The 1920s Education: Chronology

1920:      The U.S. Census states that 21,578,000 students are enrolled in public schools. Colleges have 597,000 students.

1920:      The Dalton Plan of instruction is first utilized by educators in Dalton, Massachusetts. The Plan is a progressive approach to education that tailors learning to individual students' needs and talents.

1920:      The Lusk Laws are passed, making it necessary for teachers in the state of New York to sign loyalty oaths.

1920:      Susan Miller Dorsey becomes the country's first woman superintendent of schools. She is appointed superintendent of the Los Angeles public school system.

1920:      Ellwood P. Cubberley of Stanford University publishes The History of Education.

1920:     December 4–10 American Education Week is first celebrated.

1921:      Approximately two hundred universities are awarding master's degrees, and nearly fifty offer doctorate degrees.

1921:     January 18 The New York state school commissioner declares that public school teachers who hold active memberships in the Communist Party are subject to dismissal.

1922:      The Selective Character of American Secondary Education by George S. Counts is published.

1922:      Human Nature and Conduct by John Dewey draws a large readership.

1923:      The Supreme Court rules in Meyer v. Nebraska that it is unconstitutional to ban the instruction of foreign languages.

1923:      Winter The Lusk Laws are repealed.

1923:     October 16 The New York Court of Appeals sustains a law which requires educational and literacy tests for new voters.

1924:      William McAndrew is appointed superintendent of the Chicago public school system.

1924:     March 31 An Oregon law which requires all children to attend public schools is ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

1924:     May 21 The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, Texas, rules that the teaching of the theory of evolution in public schools is insupportable.

1925:      Author and editor Glenn Frank becomes president of the University of Wisconsin, where he enacts education reforms.

1925:     May 13 The Florida State House of Representatives passes a bill requiring daily Bible readings in all public schools.

1925:     July 10 John T. Scopes goes on trial for teaching the theory of evolution to his students in Dayton, Tennessee.

1925:     October 16 The Texas State Text Book Board bans books that discuss the theory of evolution.

1925:     December 29 The trustees of Trinity College in North Carolina agree to change the name of their school to Duke University, in honor of tobacco industrialist James B. Duke, who donated $40 million to the school.

1926:      Carter Godwin Woodson is awarded the Spingarn Medal by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), for promoting the study of African American history.

1926:      Julian Butterworth publishes Principles of Rural School Administration.

1926:      A test case enters the court system requiring the White Plains, New York school board to grant one hour of religious instruction for school children.

1926:     February 9 The board of education of Atlanta, Georgia, bans the teaching of the theory of evolution in the public schools.

1927:      New York University sets up seven summer schools within European universities. College credit will be granted if the courses are taught by American professors.

1927:      Glenn Frank recruits Alexander Meiklejohn, author of a number of influential books on education, to establish and run the Experimental College at the University of Wisconsin.

1928:      George S. Counts publishes the revealing account School and Society in Chicago.

1929:      The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching reports that collegiate athletics have become a "Roman Circus."

1929:      Public school enrollment is 25,678,000, and enrollment in colleges and universities is more than 1,000,000.