1607 – The first permanent settlement in North America is established by the Virginia Company at Jamestown in what is now the state of Virginia.

1620 - The Mayflower arrives at Cape Cod, bringing the  "Pilgrims" who establish the Plymouth Colony. Many of the Pilgrims are Puritans who had fled religious persecution in England. Their religious views come to dominate education in the New England colonies.           

1635 - The first Latin Grammar School (Boston Latin School) is established. Latin Grammar Schools are designed for sons of certain social classes who are destined for leadership positions in church, state, or the courts.

1635 - The first "free school" in Virginia opens. However, education in the southern colonies is more typically provided at home by parents or tutors.

1636 - Harvard College, the first higher education institution in the New World, is established in Newton (now Cambridge), Massachusetts.

1640 - Henry Dunster becomes President of Harvard College. He teaches all the courses himself!

1642 - The Massachusetts Bay School Law is passed. It requires that parents assure their children know the principles of religion and the capital laws of the commonwealth.

1647 - The Massachusetts Law of 1647, also known as the Old Deluder Satan Act, is passed. It decrees that every town of at least 50 families hire a schoolmaster who would teach the town's children to read and write and that all towns of at least 100 families should have a Latin grammar school master who will prepare students to attend Harvard College.

1690 - John Locke publishes his Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which conveys his belief that the human mind is a tabula rasa, or blank slate, at birth and knowledge is derived through experience, rather than innate ideas as was believed by many at that time. Locke's views concerning the mind and learning greatly influence American education.

1690 - The first New England Primer is printed in Boston. It becomes the most widely-used schoolbook in New England.

1692 - The Plymouth Colony merges with the Massachusetts Bay Colony. About 50 miles to the north, in Salem, the infamous Salem Witchcraft Trials take place.

1693 - John Locke's Some Thoughts Concerning Education is published, describing his views on educating upper class boys to be moral, rationally-thinking, and reflective "young gentlemen." His ideas regarding educating the masses are conveyed in On Working Schools, published in 1697, which focused on the importance of developing a work ethic.

1693 - The College of William and Mary is established in Virginia. It is the second college to open in colonial America and has the distinction of being Thomas Jefferson's college.

1710 - Christopher Dock, a Mennonite and one of Pennsylvania's most famous educators, arrives from Germany and later opens a school in Montgomery County, PA. Dock's book, Schul-Ordnung (meaning school management), published in 1770, is the first book about teaching printed in colonial America. Typical of those in the middle colonies, schools in Pennsylvania are established not only by the Mennonites, but by the Quakers and other religious groups as well.

1734 – Christian von Wolff describes the human mind as consisting of powers or faculties. Called Faculty Psychology, this doctrine holds that the mind can best be developed through "mental discipline" or tedious drill and repetition of basic skills and the eventual study of abstract subjects such as classical  philosophy, literature, and languages. This viewpoint greatly influences American education throughout the 19th Century and beyond.

1743 - Benjamin Franklin forms the American Philosophical Society, which helps bring ideas of the European Enlightenment, including those of John Locke, to colonial America. Emphasizing secularism, science, and human reason, these ideas clash with the religious dogma of the day, but greatly influence the thinking of prominent colonists, including Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.

1751 - Benjamin Franklin helps to establish the first "English Academy" in Philadelphia with a curriculum that is both classical and modern, including such courses as history, geography, navigation, surveying, and modern as well as classical languages. The academy ultimately becomes the University of Pennsylvania.

1752 - St. Matthew Lutheran School, one of the first Lutheran "charity schools" in North America, is founded in New York City by Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, after whom Muhlenberg College in Allentown Pennsylvania is named.

1754 - The French and Indian War begins in colonial America as the French and their Indian allies fight the English for territorial control.

1763 - The French are defeated, and the French and Indian War ends with the Treaty of Paris. It gives most French territory in North America to England.

1766 - The Moravians, a protestant denomination from central Europe, establish the village of Salem in North Carolina. Six years later (1772), they found a school for girls, which later becomes Salem College, a liberal arts college for women with a current enrollment of approximately 1100.
   
1775  - The Revolutionary War begins.

1779 – Thomas Jefferson proposes a two-track educational system, with different tracks for "the laboring and the learned."

1783 - The Revolutionary War officially ends with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which recognizes U.S. independence and possession of all land east of the Mississippi except the Spanish colony of  Florida

1783 to 1785 - Because of his dissatisfaction with English textbooks of the day, Noah Webster writes A Grammatical Institute of the English Language , consisting of three volumes: a spelling book, a grammar book, and a reader. They become very widely used throughout the United States. In fact, the spelling volume, later renamed the American Spelling Book and often called the Blue-Backed Speller, has never been out of print!

1784 - The Ordinance of 1784 divides the western territories (north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi) into ten separate territories that would eventually become states and have the same rights as the thirteen original states.

1785 - The Land Ordinance of 1785 specifies that the western territories are to be divided into townships made up of 640-acre sections, one of which was to be set aside "for the maintenance of public schools."

1787 - The Constitutional Convention assembles in Philadelphia. Later that year, the constitution is endorsed by the Confederation Congress (the body that governed from 1781 until the ratification of the U.S. Constitution) and sent to state legislatures for ratification. The document does not include the words education or school.

1787 - The Northwest Ordinance is enacted by the Confederation Congress. It provides a plan for western expansion and bans slavery in new states. Specifically recognizing the importance of education, Act 3 of the document begins, "Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." Perhaps of more practical importance, it stipulates that a section of land in every township of each new state be reserved for the support of education.

1787 - The Young Ladies Academy opens in Philadelphia and becomes the first academy for girls in America.

1788 - The U. S. Constitution is ratified by the required number of states.

1791 - The Bill of Rights is passed by the first Congress of the new United  States. No mention is made of education in any of the amendments. However, the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution states that powers not delegated to the federal government "are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the people." Thus, education becomes a function of the state rather than the federal government.    

1812-1815 - The War of 1812, sometimes called the "Second War of Independence," occurs for multiple reasons, including U.S. desires for territorial expansion and British harassment of U.S. merchant ships. The war begins with an  unsuccessful invasion of Canada by U.S. forces. Though the Treaty of Ghent, signed on December 24, 1814, supposedly ends the war, the final battle actually takes place January 9, 1815 with U.S. forces defeating the British at New Orleans.  

1817 - The Connecticut Asylum at Hartford for the Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons opens. It is the first permanent school for the deaf in the U.S. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc are the school's co-founders. In 1864, Thomas Gaullaudet's son, Edward Miner Gallaudet, helps to start Gallaudet University, the first college specifically for deaf students. 

1821 - The first public high school, Boston English High School, opens .

1823 - Catherine Beecher founds the Hartford Female Seminary, a private school for girls in Hartford, Connecticut. She goes on to found more schools and become a prolific writer. Her sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe, an influential abolitionist, is the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

1827 - The state of Massachusetts passes a law requiring towns of more than 500 families to have a public high school open to all students.

1829 - The New England Asylum for the Blind, now the Perkins School for the Blind, opens in Massachusetts, becoming the first school in the U.S. for children with visual disabilities.

1836 - The first of William Holmes McGuffey's readers is published. Their secular tone sets them apart from the Puritan texts of the day. The McGuffey Readers, as they came to be known, are among the most influential textbooks of the 19th Century.

1837 - Horace Mann becomes Secretary of the newly formed Massachusetts State Board of Education. A visionary educator and proponent of public (or "free") schools, Mann works tirelessly for increased funding of public schools and better training for teachers. As Editor of the Common School Journal, his belief in the importance of free, universal public education gains a national audience. He resigns his position as Secretary in 1848 to take the Congressional seat vacated by the death of John Quincy Adams and later becomes the first president of Antioch College.

1837 - Eighty students arrive at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, the first college for women in the U.S. Its founder/president is Mary Lyon.

1839 - The first state funded school specifically for teacher education (then known as "normal" schools) opens in Lexington, Massachusetts.

1848 - Hervey Wilbur helps establish the Massachusetts School for Idiotic and Feebleminded Youth, the first school of its kind in the U.S.

1851 - The New York State Asylum for Idiots opens.

1852 - Massachusetts enacts the first mandatory attendance law. By 1885, 16 states have compulsory-attendance laws, but most of those laws are sporadically enforced at best. All states have them by 1918.

1853 - Pennsylvania begins funding the Pennsylvania Training School for Feeble-Minded Children, a private school for children with intellectual disabilities.

1854 - Ashmun Institute, now Lincoln University, is founded on October 12, and as Horace Mann Bond, the university's eighth president states in his book, Education for Freedom: A History of Lincoln University , it becomes the "first institution anywhere in the world to provide higher education in the arts and sciences for male youth of African descent." The university's many distinguished alumni include Langston Hughes and Thurgood Marshall.

1856 - The first kindergarten in the U.S. is started in Watertown, Wisconsin, founded by Margarethe Schurz. Four years later, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody opens the first "formal" kindergarten in Boston, MA.

1857 - The National Teachers Association (now the National Education Association) is founded by forty-three educators in Philadelphia

1860 - Abraham Lincoln, an anti-slavery Republican, is elected president.

1861 - The U.S. Civil War begins when South Carolina secedes from the union and along with 10 other states forms the Confederate States of American. The shooting begins when Fort Sumter is attacked on April 12. With the exception of the First Morrill act of 1862, educational progress is essentially put on hold until the war's end. 

1862 - The First Morrill Act, also known as the "Land Grant Act" becomes law. It donates public lands to states, the sale of which will be used for the "endowment, support, and maintenance of at least one college where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life." Many prominent state universities can trace their roots to this forward-thinking legislation.

1863 - President Lincoln signs the "Emancipation Proclamation" on January 1.

1865 - The 13th Amendment is passed, abolishing slavery.

1865 - The Civil War ends with Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. Much of the south, including its educational institutions, is left in disarray. Many schools are closed. Even before the war, public education in the south was far behind that in the north. The physical devastation left by the war as well as the social upheaval and poverty that follow exacerbate this situation.

1865 - Abraham Lincoln is assassinated, and Andrew Johnson, a southern Democrat and advocate of state's rights, becomes President.

1866 - The 14th Amendment is passed entitling all persons born or naturalized in the United States to citizenship and equal protection under the law. This gives freed male slaves the right to vote. Most southern states refuse to ratify it.

1867 - The Department of Education is created in order to help states establish effective school systems.

1867 - After hearing of the desperate situation faced schools in the south, George Peabody funds the two-million-dollar Peabody Education Fund to aid public education in southern states.

1867 & 1868 - The four Reconstruction Acts are passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto. They divide the south into military districts and require elections to be held with freed male slaves being allowed to vote.

1869 - Congress passes the 15th Amendment. It prohibits states from denying male citizens over 21 (including freed slaves) the right to vote.

1869 - Boston creates the first public day school for the deaf.

1873 - The Panic of 1873 causes bank foreclosures, business failures, and job loss. The economic depression that follows results in reduced revenues for education. Southern schools are hit particularly hard, making a bad situation even worse. 

1874 - The Michigan State Supreme Court rules that Kalamazoo may levy taxes to support a public high school setting an important precedent for similar rulings in other states.

1875 - The Civil Rights Act is passed, banning segregation in all public accommodations. The Supreme Court rules it unconstitutional in 1883.

1876 - Edouard Seguin becomes the first President of the Association of Medical Officers of American Institutions for Idiotic and Feebleminded Persons, which evolves into the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

1877 - Reconstruction formally ends as President Rutherford B. Hayes removes the last federal troops from the south. The foundation for a system of legal  segregation and discrimination is quickly established. Many African Americans flee the south.

1881 - Booker T. Washington becomes the first principal of the newly-opened normal school in Tuskegee, Alabama, now Tuskegee University.

1889 - Jane Addams and her college friend Ellen Gates Starr found Hull House in a Chicago, Illinois neighborhood of recent European immigrants. It is the first settlement house in the U.S. Included among its many services are a kindergarten and a night school for adults. Hull House continues to this day to offer educational services to children and families.

1890 - The Second Morrill Act is enacted. It provides for the "more complete endowment and support of the colleges" through the sale of public lands, Part of this funding leads to the creation of 16 historically black land-grant colleges.

1892 - The Committee on Secondary Social Studies, often called the Committee of Ten, recommends a college-oriented high school curriculum.

1896 - Homer Plessy, a 30-year-old African American, challenges the state of Louisiana's "Separate Car Act," arguing that requiring Blacks to ride in separate railroad cars  violates the 13th and 14th Amendments. The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the Louisiana law stating in the majority opinion that the intent of the 14th Amendment "had not been intended to abolish distinctions based on color." Thus, the Supreme Court ruling in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson makes "separate but equal" policies legal. It becomes a legal precedent used to justify many other segregation laws, including "separate but equal" education.

1898 - The Spanish American War makes Theodore Roosevelt a hero, and the United States becomes an international power.

1904 - Mary McLeod Bethune, an African American educator, founds the Daytona Educational and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls in Daytona Beach, Florida. It merges with the Cookman Institute in 1923 and becomes a coeducational high school, which eventually evolves into Bethune-Cookman College, now Bethune-Cookman University.

1905 - Alfred Binet's article, "New Methods for the Diagnosis of the Intellectual Level of Subnormals," is published in France. It describes his work with Theodore Simon in the development of a measurement instrument that would identify students with mental retardation. The Binet-Simon Scale, as it is called, is an effective means of measuring intelligence.

1911 - The first Montessori school in the U.S. opens in Tarrytown, New York. Two years later (1913), Maria Montessori visits the U.S., and Alexander Graham Bell and his wife Mabel found the Montessori Educational Association at their Washington, DC, home

1913 - Edward Lee Thorndike's book, Educational Psychology: The Psychology of Learning, is published. It describes his theory that human learning involves habit formation, or connections between stimuli (or situations as Thorndike preferred to call them) and responses (Connectionism). He believes that such connections are strengthened by repetition ("Law of Exercise") and achieving satisfying consequences ("Law of Effect"). These ideas, which contradict traditional faculty psychology and mental discipline, come to dominate American educational psychology for much of the Twentieth Century and greatly influence American educational practice.

1916 - Louis M. Terman and his team of Stanford University graduate students complete an American version of the Binet-Simon Scale. The Stanford Revision of the Binet-Simon Scale becomes a widely-used individual intelligence test, and along with it, the concept of the intelligence quotient (or IQ) is born. The Fifth Edition of the Stanford-Binet Scales is among the most popular individual intelligence tests today. For additional information on the history of intelligence testing, see A.C.E. Long History of the I.Q. Test.

1916 - The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is founded.

1916 - John Dewey's Democracy and Education. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education is published. Dewey's views help advance the ideas of the "progressive education movement." An outgrowth of the progressive political movement, progressive education seeks to make schools more effective agents of democracy. His daughter, Evelyn Dewey, coauthors Schools of To-morrow with her father, and goes on to write several books on her own.

1917 - The Smith-Hughes Act passes, providing federal funding for agricultural and vocational education. It is repealed in 1997.   

1917 - As the U.S. enters W.W.I the army has no means of screening the intellectual ability of its recruits. Robert Yerkes, then President of the American Psychological Association and an army officer, becomes Chairman of the Committee on Psychological Examination of Recruits. The committee, which includes Louis Terman, has the task of developing a group intelligence test. He and his team of psychologists design the Army Alpha and Beta tests. Though these tests have little impact on the war, they lay the groundwork for future standardized tests.

1919 - The Progressive Education Association is founded with the goal of reforming American education.

1919 - All states have laws providing funds for transporting children to school.

1922 - The International Council for Exceptional Children is founded at Columbia University Teachers College.

1924 - Max Wertheimer describes the principles of Gestalt Theory to the Kant Society in Berlin. Gestalt Theory, with its emphasis on learning through insight and grasping the whole concept, becomes important later in the 20th Century in the development of cognitive views of learning and teaching.    

1925 - Tennessee vs. John Scopes ("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. The evolution versus creationism controversy persists to this day.

1926 - The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is first administered. It is based on the Army Alpha test. 

1929 - Jean Piaget's The Child's Conception of the World is published. His theory of cognitive development becomes an important influence in American developmental psychology and education.

1929 - The Great Depression begins with the stock market crash in October. The U.S. economy is devastated. Public education funding suffers greatly, resulting in school closings, teacher layoffs, and lower salaries.

1932 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected president and begins bold efforts to initiate his New Deal and spur economic recovery. His wife, Eleanor, becomes a champion of human rights and forever transforms the role of American First Lady.

1935 - Congress authorizes the Works Progress Administration. Its purpose is to put the unemployed to work on public projects, including the construction of hundreds of school buildings.

1939 - Frank W. Cyr, a professor at Columbia University's Teachers College, organizes a national conference on student transportation. It results in the adoption of standards for the nation's school buses, including the shade of yellow.  

1941 - The U.S. enters World War II after the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor on December 7. During the next four years, much of the country's resources go to the war effort. Education is put on the back burner as many young men quit school to enlist; schools are faced with personnel problems as teachers and other employees enlist, are drafted, or leave to work in defense plants; school construction is put on hold.

1944 - The G.I. Bill officially known as the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, is signed by FDR on June 22. Some 7.8 million World War II veterans take advantage of the GI Bill during the seven years benefits are offered. More than two-million attend colleges or universities, nearly doubling the college population. About 238,000 become teachers. Because the law provides the same opportunity to every veteran, regardless of background, the long-standing tradition that a college education was only for the wealthy is broken.

1945 - World War II ends on August 15 (VJ Day) with victory over Japan.

1946 - At one minute after midnight on January 1st, Kathleen Casey Wilkens is born, the first of nearly 78 million baby boomers, beginning a generation that results in unprecedented school population growth and massive social change.

1947 - In the case of Everson v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court rules by a 5-4 vote that a New Jersey law which allowed reimbursements of transportation costs to parents of children who rode public transportation to school, even if their children attended Catholic schools, did NOT violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

1952 - Public Law 550, the Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1952, modifies the G.I. Bill for veterans of the Korean War.

1953 - Burrhus Frederic (B.F.) Skinner's Science and Human Behavior is published. His form of behaviorism (operant conditioning), which emphasizes changes in behavior due to reinforcement, becomes widely accepted and influences many aspects of American education

1954 - On May 17th, the U.S. Supreme Court announces its decision in the case of Brown v. Board. of Education of Topeka, ruling that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal," thus overturning its previous ruling in the 1896 case of  Plessy v. Ferguson.   Brown v. Board of Education is actually a combination of five cases from different parts of the country. It is a historic first step in the long and still unfinished journey toward equality in U.S. education.

1955 - Rosa Parks, a Montgomery, Alabama seamstress, refuses to give up her seat on the bus a Caucasian passenger and is subsequently arrested and fined. The Montgomery bus boycott follows, giving impetus to the Civil Rights Movement. A year later, in the case of Browder v. Gale, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that segregated seating on buses unconstitutional.

1957 - Federal troops enforce integration in Little Rock, Arkansas as the Little Rock 9 enroll at Central High School.   
 
1957 - The Soviet Union launches Sputnik, the first satellite to orbit the Earth. Occurring in the midst of the Cold War, it represents both a potential threat to American national security as well as a blow to national pride.

1958 - At least partially because of Sputnik, science and science education become important concerns in the U.S., resulting in the passage of the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) which authorizes increased funding for scientific research and science education.

1960 -First grader Ruby Bridges is the first African American to attend William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. She becomes a class of one as parents remove all Caucasian students from the school.

1962 - In the case of Engel v. Vitale, the U. S. Supreme Court rules that the state of New York's Regents prayer violates the First Amendment. On a vote of six to one, the ruling specifies that "state officials may not compose an official state prayer and require that it be recited in the public schools of the State at the beginning of each school day. . . "

1963 - In the cases of School District of Abington Township, Pennsylvania v. Schempp and Murray v. Curlett, the U. S. Supreme Court reaffirms Engel v. Vitale by ruling that " no state law or school board may require that passages from the Bible be read or that the Lord's Prayer be recited in the public schools . . . even if individual students may be excused from attending or participating . . ."

1963 - Samuel A. Kirk uses the term "learning disability" at a Chicago conference on children with perceptual disorders. The term sticks, and in 1964, the Association for Children with Learning Disabilities, now the Learning Disabilities Association of America, is formed. Today, nearly one-half of all students in the U.S. who receive special education have been identified as having learning disabilities.

1963 - President John F. Kennedy is assassinated. Schools close as the nation mourns its loss. Lyndon Johnson becomes president.

1964 - The Civil Rights Act becomes law. It prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion or national origin.

1965 - The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is passed on April 9. Part of Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty," it provides federal funds to help low-income students, which results in the initiation of educational programs such as Title I and bilingual education.

1965 - The Higher Education Act (PL 89-329) is signed at Southwest Texas State College on November 8. It increases federal aid to higher education and provides for scholarships, student loans, and establishes a National Teachers Corps.

1965 - Project Head Start, a preschool education program for children from low-income families, begins as an eight-week summer program. Part of the "War on Poverty," the program continues to this day as the longest-running anti-poverty program in the U.S.

1966 - The Equality of Educational Opportunity Study, often called the Coleman Report because of its primary author James S. Coleman, is conducted in response to provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Its conclusion that African American children benefit from attending integrated schools sets the stage for school "busing" to achieve desegregation.

1966 - Jerome Bruner's Toward a Theory of Instruction is published. His views regarding learning help to popularize the cognitive learning theory as an alternative to behaviorism.

1966 - Public Law 358, the Veterans Readjustment Benefits Act of 1966, provides not only educational benefits, but also home and farm loans as well as employment counseling and placement services for Vietnam veterans. More than 385,000 troops, serve in Vietnam during 1966. From 1965-1975, more than nine million American military personnel are on active military duty, about 3.4 million of whom serve in Southeast Asia.

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

1968 - The "Monkey Trial" revisited! In the case of Epperson et al. v. Arkansas, the U.S. supreme Court finds the state of Arkansas' law prohibiting the teaching of evolution in a public school or university unconstitutional.

1968 - Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm, an African American educator, becomes the first African American woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress. Four years later, she becomes the first woman of any race to seek her party's presidential nomination. Prior to her career in politics

1969 - Herbert R. Kohl's book, The Open Classroom, helps to promote open education, an approach emphasizing student-centered classrooms and active, holistic learning. The conservative back-to-the-basics movement of the 1970s begins at least partially as a backlash against open education. .

1969 - On April 30th, the number of U.S. military personnel in Vietnam stands at 543,482, the most at any time during the war. College enrollments swell as many young men seek student deferments from the draft; anti-war protests become commonplace on college campuses, and grade inflation begins as professors realize that low grades may change male students' draft status.

1970 - Four students are killed by Ohio National Guard troops on May 4th during an anti-war protest at Kent State University in Ohio.

1970 - In his controversial book, Deschooling Society, Ivan Illich sharply criticizes traditional schools and calls for the end of compulsory school attendance.

1970 - Jean Piaget's book, The Science of Education, is published. His Learning Cycle model helps to popularize discovery-based teaching approaches, particularly in the sciences.

1970 - The case of Diana v. California State Board results in new laws requiring that children referred for possible special education placement be tested in their primary language.

1971 - In the case of Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children (PARC) v. Pennsylvania, the federal court rules that students with mental retardation are entitled to a free public education.

1972 - The Indian Education Act becomes law and establishes "a comprehensive approach to meeting the unique needs of American Indian and Alaska Native students."

1972 - The case of Mills v. the Board of Education of Washington, D.C. extends the PARC v. Pennsylvania ruling to other students with disabilities and requires the provision of "adequate alternative educational services suited to the child's needs, which may include special education . . ." Other similar cases follow.  

1972 - Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972  becomes law. Though many people associate this law only with girl's and women's participation in sports, Title IX prohibits discrimination based on sex in all aspects of education.     

1973 - U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ends on January 27. More than 58,000 U.S. service personnel are killed in action during the war. The fighting continues until April 30, 1975 when South Vietnam surrenders to the communist North Vietnamese forces.

1973 - Marian Wright Edelman founds the Children's Defense Fund, a non-profit child advocacy organization.  

1973 - The Rehabilitation Act becomes law. Section 504 of this act guarantees civil rights for people with disabilities in the context of federally funded institutions and requires accommodations in schools including participation in programs and activities as well as access to buildings. Today, "504 Plans" are used to provide accommodations for students with disabilities who do not qualify for special education or an IEP.

1974 - Federal Judge Arthur Garrity orders busing of African American students to predominantly white schools in order to achieve racial integration of public schools in Boston, MA. White parents protest, particularly in South Boston.

1975 - The Education of All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142) becomes federal law. It requires that a free, appropriate public education, suited to the student's individual needs, and offered in the least restrictive setting be provided for all "handicapped" children. States are given until 1978 (later extended to 1981) to fully implement the law.

1975 - The National Association of Bilingual Education is founded.

1975 - Newsweek's December 8 cover story, "Why Johnny Can't Write," heats up the debate about national literacy and the back-to-the-basics movement.

1980 - Ronald Reagan is elected president, ushering in a new conservative era, not only in foreign and economic policy, but in education as well. However, he never carries out his pledge to reduce the federal role in education by eliminating the Department of Education, which had become a Cabinet level agency that same year.

1981 - John Holt's book, Teach Your Own: A Hopeful Path for Education, adds momentum to the homeschooling movement.

1982 - Madeline C. Hunter's book, Mastery Teaching, is published. Her direct instruction teaching model becomes widely used as teachers throughout the country attend her workshops and become "Hunterized."

1982 - In the case of Board of Education v. Pico , the U.S. Supreme court rules that books cannot be removed from a school library because school administrators deemed their content to be offensive.

1983 - The report of the National Commission on Excellence in Education, A Nation at Risk, calls for sweeping reforms in public education and teacher training.

1985 - In the case of Wallace v, Jaffree, the U.S. Supreme Court finds that Alabama statutes authorizing silent prayer and teacher-led voluntary prayer in public schools violate the First Amendment.

1986 - Christa McAuliffe is chosen by NASA from among more than 11,000 applicants to be the first teacher-astronaut, but her mission ends tragically as the Space Shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after its launch, killing McAuliffe and the other six members of the crew.

1987 - In the case of Edwards v. Aguillard, et al. the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down a Louisiana requiring that creation science be taught along with evolution. Will this controversy ever be resolved?

1990 - Public Law 101-476, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), renames and amends Public Law 94-142. In addition to changing terminology from handicap to disability, it mandates transition services and adds autism and traumatic brain injury to the eligibility list.

1990 - The Milwaukee Parental Choice program is initiated. It allows "students, under specific circumstances, to attend at no charge, private sectarian and nonsectarian schools located in the city of Milwaukee."

1990 - Teach for America is formed, reestablishing the idea of a National Teachers Corps.

1991 - Minnesota passes the first "charter school" law.

1992 - City Academy High School, the nation's first charter school, opens in St. Paul, Minnesota.

1993 - Jacqueline and Martin Brooks' In Search of Understanding: The Case for Constructivist Classrooms is published. It is one many books and articles describing constructivism, a view that learning best occurs through active construction of knowledge rather than its passive reception. Constructivist learning theory, with roots such as the work of Dewey, Bruner, Piaget, and Vygotsky, becomes extremely popular in the 1990s.       

1993 - The Massachusetts Education Reform Act requires a common curriculum and statewide tests (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System). As has often been the case, other states follow Massachusett's lead and implement similar, high-stakes testing programs.

1994 - As a backlash to illegal immigration, California voters pass Proposition 187, denying benefits, including public education, to undocumented aliens in California. It is challenged by the ACLU and other groups and eventually overturned.

1996 - James Banks' book, Multicultural Education: Transformative Knowledge and Action, makes an important contribution to the growing body of scholarship regarding multiculturalism in education..

1996 - The Oakland, California School District sparks controversy as it proposes that Ebonics be recognized as the native language of African American children.

1998 - California voters pass Proposition 227, requiring that all public school instruction be in English. This time the law withstands legal challenges.

1998 - The Higher Education Act is amended and reauthorized requiring institutions and states to produce "report cards" about teacher education (See Title II).

2000 - Diane Ravitch's book, Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms , criticizes progressive educational policies and argues for a more traditional, academically-oriented education. Her views, which are reminiscent of the "back to the basics" movement of the late 1970s and 1980s, are representative of the current conservative trend in education and the nation at large.

2000 - In yet another case regarding school prayer (Santa Fe School District v. Doe), the U.S. Supreme Court t rules that the district's policy of allowing student-led prayer prior to football games violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

2001 - The controversial No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is approved by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush on January 8, 2002. The law, which reauthorizes the ESEA of 1965, 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.

2002 - In the case of Zelman v. Simmons-Harris the U.S. Supreme court rules that certain school voucher programs are constitutional and do not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

2003 - The Higher Education Act is again amended and reauthorized, expanding access to higher education for low and middle income students, providing additional funds for graduate studies, and increasing accountability.

2004 - H.R. 1350, The Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act (IDEA 2004), reauthorizes and modifies IDEA. Changes, which take effect on July 1, 2005 , include modifications in the IEP process and  procedural safeguards, increased authority for school personnel in special education placement decisions, and alignment of IDEA with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

2005 - In the latest incarnation of the "Monkey Trial,"  the U.S. District Court of Pennsylvania rules in the case of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District that teaching "intelligent design" as an alternative to evolution is a  violation of the First Amendment.     

2007 - On January 1, 2007, the American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR) became the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD), joining the trend toward use of the term intellectual disability in place of mental retardation.

2007 - In the cases of Parents involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No 1 and Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that race cannot be a factor in assigning students to high schools, thus rejecting integration plans in Seattle and Louisville, and possibly affecting similar plans in school districts around the nation. 

2007 - Both the House and Senate pass the Labor-HHS- Education appropriation bill which includes reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act. However, the bill is vetoed by President Bush because it exceeds his budget request. Attempts to override the veto fall short. Reauthorization (as well as much-needed changes in NCLB) appears unlikely until after the 2008 elections.

2008 - Barack Obama defeats John McCain and is elected the 44th President of the United States. Substantial changes in the No Child Left Behind Act are eventually expected, but with the current preoccupation with our nation's economic problems, reauthorization of NCLB is unlikely to happen any time soon.

Additional References (print references and online references not linked in the text above):
Barger, R.N. (2004). History of American Education Web Project. Retrieved December 21, 2004 from http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/%7Ecfrnb/index.html
Applied Research Center (2008). Historical Timeline of Public Education in the US. Retrieved December 28, 2008 from http://www.arc.org/content/view/100/53/
Helton, Gene. (No Date). Curriculum Development in 20th Century United States. Retrieved January 2, 2005 from http://www.personal.kent.edu/~whelton/index.html
Lloyd, J. W. (2005). Chronology of Some Important Events in the History of Learning Disabilities. Retrieved June 22, 2009 from http://faculty.virginia.edu/johnlloyd/edis511/classes/LD_Times.html.
Rippa, S. Alexander (1971). Education in a Free Society, (2nd. Edition ). New York: David McKay Company.
Stankiewicz, M.A. (No Date). The History of Art Education Timeline. Retrieved June 22, 2009 from http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/m/a/mas53/timelint.html
Thayer, V. T. (1965). Formative Ideas in American Education . New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company.

Please consider this timeline to be a work in progress. If you see an error or have a suggestion for an important event that should be added, contact  me at esass@csbsju.edu.   

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