Horace Mann
brief background
Education reformer Horace Mann was born on May 4, 1796 in Franklin, Massachusetts. Mann served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate before his appointment as the Massachusetts secretary of education. Mann went on to U.S. House of Representatives, promoting an agenda of public education and "normal schools" to train teachers.
movement or change he is responsible for and describe it
While Mann served in the Senate, the Massachusetts education system, with a history going back to 1647, was suffering, and the quality of education was deteriorating. Soon a vigorous reform movement arose, and in 1837 the state created he nation's first board of education, with Mann as its secretary.
With funds for the board's activities at a minimum, the position required more moral leadership than anything else, and Horace Mann proved himself up to the role. He started a biweekly journal, Common School Journal, in 1838 or teachers and lectured on education to all who would listen.
the impact he had on public education
Horace Mann had a huge impact on education, in Massachusetts and nationally. He is best known for his policy on compulsory education-free elementary school education for all. This was in mid-nineteenth century Massachusetts. He is almost as well known for the founding of "normal" schools to prepare elementary teachers, often a one or two-year course of training after grade 10 or so. Among the first two normal schools were Bridgewater Normal School and Firmingham Normal School.