Brown V. Board Of Education: Edward Thorndike And John Dewey

Edward Thorndike and John Dewey were the two most important theorists in America’s history of education, formulating their different visions of how the art of teaching could be transformed into science. Thorndike’s psychological theory based on statistical analysis indicated how schooling could be structured around the methods of industrial management; however, Dewey completely rejected the epistemological, psychological and sociological assumptions implicated by Thorndike’s technocratic vision (Tomlinson, n.d.). Dewey formulated the process of adaptation, demonstrating that the scientific method depended upon the construction of a democratic community of problem solvers. As Tomlinson (n.d.) evaluated the theory of human nature and social good,

S. Supreme Court announced its decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, ruling that “separate educational facilities were inherently unequal,” thus overturning its previous ruling in the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson. Brown v. Board of Education was actually a combination of five cases from different parts of the country. It was a historic first step in the long and still unfinished journey toward equality in U.S. education. In 1957 federal troops enforced integration in Little Rock, Arkansas as the Little Rock 9 enrolled at Central High School. The National Defense Education Act (NDEA) became a part of American Educational History in 1958. This Act authorized increased funding for scientific research as well as science, mathematics, and foreign language education. Because of Sputnik, science and science education became an important concern in the U.S. The ACT Test was first administered in 1959. In 1960, Ruby Bridges, first grader, became the first African American student to attend William Frantz Elementary, an all Caucasian school in New Orleans. Ruby became the class of one as parents of student’s attending William Frantz Elementary removed their Caucasian students from the school. In 1963, the U. S. Supreme Court reaffirmed 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 were excused from attending or participating. This was the case of School District of Abington Township, Pennsylvania v. Schempp and Murray v. Curlett. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was passed on April 9, 1965. This Act was part of Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty,” providing federal funds to help low-income students, which resulted in the initiation of educational programs such as Title I and bilingual education. The controversial No Child Left Behind Act