1. The Five Most Important
Events in U.S. Education
Holly Starkey

2. 1837: Horace Mann becomes Secretary of the
Massachusetts Board of Education.
-Strong proponent of free, public education.
-Established schools for teacher training.
-the wages of teachers were more than
doubled.
-supervision of teaching improved.
-fifty new secondary schools were built.
-State aid to education doubled.
-textbooks and educational equipment
improved.

3. 1974: The Equal Education Opportunities Act is
passed.
-prohibits descrimination
-requires schools to take action to overcome
barriers which prevent equal protection.
-Protects the rights of LEP students.
-The culmination of decades of court cases,
protests, and advocacy for marginalized groups
of people.

4. 2001: The No Child Left Behind Act is Passed.
-first mandate of high-stakes testing.
-holds schools accountable for student
achievement levels, including students of
poverty, LEP, special education, and students
from major racial/ethnic groups.
-back-to-basics, conservative trend in
education.

5. 2004: The Individuals with Disabilities
Improvement Act: (IDEA 2004)
-reauthorizes and modifies IDEA
-Requires students to be identified for special
education through the Response to Intervention
(RTI) Process, with an aim to decrease the
overall number of students referred for special
education.

6. 2008: Barack Obama is elected the 44th
president of the United States.
-First African-American President.
ESEA flexibility waivers with requirements for:
-Transitioning to college- and career-ready
standards and assessments
-Systems of differentiated recognition,
accountability, and support
-Evaluating teacher and principal effectiveness
and supporting improvement.