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What are the defining moments and decisions affecting private and public schools in the years since 1900? About a year ago, OC Family Magazine began research to answer who we are, what we learn, and how we learn it. This report, compiled by News Assistant Colleen Corkery with assistance from librarian Edith Batalis, is a reflection of American ethics, strengths and weaknesses. While we did not determine whether this arc of history means our children will become better educated in the future, we do know that the school campus is an evolving test of our imagination, intuition and needs. 1900 Kindergarten: 225,000 American children attend kindergarten. By 2000, more than 8 million children attend kindergarten across the U.S. 1900 Enrollment: More than 15 million children are enrolled in American public schools. By 1999, more than 72 million students are enrolled in American public schools. 1901 Public Junior College: Joliet Junior, the first independent public junior college in the U.S., is formed in Chicago. Evolving into community colleges, the two-year institutions have had a major impact on higher education, particularly in California with more than 100 campuses. 1901 Margaret Haley: Margaret Haley is the first woman and teacher to speak from the floor at a National Education Association meeting. Today, American students in kindergarten through 12 grades are primarily taught by women. 1903 Crayola Crayons: Cousins Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith produce the first box of Crayola Crayons. The box of eight came in black, brown, blue, red, purple, orange, yellow and green. The cost: 5 cents. 1904 Helen Keller: One of America’s icons becomes the first deaf-blind person to graduate from college; she is proof of the potential of disabled people. 1904 Mary McLeod Bethune: She opens the Daytona Literary and Industrial School, which is the first “training school” for African-American girls. 1907 Maria Montessori: The Italian physician-educator establishes the Casa Dei Bambini (Children’s House) in Rome, the first “Montessori School.” 1908 PTA: The National Parent Teacher Association, originally founded and named the National Congress of Mothers in 1897, changes its name to the National Congress of Mothers and Parent-Teacher Associations. Today it’s known formally as the PTA with chapters on most K-12 campus. 1917 Language Restrictions: The U.S. enters World War I and a wave a language restrictions hits schools. Several states enact English-only text guidelines and mobs raid schools, burn German textbooks and quickly turn hostile toward other languages besides English. A schoolboy of German descent who is subject to this bias, Lou Gehrig, grows up to become one of America’s most famous baseball players. 1917 Smith-Hughes Act: The federal government passes the Smith-Hughes Act granting money for agriculture, trade, industrial and home economics subjects to be taught in school for children over 14 who are preparing for trade careers. This legislation is the groundbreaker for teaching vocational education on a large scale. 1919 Progressive Education Association: Stanwood Cobb and other progressive educators create the Progressive Education Association. The progressive educators emphasize problem-solving skills, hands-on learning, and self-discipline and flexible methods to teaching the classroom versus those taught through memorization, recitation, and harsh discipline. 1921 Bryn Mawr Summer School: The Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers opens due to pressure from the National Women’s Trade Union League for women’s colleges to participate in educating working women. 1925 Tennessee v. John Scopes: The Butler Act is passed in Tennessee forbidding the public school teaching of any evolutionary theory indicating that man descended from lower orders of animals. John T. Scopes, a biology schoolteacher, is brought to trial and convicted of violating the Butler Act. Considered “the trial of the century,” it became known as the “Scopes Monkey Trial.” 1925 One-Teacher Schools: There are 200,000 one-teacher schools in the U.S., a symbol of small-town America. By 2000, there are only 423 one-teacher schools still operating. 1926 SAT: SATs are first administered experimentally as a college admissions test. Robert Yerkes, a leading member of an IQ testing movement, created the first versions of the SAT during World War I. The test, originally called the Army Alpha, was used by the U.S. Army as a method of intelligence testing on recruits. Professor and psychologist Carl Brigham assisted Yerkes in the production of the Army Alpha and soon modified it as a college entrance exam. 1927 School Buses: Waynes Works and the Blue Bird Co. build the first all-steel school bus. Later, in 1939, Professor Dr. Frank W. Cyr of Columbia University in New York organizes a conference to establish national school-bus standards including the use of “school bus yellow.” This particular color of yellow is designated as a national school bus color because of the easy visibility it and the black lettering creates in dimness of early morning and late afternoon. Today, across the United States some 25 million children are shuttled in over 450,000 school buses. 1944 SAT: SATs are administered to more than 300,000 students and become mandatory for university acceptance. Today, more than 2 million students take the SAT every year. 1946 School Lunch: The National School Lunch Act is established to provide for school lunch and milk programs. Legislation was created as a result of the frequent rejection many American men received for military service in World War II due to poor health. 1947 Elmer’s Glue: The famous substance is introduced as “Cascorez Glue” in glass bottles with popsicle sticks, hence the urge to eat the stuff. It is later named Elmer’s Glue-All. 1947 Jackie Robinson: The color barrier is broken in major-league baseball by the former UCLA star, opening the door to one of America’s most integrated arenas sports teams. By the time University of Alabama football coach Bear Bryant integrated his famed Crimson Tide team in the early 1970s, most amateur and professional teams in the major sports of basketball, baseball and football had long been integrated. 1950 Metal Lunch Boxes: The first metal lunch box was created by the Aladdin Co. of Nashville. The boxes came in red and blue. Their allure continues with each decade’s covers reflecting favorite characters, movies and fads. 1954 Desegregation: In Topeka, Ks., Oliver Brown, the father of the African-American third- grader, Linda Brown, tries to enroll her in the all-white elementary school just blocks from their house. Previously, Linda walked several miles through a railroad switchyard to reach her all-African American elementary school. The young girl was denied admission to the all-white elementary school. The NAACP requested an injunction that would forbid the segregation of Topeka’s public schools. In 1954, in Brown v. the Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court ended federally sanctioned racial segregation in public schools. However, a decade after the decision, 98% of African-American children were still in all-black schools. 1954 Polio Vaccination: Thousands of American schoolchildren are test subjects, or “polio pioneers,” in the experimentation of Jonas Salk’s polio vaccination and the results are positive. Every summer, 50,000 cases of polio popped up. Because of the polio vaccinations, 25 years later, polio became the second disease besides smallpox to be completely wiped out in America. 1955 “The Blackboard Jungle”: The first Hollywood movie about school violence is released. 1956 President’s Council on Youth Fitness: President Eisenhower creates the President’s Council on Youth Fitness after viewing a study in which European children scored higher than American children on physical fitness tests. It is established to encourage children in the U.S. to lead healthy, active, physically fit lives. In 1960, President Kennedy changed the agency’s title to The President’s Council on Physical Fitness to reflect and serve Americans of all ages. In 1968, President Johnson added sports to the council’s title. 1958 National Education Defense Act: Congress provides funds for states and local districts to improve math, science and foreign language teaching. Critics claim “real life” curriculum had lowered standards, diminished student’s efforts and reduced achievement. When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first space satellite in 1957, schools were blamed as a result of the United States’ failure to beat its Cold War rival into outer space. 1962 Banning School Prayer: In Engel v. Vitale, the U.S. Supreme Court bans required prayer in public schools, determining that it is a violation of the First Amendment. It is one of the most controversial court decisions ever. 1963 New Math: The curriculum is developed, emphasizing more abstract concepts like set theory and number bases other than 10. The term, coined for the dramatic change in the way mathematics was taught in American grade schools, is introduced shortly after the U.S. Sputnik development to boost scientific and mathematical skills. 1963 Modern Fiber Tipped Pen: The writing utensil is introduced to the United States, coming via Japan. 1964 Civil Rights Act: In late 1963, President Johnson creates a wide-ranging series of federal programs to help disadvantaged students. In 1964, Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act, which bans discrimination on the basis of race in all federally funded programs, including schools. 1965 Project Head Start: The federal program launches as an eight-week summer investment by the Office of Economic Opportunity that provides preschool children of low-income families a comprehensive program to meet their emotional, social, health, nutritional and psychological needs. 1965 Elementary and Secondary Act: President Johnson enacts the most sweeping extension ever of the federal government’s involvement in education. 1967 “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood”: On a beautiful day in the neighborhood, the program is created and nationally distributed a year later by PBS. Generations of children are educated and delighted for 33 years until 2000 when Fred Rogers hangs up his sweater for the last time. In 2003, Fred Rogers died at age 74 after a battle with stomach cancer. 1968 Bilingual Act of 1968: Congress passes the Bilingual Act, which gives federal funding to schools who try to incorporate instruction in languages other than English. Several states follow suit, enacting their own bilingual laws. 1969 “Sesame Street”: Television becomes huggable when the show makes its national debut on the National Education Television network and later that year is moved to the Public Broadcasting Service. Today, the educational Muppet neighborhood has produced more than 4,000 episodes in 36 seasons, making it one of the longest-running television shows in history. It has also won more Emmy Awards than any other program. 1970 Back to Basics: The movement is established to guarantee that a high school student will master basic reading, writing, and math skills. 1971 Lemon v. Kurtzman: The Supreme Court rules that when state aid is used to pay private school salaries and for instructional materials, which are given to schools that are religious in character, it is a violation of the First Amendment. The argument, still unsettled, has since expanded into student vouchers and whether public money can be used for private, religious education. 1971 Sting: The famous singer, songwriter, and guitarist of the band Police, then known as Gorden Matthews Sumner, attends the Northern Countries Teacher Training College. He later becomes an English teacher before his “Rock On” days. 1972 Civil Rights: 91% of African- American children in the South are attending integrated schools due to pressure from the president, new federal laws, and the civil rights movement. 1972 Title IX: Title IX of the Education Act is established to ban sex discrimination in programs receiving federal funds. Most affected are sports programs, where today women receive about the same number of athletic scholarships as men. 1975 Microsoft et al: Bill Gates and Paul Allen create the first computer language program written for a personal computer. They are partners in what becomes Microsoft. The next year, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak sell the first Apple Computer. 1975 Birth of Charter Schools: Charter schools are born in Minnesota, allowing parent-driven administrative requirements for new schools and public funding. 1975 Education of All Handicapped Children Act: States receiving federal funds must develop policies to assure a free appropriate public education to all children with disabilities. Today, most disabled schoolchildren spend at least part of the day in a mainstream classroom with their peers. 1977 Corporal Punishment: In the case of Ingraham v. Wright, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that corporal punishment is neither cruel nor unusual punishment in schools. However, the punishment has since been banned in California. 1978 Proposition 13: Led by a taxpayer revolt, California voters agree to put a cap on property taxes. The decision prevents local school boards and other entities from raising money for schools by voting to increase property tax rates. Today, school bonds have that effect, but must be approved by 55% of the electorate. 1983 “Reading Rainbow”: The children’s television series for beginning readers, hosted and co-executive produced by actor Levar Burton, premieres on the Public Broadcasting Service. 1983 National Commission on Excellence in Education’s “Nation at Risk”: The stunning report states, “We have been, in effect, committing an act of unthinking unilateral disarmament.” It urges an intense effort to improve education and many states enact laws increasing graduation requirements and instructional time. 1983 D.A.R.E.: Chief Daryl Gates of the Los Angeles Police Department unveils Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.). It is introduced to 50 elementary schools in Los Angeles to be taught by 10 certified officers. Today, D.A.R.E. is taught to more than 30 million children in 50 states, 17 other countries and has more than 20,000 certified officers. Its effectiveness is still being studied. 1984 Sheryl Crow: The American blues, rock singer and guitarist graduates from the University of Missouri in music education and teaches elementary school music to autistic children before moving to Los Angeles in 1986 to try her luck in the music business. 1987 Separation of Church and State: The case of Edwards v. Aguillard determines that the belief that a supernatural creator is responsible for the origins of humankind is religious. It cannot be taught in public school science courses. 1991 Re-segregation: Re-segregation is on the rise due to socioeconomic status. By 2004, white students attend schools that are 80% white, while only 14% of white students attend multi-racial schools. 1994 Proposition 187: California passes Proposition 187, making it illegal for children of undocumented immigrants to attend public schools. However, the federal courts rule that Proposition 187 is unconstitutional. 1998 Proposition 227: California approves Proposition 227 by a 61-39% margin. It eliminates the state’s bilingual education programs and requires that instruction be conducted in English. 1999 Sex Ed: 100 federally funded abstinence-only programs are taught in schools. By 2005, the federal government spends $170 million on abstinence-only education. 1999 School Vouchers: Florida enacts a statewide voucher program in which students who are failing may choose to attend another school. 1999 Columbine: High school students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold open fire on fellow classmates in Littleton, Colo., killing 13 and wounding 21 before taking their own lives. The Columbine High School massacre becomes the worst school shooting in U.S. history. 2001 No Child Left Behind: The No Child Left Behind Act is introduced by President Bush. Its goal is to quantify improvement in the performance of America’s primary and secondary schools by increasing the standards for states, school districts, and schools. Its goal to create a 100% well-educated populace remains out of reach. 2004 Soda Machines: Arkansas becomes the first state that passes legislation to ban vending machines in elementary schools. Several schools and school districts in California have followed suit in the past year. 2005 New SAT: A new and even more vigorous SAT is introduced with an essay section. The class of 2006 will be the first group of students to take the new SAT for college admissions. 2005 Scotch Tape: Scotch Tape celebrates its 75th anniversary. Richard Drew, a young 3M engineer, originally invented the tape in 1930. The invention became the first transparent cellophane adhesive tape in the world. Drew also invented the first masking tape in 1925. Where would classrooms be without those utensils? |
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