American Educational History
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This page was scanned for broken links and updated on October 21, 2021.











Index: Education Timelines; Individuals, Theories, and Theorists; Laws, Events, Court Cases; Essays, Articles, etc.  

Education-Related Timelines:
American Educational History: A Hypertext Timeline
My latest Web project, this annotated, clickable timeline of American educational history extends from 1607 to the 21st Century. See the accompanying activity, American Educational History: What's Most Important?

A Brief History of Education in America
1642 to 2009.

History of American Education Web Project

Not exactly a timeline, but organized chronologically. It is among the best educational history sites on the Web.

Timeline of School Integration in the U.S.
From Teaching Tolerance. See also Timeline of Events Leading to the Brown v. Board of Education Decision, 1954.

Historical Timeline of Education in the US
From the Race and Public Policy Program (RAPP), this timeline emphasizes events related to racism and discrimination.

History of Education: Selected Moments of the 20th Century
A hypertext timeline of events from 1900-1999.

The History of Art Education Time Line
From the 1800s to the 1990s.


Chronology of Some Important Events in the History of Learning Disabilities
From the University of Virginia.  

A History of Learning Disabilities and ADHD
From 1877 to 2017.

Major Developments in Instructional Technology During the 20th Century

From the 1920s to 1999.


Learning-Theorists Timeline

See also
Instructional Development Timeline.


Important Individuals, Educational Theories, and Theorists:

Famous Teachers in History
From Biography.com

John Locke (1632-1704)
From the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. See also John Locke.

John Locke: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
The complete essay.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau
See also Rousseau Association.

Faculty Psychology and "Formal Discipline"
A concise overview

Horace Mann
A brief biography. See also Horace Mann from PBS.

Noah Webster
A biography of this famous author of the dictionary and "Blue-Backed Speller."

Mind, Body, and Culture: American Psychology Before William James
A terrific chapter from Mind and Body: Rene Descartes to William James.  

William James
A comprehensive and very impressive site on James.

Alfred Binet
The "father" of the IQ test.

Edward Lee Thorndike's Contributions to the Field of Psycholigy
A good, concise source of information. See also Connectionism.  

Operant Conditioning and Behaviorism - An Historical Outline
The history of behaviorism, beginning with Edward Thorndike.

B.F. Skinner
The B.F. Skinner Foundation.

John Dewey, The Modern Father of Experimental Education
See also the John Dewey Project.

Gestalt
Of German origin, Gestalt theory holds that learning often occurs through insight and grasping the whole pattern or idea, rather than by learning the individual elements one at a time. For more information, go to Gestalt Psychology, Gestalt Theory by Max Wertheimer, and Links to Gestalt Related Sources.

Jerome Bruner and the Process of Education
A biography and information regarding Bruner's writing and his impact on education. See also Discovery Learning (Bruner).

Jean Piaget
This link is to the Jean Piaget Society. See also The Learning Cycle.

Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning
A good overview.


Maria Montessori
The Italian physician who developed the Montessori Method of education.




Laws, Acts, Events, and Court Cases:

Machusetts Education Laws of  1642 and 1647
The first school laws in North America.

The Northwest Ordinance
A summary as well as the text of this important ordinance.

The Morrill Land Grant Act
Information about the Land Grant Act which provided public lands to the several States and Territories for the purpose of establishing institutions of higher education. See also the Morrill Act of 1862 and (1890) Second Morrill Act.

Plessy v. Ferguson
Though not specifically about education, this 1896 case set the legal precedent for "separate but equal."

State v. John Scopes ("the Monkey Trial") : An Account
The "Monkey Trial captures national attention as John Scopes, a high school biology teacher, is charged with the heinous crime of teaching evolution. The trial ends in Scopes' conviction, but the evolution versus creationism controversy continues to this day.

The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944
The GI Bill.

Mendez vs. Westminster and the California Board of Education
Learn about this important case that set an important precedent for Brown vs. Board of Education.

Brown v. Board of Education - 50 Years Later
See also Documents Related to Brown v. Board of Education, Brown v. Board of Education Online Archive and Brown v. Board of Education Historic Site.

The Sputnik Era
See also From Sputnik to TIMSS, and Sputnik Left Legacy for U.S. Science Education.

Elementary and Secondary School Act, the 'War on Poverty' and Title I
Information about the Elementary and Secondary School Act of 1965.

Bilingual Education Act
Also know as Title VII, the Bilingual Education Act becomes law in 1968. After many years of controversy, the law is repealed in 2002 and replaced by the No Child Left Behind Act.


PARC v. Pennsylvania
The text of this 1971 federal court ruling
that students with mental retardation are entitled to a free public education.
   
Mills v. Board of Education of District Columbia
Text of and information about this ruling which extended the PARC ruling to other students with disabilities.   

Important Court Cases in Special Education
Brief information on several cases.

Title IX Myths and Facts
Many people believe this 1972 law pertains only to girl's and women's participation in sports, but actually, Title IX prohibits discrimination based on sex in all aspects of education. See also What Is Title IX?

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975
PL93-142 transforms special education.

Public Law 101-476 (IDEA)
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) updates PL 94-142. There have been several updates sine IDEA was passed in 1990.


No Child Left Behind Act
   
This law, which reauthorizes the ESEA of 1965 and replaces the Bilingual Education Act of 1968, mandates high-stakes student testing, holds schools accountable for student achievement levels, and provides penalties for schools that do not make adequate yearly progress toward meeting the goals of NCLB. Key provisions of the law have been changed by President Obama.  

Every Student Succeeds Act
Passed in 2015, this law reauthorizes the ESEA and makes significant changes to NCLB.

 

Essays, Artcles, etc.
Back In The Day: Lessons From Colonial Classrooms

Information about colonial education from Education World.

History and Evolution of Public education in the U.S.
An ERIC document from the from the Center on Education Policy.

Blackwell History of Educational Research Museum
An interesting site with pictures and information about the museums' artifacts (such as the  Hornbooks and New England Primers).

A Relevant History of Public Education in the United States
From Public School review.

American Women's History: Education
A research guide.

A Brief History of American K-12 Mathematics Education  in the 20th Century
From Mathematical Cognition (2003).


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