Chapter 7: History of Education in the United States

Noah Webster

"Schoolmaster of the Republic". Known for the American Spelling Book, published in 1783.

Unfunded mandate

A legally enforceable law without monetary support provided.

Compulsory Education Law

Requires children to attend school until a specific age.

Troy Female Seminary

1821; first endowed secondary school for girls.

McGuffey Readers

1836-1920. For almost 100 years, this reading series promoted a moral and patriotic message. The volumes were geared to specific levels and paved the way to the separation of elementary school into grade levels.

GI Bill of Rights

1944; paid veterans tuition and living expenses for a specific number of months depending on the length of their military service.

Black Law

A law that specifically forbade a school intended to educate African Americans from other states without the permission of local authorities.

Franklin Academy

A school that was oriented toward real-world, useful learning. It offered mathematics, astronomy, navigation, accounting, bookkeeping, French, and Spanish. It also accepted female students.

Hornbook

A single sheet of parchment containing the Lord's prayer and letters of the alphabet. It was protected by a thin sheath from the flattened horn of a cow fastened to a wooden board.

Old Deluder Satan Act

Because education was considered the best way to fight the devil, the act (also known as the Massachusetts Act of 1607) established that every town of 50 or more households must provide a school

W. E. B. Du Bois

Believed African Americans should pursue higher education in order to become leaders in politics and education.

National Defense Education Act of 1958

Called for strengthening of science, math, and foreign language programs; teachers were given training in the use of new materials in hopes of bringing American student learning up to, and beyond the levels of learning in other countries

17th Century Education

Colonists came to America for religious freedom so they established schools to bolster their beliefs. Colonial schools primarily served white males; dame schools and latin grammar schools. Education differed among the New England, middle, and southern colonies.

19th Century Education

Common schools were the first public, free American elementary schools. After the Civil war the first high schools began tp flourish. Kindergarten, with an activity-based curriculum, became common by the end of the 19th century. Normal schools were created to respond to the need for more teachers with preparation. Few educational opportunities for children with disabilities, of color, or poor immigrant children. Land-grant colleges were established as a result of Morrill Acts.

Common Schools

Community - supported elementary schools for all children established in response to many economic, social, and political factors.

Benjamin Bloom

Developed a way of classifying levels of intellectual behavior important in learning. Blooms taxonomy of learning objectives.

Town Schools

Early American schools established for whole communities; while some schools still limited curriculum to reading, writing, and the classics, specialized schools in the form of academies became popular.

PL 94-142

Education for all handicapped children act of 1975 granted children with disabilities the right to an education that meets their needs.

Elementary and Secondary Education Act

Enacted during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson to provide extra funding, called Title l funding, for schools with high number of children from low-income homes

Jane Addams

Established a settlement house in Chicago called the Hull House. Hull house provided education for both immigrant children and adults.

Kalamazoo case

Established that the legislature could tax for the support of both common and secondary schools, propelling public high schools into school systems in every state.

Emma Willard

Established the first institution of higher learning for females in 1821. Troy Female Seminary, in Troy, NY.

John Dewey

Established the first laboratory school at the University of Chicago. He believed that education should be experiential and child-centered, rather than subject driven. Created Progressive education.

Massachusetts Act of 1642

First compulsory education law in the New World; required all white children to attend school.

Latin Grammar School

First established in 1653 in Boston for boys whose families could afford to send them on for more education beyond the dame school; considered the forerunner of modern high school and specifically prepared boys to attend Harvard University.

New England Primer

First published in 1690 for children in upper elementary and secondary levels - The New England Primer included a spelling guide based on the alphabet denoted in brief rhymes and pictures, the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed, the Ten Commandments, and a list of the books of the Bible.

Mary McLeod Bethune

Founded Bethune-Cookman College. A school that began as a normal school to train female African-American teachers. It is now a 4-year coeducational HBCU.

Benjamin Franklin

Founded Franklin Academy; a school that was geared toward real-world, useful learning. Allowed students to choose some courses, the forerunner of modern day electives.

Prudence Crandall

Founded a school for neighborhood girls in Canterbury, CT. Believed strongly in the rights of African American students to an education.

Ralph Tyler

Had a major impact on curriculum development, with a contribution of 16 books and 700+ articles. He proposed that data concerning the needs of the learner, the needs of society, and the needs of the subject area should all be considered in the process of developing curricula. Also, responsible for initiating the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test.

Brown v. Board of Education

In 1954 Chief Justice Earl Warren declared that segregating children based solely on race was wrong and illegal - some schools integrated peacefully; others did not.

Dame Schools

In colonial days, dames were respected women who, usually without formal schooling, had learned to read and write and who turned their homes into schools where parents paid to have their children educated.

Maria Montessori

Insisted children's environments should be carefully constructed to allow them to sense their learning materials.

20th Century Education

John Dewey and the philosophy of progressive education fostered more active student participation. Junior highs then middle schools closed the gap between elementary and high schools (1950). In 1972, the education for all handicapped children act and title IX increased educational opportunities.

Horace Mann

Known as the Father of American Education. He believed that regular attendance in schools with quality teachers would serve to equalize opportunities for poor, African-American, and disabled children. He also advocated for common schools and established the first normal school.

Black Codes

Prior to the Civil War, predominantly in the South, Black Codes were enacted to prohibit the education of slaves.

18th Century Education

Private academies were secondary schools that went beyond what was taught in dame schools and town schools. Benjamin Franklin (Franklin Academy), Thomas Jefferson (Virginia Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge), and Noah Webster (American Spelling Book) were influential leaders that contributed to the expansion of educational opportunities.

Title IX of the Education Amendment Acts of 1975

Prohibited sexual discrimination in any education program receiving federal funding.

Booker T. Washington

Promoted vocational skills for African Americans. He viewed learning practical skills as a way of advancing socially and economically in the United States.

Virginia Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge

Proposed by Thomas Jefferson in 1779; it was meant to broader availability of education for more children, it was rejected by the Virginia legislature but it did raise awareness of the need and potential value of education among both lawmakers and the public.

Land Ordinance Act of 1785

Provided for the sale of federal lands in the Northwest Territory to support public schools; required townships in the newly settled territories bounded by the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and the Great Lakes to reserve a section of land for educational purposes.

Bilingual Education Act of 1968

Provided funds to assist non-English-speaking students (mostly-Hispanics) who were dropping out of high school at a rate of about 70%

Normal Schools

Publicly funded secondary schools specifically designed to prepare teachers for the classroom

Vocational Education Act of 1963

Quadrupled the amount of money allocated for vocational education

Thomas Jefferson

Raised awareness of the need and potential value of education among both lawmakers and the public. He believed that education was essential to the maintenance of a viable republic.

Private academies

Schools designed to teach content intended to prepare students to participate in business and trade.

Parochial schools

Schools that emphasized on religion, also taught more subjects than the New England schools. In the middle colonies.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Stipulates that if schools discriminate based on race, color, or national origin, they are not eligible for federal funding

Academies

The private or semipublic secondary schools in the United States from 1830-1870 that stressed practical subjects.

Friedrich Froebel

Viewed as the father of kindergarten, or "childrens garden".

State Board of Education

Volunteers who are either elected or appointed by the governor; state legislatures give state boards oversight authority; boards act in regulatory and advisory capacities

Catherine Beecher

Worked with Horace Mann to establish the first publicly funded institute for teacher preparation. In 1832, she established the Western Institute for Women.

W. H. McGuffey

Wrote stories and poetry that appealed to the interests of students. His stories promoted truth, honesty, and hard work.

Morrill Act

in 1862 the government granted state 30,000 acres of land for every senator and representative in Congress in 1860. The income the state generated from this land was to be used to support at least one college.

Progressive Education

in 1896 John Dewey established a method of involving students in their own learning through cooperative groups, which grew into a major movement with far-reaching implications; interests guide what is learned about traditional subjects