DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION IN AMERICA
I.
II.
The 1600’s
a. Dame School: 1600’s
i. “Dames” were well respected women in the community.
ii. These women converted their homes to places to teach reading and
computation.
b. Local Schools: 1600-1800
i. Taught basic skills and religion
ii. Required students to pay for education
c. Old Deluder Satan Law: 1647
i. Law passed by Puritan’s that required every town to provide education in
reading and writing so citizens could recite scripture as to “thwart Satan”
d. Latin Grammar School: 1635
i. Established for boys ages 7 to 14 from wealthy families
ii. Meant to increase skills in reading and writing
iii. Considered the first step in creating the modern American High School
The 1700’s
a. Thomas Jefferson: 1743-1826
i. Wanted all white children to have access to education regardless of social class
III.
IV.
b. Itinerant School: 1700’s
i. Teachers traveled around colonies to teach in rural areas that could not afford
full time schools in their communities
ii. Itinerant teachers usually lived in the homes of community residents while they
taught
c. Private school: 1700’s-1800’s
i. Parents paid for their children to receive specialized educations.
d. English Grammar Schools: 1700’s
i. Demand for more practical education led to the creation of private schools that
taught commerce, navigation, engineering, and other vocational skills.
e. Benjamin Franklin: 1751
i. Franklin Academy established
f. Academics: 1700’s-1800’s
i. Expanded to teach history along with reading and writing
ii. Did not teach Latin
The 1800’s
a. Horace Man:1830
i. Established Common Schools; today known as public elementary schools.
b. Committee of Ten: 1892
i. Originated at Harvard University
ii. Decided that highs schools would divide students into college-bound and
working-trade groups, leaning heavily on race to decide which group the
student would land in.
c. John Dewey: 1896
i. Established the first Laboratory school at the University of Chicago
ii. Considered that Father of Progressive Education
The 1900’s
a. Nation at Risk: 1983
i. Was a report provided by president Ronald Regan’s National Commission on
Excellence in Education
ii. Showed how American education was heading downhill
iii. Led to the implication of Common Core Standards into the classroom