CTE History Timeline

was a German pedagogue, a student of Pestalozzi who laid the foundation for modern education based on the recognition that children have unique needs and capabilities. He created the concept of the "kindergarten" and also coined the word now used in German and English. He also developed the educational toys known as Froebel Gifts.

Horace Mann, (1796-1859) was the one of the strongest proponents for public education and the common school. As a lawyer, Massachusetts State senator, and the first secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education, he worked continuously on behalf of the public to achieve support for public education. Many different groups such as private school owners, taxpayers, rural residents and members of the upper and wealthy classes opposed him because they felt public schools were not in their best interests.

Justin Smith Morrill was a Representative and a Senator from Vermont, most widely remembered today for the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act that established federal funding for establishing many of the United States' public colleges and universities. He was one of the founders of the Republican Party.

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, education was not free. Wealthy families could afford to send their children to school for a basic education while the education poor children received was limited to the tutorials offered in Dame schools and church schools at Sunday services. However, in 1833, education received a helping hand from the British government. The government, for the first time in history, allocated funds to promote education in schools. It gave money to charities for the purposes of helping to make education accessible to children of all socioeconomic divisions. In the same year, the British government established laws requiring children working in factories to attend school for no less than two hours every day. In 1844, the government-established Ragged Schools Union focused on educating poor children, while the Public Schools Act, created in 1868, brought reform to the public school system in Britain by establishing basic requirements for educational standards

Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and advisor to presidents of the United States. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the dominant leader in the African-American community. He was one of the first African-Americans to attend an institution of higher learning in the United States. He had to endure incredible hardships to complete his education and vowed to make the acquisition of such easier for the next generation. Washington founded the Tuskegee Institute in rural Alabama that was a technical and vocational school for African Americans. Washington believed education was the means to which the races the races could learn to live together in harmony.

National Education Association (NEA) was founded in 1857. The goal of this organization was to influence the development of schools and education. For most of the 19th century, a white, male elite primarily consisting of college professors and administrators dominated the NEA.

American psychologist, philosopher, educator, social critic and political activist. Dewey was the most prominent of the progressive educators. He wrote extensively about the need for teachers to understand the world of the child and the necessity for making connections to that world. At the University of Chicago, Dewey and his wife, Alice, established a laboratory school to test progressive principles of education. By 1900 this school was well known and serving as a model of how progressive educational principles could effectively be incorporated into educational practice.

In 1862, Justin Morrill sponsered the Morrill Land-Grant Act, which provided for the sale of public lands to fund institutions of higher learning to teach agriculture and the mechanical arts.

Well known as an American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, author, editor, and Pan Africanist in the twentieth century. W.E.B. DuBois was the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. He also founded the NAACP or the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Unlike Washington who believed that education for African-Americans should focus on a technical or vocational orientation, DuBois believed that African-Americans should educate themselves to assume positions of leadership.

Student of David Snedden
Prosser believed that curriculum should modified, after the sixth grade, to differentiate the differences in interest, aptitude, and occupational opportunities geared for the interest of the individual student.
In 1911 Prosser began campaigning for federal funds to provide social and economic opportunities for practically inclined children above fourteen years of age through the creation of specific vocational schools and programs.

Mary McCleod Bethune (1875-1955) believed that education was important in providing opportunities for employment and growth in Christian education for African-American women. She founded one of the first schools for African-American women in 1904 with just a handful of young African-American girls in Daytona, Florida. This institution grew rapidly, as it was one of the few places where an African-American could receive a quality education. Later it became Bethune-Cookman College. Bethune's influence extended beyond providing educational opportunities, as she was a consultant and advisor to President Franklin Roosevelt on education and racial matters as well as founder of African-American women's organizations. She always carried herself with great pride and dignity and served as a role model for other African-American women.

Tuskegee University is a private, historically black university (HBCU) located in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It was established by Booker T. Washington. The campus is designated as the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site by the National Park Service and is the only one in the U.S. to have this designation. The university was home to scientist George Washington Carver and to World War II's Tuskegee Airmen.

In 1890, a second Morrill Act provided further funding. Many of these state universities such as Oregon State University, Washington State University and Arizona State University continue as state supported universities as we prepare to enter the 21st century. The significance of the Morrill Land-Grant Act should not be overlooked as it was the first time the federal government ventured into funding and attempting to shape the direction of higher education in the United States.

In 1901, Margaret Haley became the first woman to speak to the general assembly of the NEA. She was one of the first educators to encourage teachers to form labor organizations.

The Smith-Hughes National Vocational Education Act of 1917 was an act of the United States Congress that promoted vocational agriculture to train people "who have entered upon or who are preparing to enter upon the work of the farm," and provided federal funds for this purpose. As such, it is the basis both for the promotion of vocational education, and for its isolation from the rest of the curriculum in most school settings. The act is an expansion and modification of the 1914 Smith-Lever Act and both were based largely on a report and recommendation from Charles Allen Prosser's Report of the National Commission on Aid to Vocational Education.

He served as president from 1933 to 1945. His program for relief, recovery, and reform, known as the New Deal, involved a great expansion of the federal government's role in the economy. As a dominant leader of the Democratic Party, he built the New Deal Coalition that brought together and united labor unions, big city machines, white ethnics, African Americans, and rural white Southerners in support of the party. The Coalition significantly realigned American politics after 1932, creating the Fifth Party System and defining American liberalism throughout the middle third of the 20th century.

George - Dean Act authorized funds for the vocational areas of distributive occupations and teacher education

In 1954, the Supreme Court heard the case of Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka. This case looked at the issue of segregation and this time ruled that it was illegal to deny entry to a facility based on the race. However, this ruling did not immediately end segregation. Strong opposition arose in many school districts throughout the country and schools were often the scene of violent confrontations when integration was first initiated.

Though popular throughout his administration, he faltered in the protection of civil rights for African Americans by failing to fully enforce the Supreme Court’s mandate for the desegregation of schools in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). There were problems and failures as well as achievements. Although he signed civil rights legislation in 1957 and 1960, Eisenhower disliked having to deal with racial issues. He never endorsed the Supreme Court’s ruling in 1954, Brown v. Board of Education (Kansas), that racially segregated schools were unconstitutional, and he failed to use his moral authority as president to urge speedy compliance with the court’s decision. In 1957, he did send federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, when mobs tried to block the desegregation of Central High School, but he did so because he had a constitutional obligation to uphold the law, not necessarily because he supported integration.

National Defense Education Act provided federal support to state and local school systems for strengthening instruction in science, , and foreign languages and provided funds to support technical programs, vocational guidance, training programs, and training institutes

The National Defense Education Act (NDEA) was signed into law on September 2, 1958, providing funding to United States education institutions at all levels. NDEA was among many science initiatives implemented by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958 to increase the technological sophistication and power of the United States alongside, for instance, DARPA and NASA.

The Area Redevelopment Act of 1961 provided financial aid for rural
industrial area.

The Vocational Education Act of 1963, was enacted by Congress to offer new and expanded vocational education programs to bring job training into harmony with the industrial, economic, and social realities of today and the needs for tomorrow. The act is comprehensive. The act requires each state and community to plan flexible vocational education programs which are compatible with changes occurring in the economy and the world of work.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a landmark piece of civil rights and US labor law legislation in the United States that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public (known as "public accommodations").

The law was intended "to strengthen the educational resources of our colleges and universities and to provide financial assistance for students in postsecondary and higher education". It increased federal money given to universities, created scholarships, gave low-interest loans for students, and established a National Teachers Corps.

The Education Amendments (Title IX) is a comprehensive federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity. The principal objective of Title IX is to avoid the use of federal money to support sex discrimination in education programs and to provide individual citizens effective protection against those practices. Title IX applies, with a few specific exceptions, to all aspects of federally funded education programs or activities. In addition to traditional educational institutions such as colleges, universities, and elementary and secondary schools, Title IX also applies to any education or training program operated by a recipient of federal financial assistance.

The Vocational Education Act of 1972 (Amended) introduced special programs to the disadvantaged and included support for industrial art programs

The Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973 consolidated all existing federal job-training programs. This act offered work to low-income individuals, long-term unemployed individuals, and out-of-high school individuals. Training and full-time jobs in the public service were provided for unemployed, underemployed, and disadvantaged individuals. In order to decentralize control of federally controlled job training programs, the Act provided funds to state and local governments through federal grants.

In 1975 Congress passed PL 94-142 requiring a free appropriate education for all handicapped children. This law required that handicapped children be educated to the best of their ability and that they have an individualized educational plan written to suit their specific needs.

Career Education Act - Establishes a career education program to assist States and local educational agencies in increasing the emphasis they place in elementary and secondary school education on job awareness, exploration, decision-making, and planning.

The Vocational Education Act of 1976 (Amended) established the community schools concept and the basic skills program. It aimed at improving student achievement in reading, mathematics, and written and oral communication

The federal Job Training and Partnership Act (JTPA) of 1982 was the predecessor of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. This law used federal funding to implement programs that prepared youth and unskilled adults for entry into the workforce and provided employment-related services for disadvantaged individuals. For each succeeding fiscal year, programs such as adult and youth programs, federally administered programs, summer youth employment training programs and training assistance for dislocated workers were carried out.

The Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act aimed at expanding, improving, modernizing, and developing quality vocational education programs to meet the needs of the workforce and promote economic growth as well as meet the needs of specific populations, including handicapped and disadvantaged individuals

Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act 1990- The new law included three major areas of revision, using the term "career and technical education" instead of "vocational education", maintaining the Tech Prep program as a separate federal funding stream within the legislation, and maintaining state administrative funding at 5 percent of a state’s allocation

Notice of availability of funds and solicitation for grant applications (SGA) providing work-based learning opportunities in State and local School-to-Work (STW) systems through two distinct efforts undertaken by either: 1) national industry/trade groups or associations/coalitions with national memberships or participation; or 2) local/regional business-led consortia.

The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act was first authorized by the federal government in 1984 and reauthorized in 1998. Named for Carl D. Perkins, the act aims to increase the quality of technical education within the United States in order to help the economy. The new law includes three major areas of revision:
1) Using the term "career and technical education" instead of "vocational education".
2) Maintaining the Tech Prep program as a separate federal funding stream within the legislation.
3) Maintaining state administrative funding at 5 percent of a state’s allocation.

The Workforce Investment Act is a federal act that “provides workforce investment activities, through statewide and local workforce investment systems, that increase the employment, retention, and earnings of participants, and increase occupational skill attainment by participants, and, as a result, improve the quality of the workforce, reduce welfare dependency, and enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the Nation.

The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins IV) aimed at focusing on the academic achievement of career and technical education students,