Running head: Historical Timeline 1

Artifact #1: Historical Timeline

Marisa Hare

College of Southern Nevada

Historical Timeline

1600’s: In Colonial America, schools were just being sorted out. Who got to go to school,

who learned what, and what are they learning? Everything was up in the air until everyone

finally got a school system down. At the beginning, harsh punishments and continuous religious

lessons were the plan. Christopher Lamb found that rewarding rather than punishing, lead to a

better class day. Lamb was rather unorthodox in those days but he helped shape the way our

school systems are now. Soon the Massachusetts law of 1647, also known as the Old Deluder of

Satan Law, paved the way for grammar schools. Grammar schools are for the high class children

that intend on moving on to college and soon following in their families’ footsteps of being a

colonial leader. During that time if you lived in “a town of one hundred households, you must

provide a grammar school to prepare youths for the university, under a penalty of 5 pounds to do

so.” (chapter 5, page 122) If you did not go to grammar school, then you went to a reading and

writing school. “Every town of fifty households must appoint and pay a teacher of reading and

writing” (chapter 5, page 122) In reading and writing schools, the teachers served “in loco

parentis” or to be like the children’s mother when she teaches. This school would teach young

girls for a year or two just so she is able to read the bible to become a better wife. Young boys

usually lasted and became lawyers or doctors, but never went on to college.

1700’s: During the 1700’s, the education system was being monitored and new changes

were being thought of. They were reformed to meet broader, nonsectarian goals. The essential

goal was to stray away from religious beliefs. Benjamin Franklin wanted a new form of

secondary schools to replace the Latin grammar schools. Franklin Academy was established in
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attempt to change the education process free of religious process. The students that attended this

school were able to choose their courses and what they wanted to study.

1800’s: In 1800’s many philosophies of in education came to surface, mainly by Thomas

Jefferson and Noah Webster. The essential goal was to reform the education system to meet the

modern advancements of the 1800’s. Jefferson focused on education should be more available to

children of all economic classes, not just the upper class children. The goal was to go beyond

small classes that only provided religious sections. Jefferson’s philosophy helped the way our

education is taught today. Noah Webster focused more on standardizing the way we teach the

children to gain a more unified education system. Webster started documenting the “alphabet,

syllables, consonants, rules for speaking, readings, short stories, and moral advice” (page 125) all

in one book that can be used to teach all students and be easily accessible.

Another helpful resource that was created in the 1800’s was the McGuffey Reader.

William Holmes McGuffey was a well respected man and a minister, professor as well as a

college president. McGuffey made a book full of virtues that should be instilled into students.

They were used in the lower grades of schools and taught in ways that are different for each

grade levels. An example of this would be taking a virtue from the book that relates to a topic

being taught and integrating them together to create a lesson.

1900’s: Living in America, we have a lot of cultures to be taught in one school system.

Naturally it is very hard for every culture to conform into one learning vessel. The United States

government has deculturized a lot of the foreign students. For example, church missionaries

educated Native Americans to abandon their culture and their history. The U.S. government also

took over most native land and forced them to go to school with white people, which forced them

to conform. On all foreign students, the school systems force them to change their language, they
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segregate non-white people, they deny religious expression, they focus on education that is

dominant to white culture, as well as use teachers from dominant groups. In the 1900’s when

more and more people from many different cultures became more prominent, the U.S. did not

accommodate their needs, which in return lead to deculturization.

A lot of different teaching theories were starting to develop around this time as well.

Cooperative learning by John Dewey was used to include everyone in learning and make sure

everyone is learning the same curriculum. Positive reinforcement by Edward Thorndike is very

useful because children react well to positive words rather than harsh punishments. Children

need to gain their confidence and this helps them. Social interaction and cooperative learning

together proposed by Colin Scott works because cooperative and social are defined almost

identical. The way that the children are taught should be social and interactive so children can

vibe off each other's learning styles. Lesson planning is important on the teacher’s end because it

is a way to organize how students learn, which makes teaching a lot more effective. Having a

game plan helps the flow of the information.

Meritocracy is having a status or pay based on how well you perform. This is different

than Equality of Opportunity because not everyone performs at the same level and no person is

equal in efficiency as another. Everything depends on how much you know.

2000’s: After the start of the Cold War, tracking was a fundamental issue facing

education. Tracking is still used today in schools, it is the grouping and tracking of kids based on

their skill. Teachers use it to effectively keep track of how their students are learning and to

make sure that they are learning at their own pace. It is a fundamental topic because it really

helps children learn effectively.

Works Cited

-Sadker, David M. “5.” Teachers, Schools, and Society: a Brief Introduction to Education, Mcgraw-

Hill Education, 2017.