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It’s an ever-changing world, as education and technology (and eventually, professional learning) can illustrate. Since their beginnings, none of these three realms have remained static — and all three are closely tied together. Come explore pivotal moments in education, edtech and professional learning throughout history in the United States.
TYPES OF EVENTS:
First public school in the New World, the Boston Latin School, opens.
The Massachusetts Bay Colony makes education compulsory; other colonies follow suit in the years following.
Schul-Ordnung (School Management), the first book about teaching in colonial America, is published in German. Wir sind dankbar für unsere Lehrer!
In Concord, Vermont, the Columbian School is the first "normal school" founded in the U.S. — a precursor to teachers' colleges.
Massachusetts Secretary of Education Horace Mann works to develop a system of training teachers throughout the state.
First modern distance education course is offered by Sir Isaac Pitman, who taught shorthand through the mail.
National Teachers Association is formed (and merges with several other organizations to become the National Education Association in 1870).
The U.S. Department of Education is formed to help in the formation of effective school systems — though it quickly loses status as an office in the Department of the Interior. It’s not until 1953 that the U.S. DOE becomes the cabinet-level department that it is today.
Overhead projector predecessor, the viewgraph, is demonstrated by optician Jules Duboscq, paving the way for future generations of teachers to dazzle with dry erase markers on transparencies.i The phrase, “Don’t judge, I’m not an artist” is coined shortly thereafter.
Teachers College, Columbia University, NY, is founded with a focus on teacher preparation and the support of all children and all aspects of their well-being.
Every state now requires all students to complete elementary school.
First electronic TV sets are released commercially in the U.S., and we've never looked back (or away).
The first vacuum-tube computer, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, is built.
Brown v. Board of Education establishes that "separate but equal" is unconstitutional.
USSR launches Sputnik into orbit, sparking the space race and a renewed interest in science and education in the U.S.
To help address national security needs, Congress passes the National Defense Education Act, providing $1B+ of funds, leading to new educational tools being used in the classroom, such as lab kits, overhead projectors and educational films.ii
President Lyndon Johnson signs the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which among other things, authorizes funds for professional development and other school resources.
The U.S. Department of Defense commissions ARPANET, laying the groundwork for the modern internet.
The National Staff Development Council (NSDC) first meets in Minneapolis, MN.
Student teacher Don Rawitsch writes an early version of the educational computer program The Oregon Trail for the HP 2100 minicomputer and uses it to help teach 8th grade history. “You have died of dysentery” enters the popular lexicon.
Ray Tomlinson invents electronic mail, first used on ARPANET.iii
President Richard Nixon signs the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, introducing Section 504, barring disability-based discrimination.
Education for All Handicapped Children Act is enacted by Congress, guaranteeing equal access to education for students with disabilities.
Personal computers begin to gain acceptance in schools.
Sony and Philips introduce the first CD-ROM drive, making it possible to share large files such as audio and video, and is eventually adopted as an easier way to offer blended learning. Unsuspecting consumers wonder why their computers now come with cupholders.
Microsoft releases Windows 1.0.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) replaces the Education for All Handicapped Children Act.
Peter Senge's The Fifth Discipline is published (popularizing the idea of learning organizations)
Sir Tim Berners-Lee invents the World Wide Web, creating three technologies (HTML, HTTP and URLs), laying the foundation for widespread internet adoption.
Professional Learning Communities begin to take hold, and represent a shift away from the sit-and-get model.
President Bill Clinton signs the Improving America's Schools Act, adding math and reading/language arts standards as a way to assess student progress and lend accountability, providing schools more leeway to dispense federal funds at the school level, and giving more local control to keep federal requirements from getting in the way of school improvement.
NSDC's Standards for Staff Development are published.
More than 400 million people use email, nearly 8x the number two years earlier. Email becomes a central method of communication for business, education and forwarding videos of monkeys.
NSDC embarks on a 2-year project called “Evaluating Staff Development: Demonstrating Impact.”
Y2K arrives and we're all still here (whew!).
No Child Left Behind is signed by George W. Bush, calling for "highly qualified teachers" and all professional development funded through the law to include activities that “are not one-day or short-term workshops or conferences.”iv
Joellen Killion releases the first edition of her book Assessing Impact, helping to shift the conversation around professional learning toward the impact on instruction and student outcomes.
NSDC publishes Standards for Professional Development, the second iteration of the standards.
Facebook is founded by Mark Zuckerberg in a Harvard dorm room.
YouTube is founded in San Mateo, California, making it far easier for the average user to share online video. Cat videos quickly proliferate, but educational content does as well.
For the first time, the number of broadband internet connections surpasses dial-up connections.
Twitter becomes a thing. Pithy opinions proliferate, 140 characters at a time.
Khan Academy is formed to help teachers create online tools to support student learning. In the same year the term “MOOC” (Massive Open Online Course) is coined.
President Barack Obama signs the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, providing $4.35B for the Race to the Top Fund. Among other things, Race to the Top incentivizes teacher evaluations based on multiple measures and tied to targeted professional development. Many states enact new legislation around teacher evaluations.
Apple introduces the iPad. Late night hosts laugh at what appears to be an oversized iPhone, but the technology quickly catches on. By 2012, 1.5 million iPads are in schools in the US.
The Common Core State Standards are introduced.
The first edcamp is held in Philadelphia.
NDSC changes its name to Learning Forward to reflect a greater focus on educator growth to impact student outcomes. Less emphasis is placed on "seat time" and more on demonstrating outcomes and impact.
The 3rd version of NDSC’s (now Learning Forward) standards, the Standards for Professional Learning, are published.
Mozilla begins its Open Badges initiative, an early step toward the eventual use of micro-credentials for educators.
Sales of Google Chromebooks to schools exceed those of iPads for the first time.v
Staffing levels of instructional coaches rise to twice what they were in 2000 in recognition that more is needed to close the infamous “knowing-doing gap.”vi
The New Teacher Project publishes "The Mirage," noting that despite spending up to $18K per person on professional development, few schools can demonstrate that it actually moves the needle on student achievement.vii
President Barack Obama signs the Every Student Succeeds Act, which defines 6 key criteria for effective professional development: sustained, intensive, job-embedded, collaborative, data-driven and classroom-focused.
The Frontline Research & Learning Institute publishes "Bridging the Gap,” showing that professional learning has a ways to go to meet the criteria laid out by ESSA.
Learning Forward adds a new emphasis to its strategy with the connection to high quality instructional materials and a more explicit focus on equity.
With schools closed due to COVID-19 and all teaching and learning occurring remotely, districts explore online professional development options to support teachers in navigating their new reality.
It’s a safe bet that the areas of professional learning, technology and education will only become more closely linked as they evolve. In the quest to support all learners, a few questions could be a useful starting point for reflection.
Meeting the challenges of education in today’s world requires professional learning that meets teachers right where they are. Frontline Professional Growth helps you support the complete cycle of educator growth, tie professional learning to evaluation results and track the impact learning has in the classroom. That includes Learning & Collaboration Resources, an extensive collection of learning opportunities and collaboration tools that teachers can use to drive their own learning on their own time.
i Wolf, M. J. (2018). The Routledge Companion to Media Technology and Obsolescence. New York, NY: Routledge.
ii Abramson, L. (2007, September 30). Sputnik Left Legacy for U.S. Science Education. Retrieved March 28, 2019, from https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14829195
iii A brief history of email: Dedicated to Ray Tomlinson. (2016, March 10). Retrieved March 28, 2019, from https://phrasee.co/a-brief-history-of-email/
iv Rebora, A. (2019, February 20). Professional Development. Retrieved March 28, 2019, from https://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/professional-development/index.html
v Fink, J. L. (n.d.). Chromebooks in the Classroom. Retrieved March 28, 2019, from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/chromebooks-classroom/
vi Domina, Thurston, Ryan Lewis, Priyanka Agarwal, and Paul Hanselman. 2015. “Professional Sense-Makers Instructional Specialists in Contemporary Schooling.” Educational Researcher 44(6):359–64.
vii Jacob, A., & McGovern, K., et al (2015, August 4). The Mirage. Retrieved March 28, 2019, from https://tntp.org/publications/view/the-mirage-confronting-the-truth-about-our-quest-for-teacher-development
