

established. Latin Grammar Schools are designed for boys who were destined for

leadership positions in churches, state courts, or other positions of leadership.

 1635 - The state of Virginia opens the first "free school" in the United States. It

was the first place where children were taught as a group by one teacher opposing

to the education provided by the parent, tutors, or private masters that was still

very common in southern colonies.

 1636 - Harvard College, the first higher education institution in what is now the

United States, is established in Newtown (present Cambridge), Massachusetts

 1638 – Thomas Hooker became founder of Hartford Public High School,

established in Hartford Connecticut. It is the second oldest secondary school in

the United States.

 Guerrero 2

 1638 - Americas first printing press was set up at Harvard College by Mrs.

Glover. The printing press innovated the way books were copied.

 1642 - The First Compulsory Education Law is passed. This law stated that

parents or schoolmasters of children are required to provide them with the basic

education in reading, writing, and the colony's capitol laws.

 1647 - The Massachusetts Law of 1647 is passed. It ordered that every town of at

least 50 families needed to hire a schoolmaster who would teach the town's

children to read and write and that all towns of at least 100 families should have a

Latin grammar school master who will prepare students to attend Harvard

College.

 1664 – Education was spreading around the country; the Dutch colony New

Netherland had already set up elementary schools in most of their towns.

 1690 - John Locke published “Essay Concerning Human Understanding”, in

which he writes about his belief that the human mind is a blank slate, at birth.

Locke believed that knowledge is derived through experience, rather than innate

ideas. Locke's views concerning the mind and learning made a great impact in

American education.

 1690 - Written by Benjamin Harris, the first New England Primer is printed in

Boston. The primer was designed to prepare young children to read the Bible and

religious principles. It becomes the most widely used schoolbook in New

England. The primer remained in use for more than 150 years.

 1693 - John Locke's Some Thoughts Concerning Education is published, put

together through a series of letter to a friend Locke Describes his views on

 Guerrero 3

educating upper class boys to be moral, rationally thinking young gentlemen.

Locke believed that purpose of education was to raise children to be virtuous.

 1693 - The College of William and Mary is established in Virginia. It is the

second oldest higher college to open in colonial America and has the distinction

of being Thomas Jefferson's college attending from 1762-1764.

 1698 – Provided by its governance the first publicly supported library in the U.S.

is established in Charles Town, South Carolina. Two years later, the General

Assembly of South Carolina passes the first public library law.

1700’s – 1800’s

 1700- Hornbooks were wooden planks with lessons printed on them become

popular during the colonial times, hornbook served the function of teaching

children to read, learn math or to receive religious instruction.

 1710 - Christopher Dock, a Mennonite (members of certain Christian groups) and

one of Pennsylvania's most famous educators, opens a school in Montgomery

County, Pennsylvania. Dock's book, Schul-Ordnung (meaning school

management) was the first book on teaching method, published in 1770. Typical

of those in the middle colonies, schools in Pennsylvania are established by the

Mennonites, the Quakers, and other religious groups as well.

 1740- many colonies instituted laws forbidding slaves to learn to read or write and

making it a crime for others to teach them.

 1743 - Benjamin Franklin forms the American Philosophical Society, which helps

bring ideas of the European Enlightenment, including those of John Locke, to

colonial America. Emphasizing secularism, science, and human reason, these

 Guerrero 4

ideas clashed with the religious beliefs of the colonies and were very

controversial.

 1751 - Benjamin Franklin helps to establish the first "English Academy" in

Philadelphia with a curriculum that is both classical and modern, he taught in

English instead of Latin. The English Academy focus on subjects including such

as history, geography, navigation. The academy becomes the University of

Pennsylvania.

 1766 - The Moravians (one of the oldest Protestant denominations in Christianity

from central Europe), establish the village of Salem in North Carolina. Six years

later, they found a school for girls, which later becomes Salem College, a liberal

arts college for women that is still currently running.

 1785 - Noah Webster writes A Grammatical Institute of the English Language,

the three volumes: a spelling book, a grammar book, and a reading book. They

become very widely used throughout the United States. The spelling volume is

still in use to this day.

 1785- The University of Georgia becomes "America's first state-chartered

university receiving public funds from the state.

 1794- The first African Free School in lower Manhattan, was established children

of both free and enslaved blacks were taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and

geography.

1800’s-1900

 1801 - James Pillans invents the modern blackboard. This changes the way

children were taught due to more simple demonstration.

 Guerrero 5

 1805- New York Public School Society formed by wealthy businessmen to

provide education for poor children. Schools are run on the Lancasterian method

of education, the master gives a rote lesson to the older students, who then pass it

down to the younger students.

 1817 - Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc are the co-founders of

The Connecticut Asylum at Hartford for the Instruction of Deaf Persons. It is the

first permanent school for the deaf in the U.S.

 1820- First public high school in the U.S., Boston English, opens.

 1823 - Catherine Beecher founds a private school for girls in Hartford,

Connecticut named The Hartford Female Seminary. Beecher goes on to open

more schools and become a prolific writer. Her sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe who

was a widely influential abolitionist, is the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

 1829 - The New England Asylum for the Blind, now the Perkins School for the

Blind, opens in Massachusetts, it was the first school in the U.S. for children with

visual disabilities.

 1836 - The first of William Holmes McGuffey's readers is published. Their

secular tone sets them apart from the Puritan texts of the day. The McGuffey

Readers are among the most influential textbooks of the 19th Century.

 1837 - Horace Mann becomes Secretary of the newly formed Massachusetts State

Board of Education.

 1837 – Women students arrive at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, the first

college for women in the U.S.

 Guerrero 6

 1837 - The African Institute later known as the Institute for Colored Youth opens

in Cheyney, Pennsylvania. Now called Cheyney University, it the oldest

institution of higher learning for African Americans.

 1839 - The first state funded school specifically for teacher education (then

known as "normal" schools) opens in Lexington, Massachusetts.

 1852 - Massachusetts enacts the first mandatory attendance law. By 1885, 16

states have compulsory-attendance laws, they state that parents of the children

will receive fines if not complying. All states have them by 1918.

 1854 -The Boston Public Library opens to the public. It is the first "free municipal

library" in the U.S.

 1855 - The University of Iowa is first state university to admit men and women on

an equal basis.

 1856 - The first kindergarten in the U.S. is started in Watertown, Wisconsin, by

Margarethe Schurz. Others are opened withing the next five years.

 1857 - The National Teachers Association (now known as the National Education

Association) is founded by forty-three educators in Philadelphia.

 1859 – One of the most controversial ideas proposed by Charles Darwin's is The

Origin of Species, published on November 24, introducing his theory that species

evolve through the process of natural selection, and setting the stage for the

controversy surrounding teaching the theory of evolution in public schools. At

this point in time religion was the way of life, many people found the idea wrong

and is still controversial to present day.

 1863 - President Lincoln signs the "Emancipation Proclamation" on January 1.

 Guerrero 7

 1865 - The 13th Amendment is passed, abolishing slavery.

 1875 - The Civil Rights Act is passed, banning segregation in all public

accommodations. The Supreme Court rules it unconstitutional in 1883.

1900’s-2000’s

 1900 - The Association of American Universities is founded to promote higher

standards and put U.S. universities on an equal footing with their European

counterparts. Putting an emphasis on competitive education.

 1909 - For the improvement regarding high school graduation rates, the Columbus

Ohio School Board authorizes the creation of junior high schools. Indianola

Junior High School opens in Columbus Ohio that fall and is the first junior high

school in the U.S.

 1911 - The first Montessori school in the U.S. opens in Tarrytown, New York.

Montessori schools are based on self-directed activity and hands-on learning.

Maria Montessori visits the U.S., and Alexander Graham Bell and his wife Mabel

found the Montessori Educational Association at their Washington, DC, home

 1916 - John Dewey's Democracy and Education. An Introduction to the

Philosophy of Education is published. This brings many different ideas of the

beliefs of teaching to mind.

 1945- At the end of World War 2, the G.I. Bill of Rights gives thousands of

working-class men college scholarships for the first time in U.S. history. The G.I.

Bill is still in use today. It is one of the leading reasons why many U.S. citizens

join today.
 Guerrero 8

 1956 - Twelve African American students, known as the "Clinton12,"

successfully integrate Clinton High School in Clinton, Tennessee. This does not

mean that the White families, students, and teacher agreed and accepted the

African American students.

 1959 - The ACT Test is first administered. An entrance exam used by most

colleges and universities to make admission decisions.

 1960 -First grader Ruby Bridges is the first African American to attend William

Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. She then becomes a class of one as

parents remove all White students from the school as they did not accept it.

 1991 - The smart board (interactive white board) is introduced by SMART

Technologies. This is a time where technology is making it was to the workplace,

school, and everyday life.

 1992 - City Academy High School, the nation's first charter school, opens in St.

Paul, Minnesota making it the start to more charter schools opening up.

2000’s – present:

 2001 - The controversial No Child Left Behind Act is approved by Congress

and signed into law by President George W. Bush on January 8, 2002. The

law, replaces the Bilingual Education Act of 1968, mandates high-stakes

student testing, holds schools accountable for student achievement levels, and

penalized for schools that do not yearly improvement toward meeting the

goals of No Child Left Behind.

 2003 - The Higher Education Act is again amended and reauthorized,

expanding access to higher education for low- and middle-income students, it

 Guerrero 9

provided additional funds for graduate studies. Invested nearly $100 million in

2011 to help more than 1.3 million of the poorest Americans pay for college

 2003 - The International Association for K-12 Online Learning a non-profit

organization dedicated to enhancing K-12 online education, is launched as a

formal corporate and its own take on a new way of viewing education. It

marks a start to a different type of schooling that is solely done through a

computer.

 2007 - On January 1, 2007, the American Association on Mental Retardation

became the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental

Disabilities. It looks down on offensive term. Encouraging others toward use

of the term “intellectual disability” in place of “mental retardation”.

 2010 - With the U.S. economy revisited the "great recession" and

unemployment remaining high, states have massive budget deficits.

Thousands of teachers face layoffs throughout the U.S.

 2014 – As the times change within sexual orientation acceptance as well as

gender identity The Minnesota State High School League votes adopting a

policy allowing transgender students to join female sports teams. Minnesota

joins 32 other states to have a formal transgender student policy.

 2015 – Former president Obama joins the "too-much-testing" movement. As

this movement believed that testing could hurt a student’s education rather

than advance it. Obama’s plan called for limiting "standardized testing to no

more than 2% of class time and to make any tests necessary purposeful.
 Guerrero 10

 2015 - On December 9, the U.S. Senate votes 85-12 to approve Every Student

Succeeds Act, former President Obama signs it into law on December 10. This

latest version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act replaces No

Child Left Behind and allows more state control in judging school quality.

 2017 - Former President Donald Trump cancels the Obama administration's

controversial transgender bathroom directive.

 2018 - Thousands of students across the nation walk out of classrooms on

March 14 demanding changes in gun laws as hundreds of parents, teachers,

and friends remember that lives lost in past school shootings.

 2020 - On March 11, the World Health Organization declares COVID-19 a

pandemic. Two days later, former President Trump declares a national

emergency. States close schools, and many colleges and universities suspend

in-person classes as the country comes up with ways to continue School.

 2020- All schools including elementary school, middle school, high school,

colleges, and universities, go virtual in the attempt to continue education.

 2020 - Though COVID-19 still exist and numbers if the disease continue to

increase in many parts of the country, states begin to implement their plans for

reopening K-12 schools this fall. While many major universities will offer

primarily online classes for the fall semester, others still plan to provide "in-

person" instruction.

 2021- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services directs states to

make teachers and other school staff eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations.
 Guerrero 11

 2021- Children are back to in person schooling. Schools still require masks

and social distancing, as well as educating the children to wash their hands

often.
 Guerrero 12

Works Cited

Sass, Edmund. “American Educational History: A Hypertext Timeline.” Eds-recourses, 2

September 2021. Eds-recources.com

Sweetland, Robert. “American Education Timeline of Significant People & Events.” Historical

Timelines, 6 October 2021. Homeofbob.com

“11 Facts about the History of Education in America”. American board blog, 1 July 2015.

Americanboardblog.com

“Historical Timeline of Public Education in the U.S.”. 40 race forward Catalyzing Racial

Justice, 13 April 2006. Raceforward.org

Caitlyn, Emma. “Education Department: Too much testing, partly our fault”. Politico, 24

October 2015. Politico.com

“Help your community”. Making Schools Work with Hendrick Smith, September 2005.

PBS.org.

“Important Events of 1800’s-1860’s”. 1800-1860: Education: Chronology, 2019.

Encyclopedia.com

Parkay, Forrest W. Becoming a Teacher Eleventh Edition. Pearson, 2019.