U.S.

Education Timeline
CRISTOPHER GAMBOA
EDU 202 – 1002

Teachers, Schools, and Society: A Brief Introduction to Education 4th Edition

1600s

 1619 – In rare cases, religious groups, such as the Quakers, created special
schools for children of color.
 1635 – the Puritans established their first Latin grammar school in Boston.
 1636 – The first college in America was established – Harvard College.
 1647 – The Massachusetts Law of 1647, more community known as the Old
Deluder Satan Law – The Puritans’ attempt to thwart Satan’s trickery with
Scripture reading citizens---required that.
 Development of Elementary Schools
 Dame Schools (1600s)
 Local Schools (1600s – 1800s)
 Development of Secondary Schools
 Latin Grammar Schools (1600s – 1700s)
1700s

 Private teachers and night schools functioning in Philadelphia and New York,
teaching accounting, navigation, French, and Spanish.
 American education was reconstructed to meet broader, nonsectarian goals.
 1749 – Benjamin Franklin penned Proposals Relating to the Youth of
Pennsylvania.
 Land Ordinance Act and Northwest Ordinance (1785 and 1787)
 Development of Elementary Schools
 Local Schools (1600s – 1800s)
 Itinerant Schools (1700s) and Tutors (1600s – 1900s)
 Private Schools (1700s – 1800s)
 English Grammar Schools (1700s)
 Academies (1700s – 1800s)
 Development of Secondary Schools
 Latin Grammar Schools (1600s – 1700s)
1800s

 1824 – The federal government established the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
and began placing whole tribes of Native peoples on reservations.
 1822 – Sequoyah invented a Cherokee syllabary.
 1821 – the English Classical School enrolled 176 students (all boys) tell 1852 able
to maintain a similar school for girls.
 1874 – Kalamazoo, Michigan, case: the courts ruled that taxes could be used to
support secondary schools.
 Morrill Land Grant College Acts (1862 and 1890)
 Development of Elementary Schools
 Local Schools (1600s – 1800s)
 Private Schools (1700s – 1800s)
 Common Schools (1830 – Present)
 Academies (1700s – 1800s)
 High Schools (1800s – Present)
1900s

 The junior high school, first established in 1909 in Columbus, Ohio, included
grades 7, 8, and 9, and was designed to meet the unique needs of
preadolescents.
 1983 – A nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform.
 1919 – The Progressive Education Association
 1958 – National Defense Education Act (NDEA)
 Smith-Hughes Act (1917)
 Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (G.I. Bill of Rights, 1944)
 National Defense Education Act (1958)
 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965)
 Project Head Start (1964 – 1965)
 Billingual Education Act (1968)
 Title IX of the Education Ammendments (1972)
 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1975, 1991, 1997, 2004)
2000s

 No Child Left Behind Act (2001)

 Federal Government modifies NCLB, allowing states greater freedom in
evaluating students and teachers. (2011-present)