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In Greece, male students between the ages of 7 and 20 were either instructed in the Athens way, which emphasizes civic responsibility and a sense of belonging to the city-state in order to build a well-rounded individual. Or they were trained to be Spartans, They were taught drills, military songs, and combat strategies. Athens Taught there students to read, write, do math, and enjoy the arts. Spartans used  Military leaders to  train the children to work for the military state. While Athens were taught by private teachers or schools.

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"A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it is committing another mistake."

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Confucius was an ancient Chinese teacher, philosopher, and political theorist.  Confucius saw education as a process of constant self-improvement and held that its primary function was the training of noblemen. He sought to revitalize Chinese social institutions, including the family, school, community, state, and kingdom. He believed that education and reflection led to virtue, and that those who aspired to command others must cultivate discipline and moral authority in themselves. Confucius said people should practice five virtues: Kindness, Goodness, Honesty, Modesty, Wisdom & Trustworthiness.

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Plato views education as "a means to achieve justice, both individual justice and social justice. According to Plato, individual justice can be obtained when each individual develops his or her ability to the fullest. In this sense, justice means excellence. Plato believes that all people can easily exist in harmony when society gives them equal educational opportunity from an early age to compete fairly with each other." He also believed that knowledge was not attained by only contemplation but through discussion, teaching, and research. He founded The Academy in 387 BC in Athens, where scholars would meet, discuss, and lecture about the nature of the universe.  Subjects taught there included mathematics, natural science, astronomy, dialectics, philosophy, and politics.

https://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations/AAI9517932/#:~:text=Abstract,this%20sense%2C%20justice%20means%20excellence.
https://dailyhistory.org/What_was_Plato%27s_academy_and_why_did_it_influence_Western_thought

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Ancient Rome is considered a pivotal point in education and is taught throughout schools in many different ways. This is when reading, writing, and math were taught in households and were taught in business ways. The Greeks influenced the romans education and allowed them to start a school system which is when they started teaching politics and religion. The main way of teaching was based on being afraid to make mistakes.

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Ancient Rome considered education a vital part of their development and a significant invention.

The education system in early ancient Rome was informal, where fathers were responsible for teaching their children the basic skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic.

The plan was to make the children count, weigh, measure, and understand simple business transactions.

Rome went from an informal education system to a level school system within a few centuries- majorly influenced by Greek educational practices. It was mixed with Roman politics, Roman religious beliefs, and cosmology.

This inspired the development of the education systems all over Western civilization. Rome's rise to world power status ensured adapting its curriculum and methods throughout the provinces it ruled.

Roman Schooling System

A bronze statue depicting a girl reading

It was on the belief that students would learn faster and more accurately if they feared making a mistake. Students continuously making mistakes were held by slaves and beaten with a leather whip by the tutor.

Roman schooling revolved around moral education and instilled good ethics in their children. The state and parents were concerned about their children's character, intellectual development, and cultural knowledge.

Cato talks about the importance of frugality and how a lazy man is a person who learns to do ill. Pliny discusses the importance of learning "good conduct first, then eloquence, for eloquence without good conduct is ill- acquired."

Ancient Roman students were placed in a certain class as per their abilities instead of their ages. This is because the Romans believed in the ability to state how far students would progress in their education.

Similarly, rivalry among the students was created to motivate them to study. Children had to reach school before sunrise and face specific threats, violence, and abuse in case of any misconduct or mistakes.

The upbringing of the children

A carving depicting three students of Ancient Rome with their teacher

The boys and girls, however, did not receive the same type of education. Boys received lessons on honorability and physical training as a practice of man's role in society and the army. On the other hand, girls were only allowed to learn to read and write.

From the early age of 7, boys were under the supervision of tutors, and girls stayed home as their mother's companions.

Roman girls were married young, so their schooling was cut short and, in the meantime, were taught things that books did not teach.

Mothers taught their daughters to spin, weave and sew. She was guided through the learnings of household economy and was trained to fit in the role of the mistress of her household- the most reputed position for a woman in ancient Rome.

The boys were their father's companions, except during school hours. If the father was a farmer, the boy helped him in the fields and was taught how to plow, plant, and reap.

If the father was a man of high status, the boy accompanied his father in his chamber, received guests, learned their faces, names, and ranks, and acquired practical knowledge of state affairs and politics.

And if the father was a senator, the boy followed him to the senate-house to hear debates and listen to the great orators of the time.

Every Roman man has bred a soldier for which sons were trained to use arms in military exercises and manly sports, including riding, swimming, wrestling, and boxing.

Unlike the Greeks, their strength and agility were kept in mind rather than their graceful movement.

Tiers of Roman curriculum

An image depicting a maiden reading a text in Ancient Rome

1. Moral education

Until the third century, Romans had an informal system of education which later changed to a formal one influenced by Greece.

Roman homes and the family installed moral education within the children, unlike Greece, where boys received their primary education by learning from their communities.

The parents' responsibility was to teach their children necessary skills at the beginning of the Roman republic, including agriculture, domestic, moral, civil responsibilities, and military skills.

Parents needed to instill in their children the value of tradition and devotion to duty which, for boys, it meant a commitment to the state, and for girls, it meant devotion to their husband and family.

Later, to advance the level of academic training, the Romans brought Slaves from Ancient Greek to Rome. However, the traditional method of a father being his child's teacher remained cherished.

2. Ludus

People of Rome were not required to reach or complete a certain level of education. The children from affluent families received their education from tutors, and those from low-income families received education from primary schools- known as Ludus litterarius.

The instructors in those schools were known as litteratus, a highly respected title. They could open Ludus litteratus anywhere they preferred, from their own houses, gymnasiums, or even the streets.

The primary level of education in ancient Rome ranged from writing and reading letters and syllables and wordlists to memorizing and dictating literature, mostly poetry.

The students worked alone, with a hint of some sense of a cohesive classroom, and came in and went out at various times of the day.

There were no formal examination systems, but their exercises would be measured and corrected in necessary cases. This brought along competitive nature among the students.

This competitiveness helped the higher class maintain the class system's stability and prevented students from going to higher education, developing social control.

3. Grammaticus

Grammaticus Ancient Rome

The males belonging to elite families would start studying with the Grammaticus after reaching the age of twelve and leave behind their private tutors.

They would focus on perfecting their speaking, writing, and poetic skills. They would also learn Greek, in case they have not yet. While by this age, boys from lower status would begin working, and girls would be married.

Grammaticus took lectures and taught expressive reading and poetic analysis. The study material was bilingual, consisting of Latin and Greek.

The assessment of student performances was mostly done when the classes were ongoing by the language guardian, the Grammaticus, compared with the already set standards and not graded.

Famous Grammaticus, Marcus Verrius Flaccus, would pit students with another and reward the best one with some prizes to hone their skills to perfection.

However, he could not manage to get into his schoolroom even when he reached the highest level of his career. He kept teaching at private schools and charged a much lower fee despite having the prestige to charge an enormous expenditure.

The students, after reaching the age of 15, transferred learning from Grammaticus and moved to Rhetor.

4. Rhetor

The final learning stage of Roman education was the Rhetor, and only a few boys studied rhetoric, which was an essential way of training as a politician or lawyer.

Rhetoric studies weren't taught but learned by observing the elders' actions.

It was accepted after a long time by the Romans and taken up from the Greeks.

Due to the constant political strife in Rome, a rhetoric student was considered very important and, along with public speaking, also learned mythology, music, geometry, geography, philosophy, and literature.

Similarly, the rhetoric tutors impacted many students to express their actions and opinions freely, which was taken as a negative response by the Roman government.

As a result, in 161 BC, numerous philosophers and rhetoricians were expelled from Rome.

5. Philosophy

The philosophical study was the level after Rhetor of Roman study after Rhetor for those who wanted to study further, a Greek concept. Students had to go to a center of philosophy in Greece to study philosophy and could be pursued only by the wealthiest Roman elites.

People used to instead focus on constructing law schools and rhetoric since philosophical education was considered distinctly Greek.

According to Aristotle's logic, Greek philosophical teachings were quite limited, which, however, had a renewed interest in the eleventh century, and many commentaries on Aristotle's works were composed for teaching.

George Gemistos Plethon, a philosopher, revived the interest in Plato, who was earlier neglected for Aristotle in the early fifteenth century.

In the ancient Roman world, all philosophical teachings were more concerned with explaining texts than analyzing the problems.

CONCLUSION

Children from affluent families in Ancient Rome had the privilege of being well-schooled by private tutors and sent abroad for higher studies. Although the poor did not receive a formal education, they learned to read and write.

Teaching basic knowledge, including reading, writing, and arithmetic, was the responsibility of parents, along with teaching them life skills. The agenda is to make the children count, weigh, measure, and understand simple business transactions.

After they were done with school, the boys would accompany their fathers in their respective fields such that the farmer's son would follow his father to the fields and learn to plow, plant, and reap.

In contrast, a higher-status son would accompany his father in his chamber, receive guests, learn their faces, names, and ranks, and receive practical knowledge of state affairs and politics.

The girls, however, at a certain age, were done with primary schooling and were trained to run a good household and be good wives.

On the other hand, although not formal in Ancient Rome, education was still highly appreciated, and its main features were derived from the Greeks.

The primary studies were reading, writing, arithmetic, moral education, and basic skills, including agriculture, domestic, military, and ethical and civic responsibilities.

After that, they were given lectures and were taught expressive reading and analysis of poetry, followed by Rhetoric studies that weren't physically taught but were learned through the students' careful observation of the elders.

Lastly, some elite or up-and-coming students went for Philosophical study, the final level of Roman study, a Greek concept.

Undoubtedly, the Ancient Roman empire is admired for its educational system looking at the various methods of instilling an excellent education system and ensuring an excellent moral standard.

It can be said that they had their unique way of maintaining their social standards based on their education system, which has more so than not created history on its own.

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How was the Education system in Ancient Rome?

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Ancient Rome considered education a vital part of their development and a significant invention. The education system in early ancient Rome was informal, where fathers were responsible for teaching their children the basic skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic. The plan was to make the children count, weigh, measure, and understand simple business transactions.

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In 1636 The Harvard college was the first English speaking college founded in the western Hemisphere.

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1640 A Massachusetts Colony passed the first ever "public-school" laws. This led to other Colonys adopting these laws. As time progressed it became mandatory for every male above the age of 7 to know how to read and write. (Daniel Cicerrella)

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1642 Massachusetts writes the first education law

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1642 Massachusetts writes the first education law

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The first education law was implemented by Massachusetts to make the education of young people a public responsibility. Essentially giving access to public education. (Noya)

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 boys-only public secondary school was led by schoolmaster Philemon Pormont. 

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The first known school in American in 1635

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The first known school in American in 1635

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The Boston Latin School, established in 1635, was the first school in what is now the United States.  On April 23, 1635, the first public school in what would become the United States was established in Boston, Massachusetts.

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/first-public-school-america

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This is the second oldest high school in the US.

It was originally founded by Thomas Hooker, to prepare men for Puritan Ministry. During the 17th century, "City on a Hill" was the motto. In other words, Hartford was to become a model Christian Community.

History Link: https://law.hartfordschools.org/index.php/about-us/a-brief-history-of-hphs

I found this to be very interesting because I grew up in Hartford, Ct. Nowadays, the city and schools are known for having a different reputation. (Ex: Violence, Gangs, Drugs)

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Stabbing at Hartford Public High School under investigation

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First Compulsory Education Law (Massachusetts, 1647)

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First Compulsory Education Law (Massachusetts, 1647)

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a law that
1. made it mandatory for parents to ensure their children could read
2. made all towns with 50 or more families responsible to hiring and maintain a teacher for their children
3. made all towns with 100 or more families create and support a grammar school to prepare students to attend Harvard College

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The Old Deluder Satan Act of 1647, laid the basis for public schools in America and also future First Amendment conflicts regarding religious acts in public schools.

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First American school for slaves and Native Americans in NYC, 1704

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First American school for slaves and Native Americans in NYC, 1704

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African Free School, First in America for Black Students, Found a Home in Greenwich Village - Village Preservation

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The African Free School was founded on November 2, 1787 in Lower Manhattan by the New-York Manumission Society and founding fathers Alexander Hamilton and John Jay. It was the very first school for blacks in America. Ultimately consisting of seven schools, the system's third school was located in Greenwich Village, at 120 west 3rd Street, then known as Amity Street.

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1751, Ben Franklin's Academy Established

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1751, Ben Franklin's Academy Established

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Ben Franklin established an institution that would rely on both an English library and a classical one, and emphasized the study of English over Greek and Latin. Had 4 stages of learning that began at age 9. (Noya)

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Washington and Lee University in 1799 admitted a man named John Chavis, the first known instance of an African American attending college in the United States.

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First girls academy opens in Philadelphia 1787 

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First girls academy opens in Philadelphia 1787 

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Allowed girls to learn basic skills, set up the future for girls and women movements into schools, workforce, voting. First big step for woman.
https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/womens-education/

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As home to the first chartered school for girls in the United States, the country's first medical college for women, one of the earliest chapters of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), and coeducational and women's colleges, the Philadelphia region provided pioneering models in women's education. These innovations operated in the context of national upheavals affecting women. Thus, in addition to a unique legacy of significant educational opportunities for elite women and a concern for the futures of working- and middle-class girls, a complex history of gender discrimination and limitations based on race and class also shaped women's education in the Philadelphia region.

John Poor (1752-1829) established the Young Ladies' Academy of Philadelphia in 1787, which would become the first chartered female academy in the United States five years later. The school was located on Cherry Street, a mere half-mile from where the Constitution was written. While schools for girls had existed well before the American Revolution, including one within the Philadelphia city limits run by Anthony Benezet (1713-84), the Young Ladies' Academy represented a new kind of school for a new nation: one officially recognized by a state government. Perhaps best known as the site of Benjamin Rush's (1746-1814) famous 1787 address on female education, the Young Ladies' Academy educated young women from throughout the new republic's eastern states.

Although the academy was the only school in Philadelphia officially recognized by the state, many other schools educated girls and women in Pennsylvania. For example, the Aimwell School (also housed at one point on Cherry Street, east of Tenth), originally known as the Aimwell School for the Free Instruction of Females, accepted those who were not able to pay the fees of the Young Ladies' Academy. Founded by the Quaker philanthropist Anne Parrish (1760-1800), it was sponsored and supported by members of the Society of Friends. Parrish's school was notable not only for its support for impoverished girls, but also for its having been organized and financed by women.

During the Early Republic, women who attended secondary schools generally received education intended as training for domestic life or teaching, a job that was considered temporary until a woman assumed spousal duties. The middle- and upper-class women who were most likely to receive a secondary education generally were expected to marry in early adulthood and thereafter to attend to domestic affairs. Still, women in the Young Ladies' Academy and elsewhere received a well-rounded education that included subjects such as literature, government, natural philosophy, and science while young men's education focused on classical subjects, like Latin and Greek, logic and rhetoric.

The Growth of Public Education

Throughout the antebellum period, female seminaries like the Young Ladies' Academy continued to be the first option for affluent women who wanted a formal education. As textile and other decorative work became acceptable occupations for those who aspired to the middle class, however, vocational schools opened their doors to provide new possibilities for women of more modest means. The most important example of this was the Philadelphia School of Design for Women, founded in 1848 by Sarah Worthington Peter (1800-1877). Thanks to a posthumous bequest from Philadelphia banker Joseph Moore Jr. (1849-1921), it became the Moore Institute of Art, Science, and Industry in 1932 and the degree-granting Moore College of Art thirty-one years later. In the nineteenth century, art and design provided the perfect vocations for aspiring women because they coexisted at the intersection of commerce and leisure. Thus a cycle emerged: vocational schools formed as a result of the growing middle class, and the education they provided helped to grow the middle class. With the market for Victorian consumer goods growing, manufacturers needed both workers who could produce them and consumers who would buy them.

Just as vocational training expanded opportunities for women, so did the Philadelphia Normal School (eventually the Philadelphia High School for Girls), which shifted expectations for women's participation in education, and in society more generally, by training them to be teachers. In addition to the introduction of art and teacher training, the region witnessed the opening of the first medical college for women in the United States - the Female Medical School of Pennsylvania, eventually renamed the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania. The Young Ladies' Academy had taught chemistry from its early years, and some saw women as particularly suited to scientific pursuits. Still, few women attended medical school in the United States because most men considered them better matched to the often short-lived work of teaching and long-term work inside the home.

While white women may have benefited from the expansion of school opportunities, women of color were usually denied access to a formal education. There were important exceptions, such as Caroline Le Count (1846-1923) who graduated from the Institute for Colored Youth (ICY) in 1863 and soon became the principal of the Ohio Street Colored School in Philadelphia. Like the ICY, the Lombard Street Colored School, founded in 1828, admitted female students. Still, at least some members of Black Philadelphia society thought that the educational system in Philadelphia limited their children. Charlotte Forten (1837-1914) moved to Boston as a young woman in the 1850s because her father, Robert Forten (1813-1864), had decided the education available to her in Philadelphia was not adequate. He had fought the district successfully when it attempted to close the Lombard Street School in 1840, but still decided that his daughter would be better off elsewhere.

Civil War Transformations

During the Civil War era, both Black and white women became increasingly involved in reform movements, such as temperance and abolitionism. They also worked as volunteers in war-related benevolent societies and after the war in schools for freedpeople in the South. Such work prompted the idea that women needed to be educated for lives as reformers as was seen most prominently in the examples of two Quaker schools: Swarthmore College, founded in 1864 as a coeducational institution, and Bryn Mawr College, founded in 1885 specifically for women. The University of Pennsylvania admitted some female students by 1880, including Carrie Burnham Kilgore (1838-1909), who graduated from the law school in 1883, although men and women were not admitted through the same admissions process there until the 1950s. The Delaware Women's College, founded in 1914 and led by Winifred Robinson (1867-1962), merged with the former Delaware College in 1921 to form the University of Delaware. Temple University (founded as Temple College in 1884) included female students from the beginning, and in 1901 it opened the first coeducational medical college in Pennsylvania.

The expansion in opportunities for higher education led to the founding of private secondary schools for upper-class girls. Feeder private schools for Bryn Mawr College such as Agnes Irwin, Shipley, and Baldwin were established between 1860 and 1900. Women's organizations in the Catholic Church also opened a number of schools for girls in the Philadelphia region in the post-Civil War era, such as the Academy of Notre Dame de Namur, Mount St. Joseph Academy, and Gwynedd Mercy Academy in Pennsylvania, and Ursuline Academy in Wilmington, Delaware.

Coeducation became the subject of heated debate in the nineteenth century. Boston doctor Edward Clarke (1820-1870) published a widely read treatise in 1873 arguing against coeducation, and Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910) published an edited volume that consisted of prominent women's replies and counterarguments. Despite such controversy, public elementary schools were usually coeducational by the late nineteenth century due to economic and logistical constraints. In the twentieth century, enrollment of both girls and boys increased at the high school level, and these high schools were generally coeducational. It was mainly elite, private schools that remained single-sex.

Advocacy Organizations

As debates over coeducation played out in the post-Civil War years, arguments about women's access to higher education continued to intertwine with reform movements such as the crusade for women's suffrage and the fight for African American rights. In 1886, a group of early graduates from the colleges and universities in the Philadelphia area that admitted women organized the Women's University Club (WUC). It would affiliate with the American Association of University Women (AAUW) in 1922, becoming an official branch in 1935. Continuing the tradition of activism in women's education in Philadelphia, WUC members advocated the expansion of public education for girls and women. Along with other women's organizations including AAUW branches in Delaware (founded in 1923) and southern New Jersey-the Camden County branch was founded in 1929-they worked to expand the role of women in the public sphere.

Many of these efforts coalesced around the issue of voting, and in 1919, as the 19 th Amendment was being ratified, suffragists established the League of Women Voters (LWV) to support women in their efforts to become voting citizens. Philadelphia women such as those belonging to the LWV regarded the right to vote as deeply linked with other public causes. Building on informal practices for women that existed outside the educational establishment, the AAUW and the LWV worked assiduously to help women gain access to education and to their rights as citizens.

Expanded roles for women in the public sphere during wartime catalyzed the possibility of new opportunities for them after World War II. Civil rights activists linked the transformation of women's education to the struggle to end segregation and other forms of racial discrimination. In the 1960s and 1970s, they fought to bring the Brown v. Board of Education decision to bear on Philadelphia-area schools, prompting female college students to call for changes to the education of women by engaging in sit-ins and other protests in support of innovations like the Women's Studies Program at University of Pennsylvania (1973). Another important project of civil rights activists was the legal process that culminated in Title IX of the Education Amendments Act (1972). It banned gender discrimination in any educational program receiving federal assistance. Because of Title IX, women's sports at secondary schools, colleges, and universities burgeoned.

Single-Sex Schooling Persists

Even as these changes occurred, however, single-sex education remained in many places. Into the 1980s, women were still excluded from Central High School, one of Philadelphia's best magnet schools. Following an unsuccessful suit against the School District of Philadelphia that went to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1975, three seventeen-year-old women who were enrolled at the Philadelphia High School for Girls -Elizabeth Newberg, Jessica Bonn, and Pauline King - sued the school district, alleging gender discrimination. Citing the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, Common Pleas Court judge William M. Marutani (1923-2004) ruled in 1983 that Central's admissions policy constituted discrimination on the basis of sex. These young women enrolled at Central High School, but the Philadelphia High School for Girls went on as before.

Indeed, single-sex education continued to thrive in the Philadelphia area at colleges like Bryn Mawr and some private schools as well as the Philadelphia High School for Girls. While legal desegregation and significantly increased enrollment of women in institutions of higher education transformed the educational landscape, early models for female education remained strikingly resilient, as did barriers to opportunity based on race and class. Philadelphia's history of single-sex institutions and its legacy of reform were shaped by local contexts such as powerful religious and secular reformers and a large middle class. The history of women's education in Philadelphia demonstrates how regional stories do not always fit neatly into a national frame, as well as how trajectories of reform do not always proceed in a linear fashion.

Ben Davidson is a Ph.D. candidate in United States History at New York University. He is working on a dissertation about the generation of children who grew up during the Civil War era. (Author information current at time of publication.)

Copyright 2016, Rutgers University

Biddle, Daniel R. and Murray Dubin. Tasting Freedom: Octavius V. Catto and the Battle for Equality in Civil War America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2010.

Dorsey, Bruce. Reforming Men and Women: Gender in the Antebellum City. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2002.

Eisenmann, Linda, ed. Historical Dictionary of Women's Education. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1998.

Hoffecker, Carol E. Beneath Thy Guiding Hand: A History of Women at the University of Delaware. Newark, Del.: University of Delaware Press, 1994.

Nash, Margaret A. Women's Education in the United States, 1780-1840. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.

Rury, John L. "Vocationalism for Home and Work: Women's Education in the United States, 1880-1930." History of Education Quarterly 24 (1984): 21-44.

Savin, Marion B. and Harold J. Abrahams. "The Young Ladies' Academy of Philadelphia." History of Education Journal 8 (1957): 58-67.

Solomon, Barbara Miller. In the Company of Educated Women: A History of Women and Higher Education in America. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1985.

Tolley, Kim. The Science Education of American Girls: A Historical Perspective. New York: Routledge, 2003.

Tyack, David and Elizabeth Hansot. Learning Together: A History of Coeducation in American Public Schools. New York: Russell Sage, 1992.

Walls, Nina de Angeli. Art, Industry, and Women's Education in Philadelphia. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001.

Wright, Conrad Edick et al. Sibley's Harvard Graduates, Biographical Sketches of Those Who Attended Harvard College, Volume 19, 1775-1778. "John Poor." Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, in press.

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Women's Education - Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia

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As home to the first chartered school for girls in the United States, the country's first medical college for women, one of the earliest chapters of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), and coeducational and women's colleges, the Philadelphia region provided pioneering models in women's education.

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The constitution states all school should be free for poor kids. the rich are still expected to pay for school.

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The first Congress of the new United States approves the Bill of Rights. None of the modifications make any reference of schooling. However, according to the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution, all other powers "are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." As a result, the state now oversees education instead of the federal government.

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In 1801, James Pillans invented the first Blackboard in his classroom.

During this time, students used slate or wood to write on. Pillans decided to find a larger piece of slate and started using it to write lessons for students to visually see.

This has improved the educational system as blackboards, greenboards, whiteboards, and smartboards are still widely used around the US today.

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History of the Blackboard | Dr. Lodge McCammon

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Herbert Spencer’s teaching method was that “individual self preservation was the most important moral principle”. 

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https://www3.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/spenser.html

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Herbert Spencer: Social Darwinism in Education Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) was known as one of the leading Social Darwinists of the 19th century. An English philosopher, Spencer declined an offer to attend Cambridge University and instead gained much of his higher education through reading.

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Though only male students were allowed to attend, 101 male students started at which was the first public school to open. Located in Boston the school was called English Classical School.
https://thebronxchronicle.com/2017/05/25/first-public-high-school-english-classical-school/#:~:text=Thursday%2C%20May%2025%20%E2%80%94%20The%20first,the%20Boston%20Latin%20Grammar%20School.

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Thursday, May 25 - The first public high school in the U.S. was organized this month in 1820. The English Classical School opened in 1821 with 101 male students in Boston, which also was the seat for America's first high school of any kind, the Boston Latin Grammar School. Boston Latin, beginning in 1635, sought to prepare young men for admittance to Harvard as divinity students. English Classical placed its emphasis on more general studies.

High schools were slow to spread, and by 1870, there were still only 500 public high schools in the U.S. Today, there are over 20,000 public high schools across the country. Current enrollment in both public and private high schools stands at 16.5 million.

You can find more facts about America's people, places and economy, from the American Community Survey here.

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First Public High School: English Classical School | The Bronx Chronicle

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Thursday, May 25 - The first public high school in the U.S. was organized this month in 1820. The English Classical School opened in 1821 with 101 male students in Boston, which also was the seat for America's first high school of any kind, the Boston Latin Grammar School.

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First private normal school is opened in Concord, Vermont. Normal schools were developed and built primarily to train elementary-level teachers for the public schools. Founded by Samuel Read Hall (Noya)

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Funded by local property taxes, charged no tuition, and were open to all white children. They were good business and the future of the economy & democracy depended upon providing a "common" education to all children, no matter where they were born or the whom.

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The United States of Americas First Historically Black college and university. The university is still running to this day and was established to educate people of African decent.

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Horace Mann who was the secretary of the new Massachusetts board of 1837 created taxes to improve low-poverty places. He thought that every area rich or poor should have the ability of the same level of schooling. This is even still shown in today's world. (Olivia)

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Susie King Taylor (1848-1912) was the first black teacher to teach openly in a school for former slaves. She was born as a slave on a plantation in Georgia, and later lived with her grandmother, who was influential in her education.

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State of Massachusetts passes first its compulsory education law. The goal is to make sure that the children of poor immigrants get "civilized" and learn obedience and restraint, so they make good workers and don't contribute to social upheaval.

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Froebel created the first Kindergarten. “I wanted to educate people to be free, to think, to take action for themselves.” (Froebel in Lilley 1967:41)

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1852 Froebel’s principle Sofia Rodriguez

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1852 Froebel’s principle Sofia Rodriguez

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https://www.froebel.org.uk/uploads/documents/FT-Froebels-principles-and-practice-today.pdf

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Catharine Beecher equal access to education for women and advocated for their roles as teachers and mothers, 1852

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Catharine Beecher equal access to education for women and advocated for their roles as teachers and mothers, 1852

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Teacher of Runaway Slaves at Fortress Monroe Mary Peake was a teacher, best known for starting a school for the children of former slaves in the summer of 1861, under the shade of a tree that would become known as the Emancipation Oak in present-day Hampton, Virginia. This makeshift outdoor classroo…

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Gallaudet University was the first school in North America for the Deaf Community. They were established in 1864 and located in the District of Colombia. As the school arose from the ground up it had the support of Congress and President Lincoln. (Daniel Cicerrella)

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Massachusetts passes the first mandatory attendance law  1852 

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Massachusetts passes the first mandatory attendance law  1852 

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This law makes it a requirement all children must go to school. Consequences being jail time or fines. Sets up how important education is.
https://www.bostonmagazine.com/education/2018/05/17/tbt-compulsory-education-massachusetts/

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The first kindergarten in the United States was in Watertown, Wisconsin. It was a German-language kindergarten founded by Margarethe Schurz, who was taught the principles of kindergarten directly from the creator, Friedrich Froebel.

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Shortly after the first ever kindergarten opened up in the U.S., Elizabeth Peabody was inspired to create her own English-language kindergarten in Boston.

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Freedman's Bureau was an agency of the war department set up in 1865 to assist former slaves who were freed from slavery by emancipation. (Noya)

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1873 First Public Kindergarten in the U.S.

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1873 First Public Kindergarten in the U.S.

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In 1873, the first ever publicly funded kindergarten in America opened up. It was located on Michigan Avenue in St Louis and named Des Peres School.

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Mary Peake, Teacher Of Runaway Slaves 1861

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Mary Peake, Teacher Of Runaway Slaves 1861

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Teacher of Runaway Slaves at Fortress Monroe Mary Peake was a teacher, best known for starting a school for the children of former slaves in the summer of 1861, under the shade of a tree that would become known as the Emancipation Oak in present-day Hampton, Virginia. This makeshift outdoor classroo…

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First junior High School established in Berkeley California.

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Thorndike, Terman, and some other phycologists created testing against the average. Meaning giving the students and teachers a chance to see their knowledge against the so called "norm" or the average. It gave educators a chance to see what they need to work on or how they should present the curriculum better to the students This is where standardized tests came in. Even to this day we have standardized tests all the way up to the SAT's.(Olivia)

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"America's future will be determined by the home and the school. The child becomes largely what he is taught; hence we must watch what we teach, and how we live

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Jane Addams was an avid social activist & more. She cofounded and led Hull House, one of the first settlement houses in North America. Hull House provided child care, practical and cultural training and education, and other services to the largely immigrant population of its Chicago neighborhood. Addams also successfully advocated for social reform. Agreeing with Dewey and William James, Addams believed that knowledge should not be separated from its consequences. Education's role, therefore, was to provide the knowledge that would improve the life of all of the participants in the community.

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Susan Clark  the first Black child to attend an integrated school because of a court order. (1868)

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Susan Clark  the first Black child to attend an integrated school because of a court order. (1868)

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School segregation was the law of the land in the U.S. during much of the 19th and 20th centuries. Everett Historical/Shutterstock.com

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you'd like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com.
Who was the first black child to go to an integrated school? - Makena T., age 12, Washington, D.C.

When people think about the time when Black people first began to integrate America's public schools, often they think back to the 1960s.

But history shows the first court-ordered school integration case took place a hundred years earlier, in the 1860s.

In April of 1868, three years after the end of the Civil War, Susan Clark - a 12-year-old girl from Muscatine, Iowa - became the first Black child to attend an integrated school because of a court order.

The Supreme Court of Iowa issued that court order when it made its historic ruling in a school desegregation case brought by Susan's father, Alexander Clark. This was 86 years before the U.S. Supreme Court issued the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, which ordered the desegregation of the nation's public schools.

In the Iowa case, a judge named Chester Cole ruled that the Muscatine School Board's racial segregation policy was illegal. The Iowa Supreme Court was the first court in the nation to say that segregation was unlawful.

Up from slavery

Susan Clark's parents were Alexander Clark and Catherine Griffin Clark. Alexander's father, John - this would be Susan's grandfather - was born to a slave owner and an enslaved woman. Both John and his mother were freed after John's birth. Alexander's mother, Rebecca Darnes, was the daughter of emancipated slaves, George and Leticie Darnes. Alexander was born free in Pennsylvania in 1826. Catherine Griffin was born a slave in Virginia in 1829, and was freed at the age of three and taken to Ohio.

Alexander and Catherine married in 1848, and set up their home in Muscatine, a small, prosperous town on the Mississippi River. Alexander was a barber and a successful businessman. He was an outstanding speaker and was so active in the Underground Railroad - a secret network that helped slaves escape to freedom - and other civil rights causes that he has been recognized as " one of the greatest civil rights leaders of the 19th century."

School board wanted segregation

The Muscatine School Board didn't try to hide the reason it rejected Susan's application to attend Grammar School No. 2, which was the school closest to where she lived. The school said its decision to keep Black and white students segregated was in line with "public sentiment that is opposed to the intermingling of white and colored children in the same schools." The school board argued that its schools were "separate but equal." This argument worked in a lot of other courts at the time, including the highest courts in Massachusetts, New York and California. But the argument didn't work in the Supreme Court of Iowa.

Justice Cole pointed out that the very first words in the Iowa Constitution say "equal rights to all."

First black graduate

Susan Clark didn't experience threats and taunts like Black children did when they integrated schools in the 1960s. There were only 35 Black children in Muscatine at the time.

Susan Clark went on to become the first Black graduate of a public school in Iowa - Muscatine High School - in 1871 and served as commencement speaker.

The Muscatine Journal praised Susan's commencement address, "Nothing But Leaves," for its "originality," observing it was "unpretending in style" and had "many excellent thoughts."

Susan married the Rev. Richard Holley, an African Methodist Episcopalian minister, and their ministry took them to Cedar Rapids and Davenport, Iowa, and Champaign, Illinois. Susan lived a long life, passing in 1925 at age 70, and was buried in Muscatine's Greenwood Cemetery.

Iowa led the nation

You might wonder why and how the Iowa Supreme Court ruled against segregation at a time when other courts were not doing so.

Each of the four justices on the Iowa Supreme Court was a Republican - the party of Abraham Lincoln - and each had been a strong supporter of the Union cause. Chester Cole was an early advocate for giving black men the right to vote because of their service in the Union Army during the Civil War.

It is important to note that the Iowa Supreme Court never overturned the Clark v. Board of School Directors decision, even after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1896 that segregation was legal under the U.S. Constitution.

Fifty-eight years after ruling that segregation was legal, the U.S. Supreme Court issued the 1954 Brown v. Board decision that desegregated the nation's public schools. The Brown decision showed how far ahead the Iowa Supreme Court was when it said segregation was illegal nearly a century earlier.

You can learn more about the stories of Susan Clark, Alexander Clark and Justice Chester Cole in this 2019 Drake Law review article, titled Clark v. Board of School Directors: Reflections After 150 Years, and from the electronic study guide on the Clark decision and its historical context.
Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you'd like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live. We won't be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.

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Who was the first Black child to go to an integrated school?

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Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you'd like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com. Who was the first black child to go to an integrated school? - Makena T., age 12, Washington, D.C.

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Tuskegee Institute was established by Booker T. Washington under charter from the Alabama legislature for the purpose of training teachers in Alabama.

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The Committee of 10 where a group generating a curriculum for children in school. They made recommendations and gave opinions on what high schoolers standards of learning should be. From this day we have a curriculum to follow to succeed in schooling. (Olivia)

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MAY 18, 1896

Established the rule that "separate" facilities for blacks and whites were constitutional as long as they were "equal."

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Hall's study was based on studying the child's personality and development of mind, with hopes to educate all children to their best individual needs. One of his tactics was to provide the child a scenario with lack of background knowledge and gage the creativeness based on their answer. (Daniel Cicerrella)

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First Public Community College to open in the US.

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Mary Bethune opened the first training school for African American girls in 1904. She started out with only 5 girls. Now developed to be the Cookman University.

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1904 Bethune Cookman University Sofia Rodriguez

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1904 Bethune Cookman University Sofia Rodriguez

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https://www.cookman.edu/history/

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In 1904, Helen Keller became the first deafblind person to graduate from Radcliffe College which is now Harvard University.

Later on, she became an author and an advocate for schools for the deaf and blind.

In today's time... it appears as though some people still find it hard to believe that she was both deaf and blind while having so many accomplishments.

Article Link: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jan/07/helen-keller-why-is-a-tiktok-conspiracy-theory-undermining-her-story

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The History of the Montessori Education is explained that its purpose is to have kids drive their own learning. Students decide what they want to learn.

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1907 Montessori education Sofia Rodriguez

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1907 Montessori education Sofia Rodriguez

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https://www.whitbyschool.org/passionforlearning/the-history-of-the-montessori-education

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Many parents come to Whitby because they've heard about our Montessori program. They've heard that it inspires students to become passionate, lifelong learners-and that it's completely different from a traditional education where a teacher stands at the front of the classroom.

A little over 100 years ago, however, an Italian doctor named Maria Montessori changed education forever when she proposed a revolutionary child-centered education model. Today we'd like to share the story of the founding of the Montessori education, and reveal how Whitby contributed to the rise of Montessori within the United States.

What is the Montessori Education?

Unlike the traditional teacher-centered education, the Montessori education is focused on inspiring children to drive their own learning. Teachers guide the students and provide help, while encouraging students to choose their tasks and decide how to best approach each challenge.

Children who attend Montessori schools learn to value cooperation, stay within the framework of rules and think about how their actions affect others. Students retain their creativity and push themselves to excel due to their love of learning and their own natural curiosity. Above and beyond standard school subjects, Montessori students are taught how to fit a larger worldview into their thinking and encouraged to be curious and creative students.

Here's a look at the history of the Montessori education:

1907: The Founding Years

At the beginning of the 20th century, Dr. Maria Montessori, Italy's first female doctor, opened the Casa dei Bambini (Children's House) to provide education to low-income children in Rome. Instead of using traditional teaching methods, Maria Montessori began testing her own child-centered educational theories in the classroom.

The Casa dei Bambini was unique because it focused on educating each child based on his or her development stage. Dr. Montessori encouraged children to take ownership of what they wanted to learn and worked with each child to create a personalized education that played to that child's strengths. Children were encouraged to cooperate and work together to accomplish their goals.

In 1909, Dr. Montessori described her educational process in detail in Il Metodo della Pedagogia Scientifica applicato all'educazione infantile nelle Case dei Bambini. Titled The Montessori Education in English, her book captured the attention of educators all over the world and in the next two decades, Montessori schools sprang up on all six continents.

In 1929, she founded the Association Montessori Internationale to provide teacher education and guidance to the many Montessori schools opening around the world. Today, Maria Montessori is known as one of the foremost pioneers of education in the 20th century.

The Early 1900s: Montessori First Comes to America

In the United States, The Montessori Education made a big impression. By 1912, Dr. Montessori was a sought-after speaker on this side of the Atlantic and there were over 100 Montessori schools in the U.S by the end of 1913.

As the Montessori Method gained popularity, however, it also inspired detractors. In 1914, educational reformer William Heard Kilpatrick, published The Montessori System Examined, which criticized Maria Montessori for her focus on individualism and using the senses to help children learn. A student of educational reformer John Dewey, he subscribed to Dewey's progressive education theory and called the Montessori method outdated.

As a popular professor at Columbia University's influential Teachers College, Kilpatrick's campaign against the Montessori method caused it to fall out of favor with educators. At the same time, John Dewey was advancing his educational philosophies as a distinguished professor at Columbia University and as president of the National Kindergarten Association. As a result, by 1920, there were virtually no Montessori schools left in the U.S.

1958: Nancy McCormick Rambusch and Whitby Bring Montessori Back to America

Forty years after the Montessori method was forgotten in America, it was revived by parents who were passionate about finding a better way to educate their children.

Passionate about educating children, New York educator Dr. Nancy McCormick Rambusch underwent Montessori teacher training in London. In 1952, she traveled to the Tenth International Montessori Congress in Paris to learn how she could incorporate its teachings in her own classroom. Which she was at the conference, she met Mario Montessori and was inspired by him to find a way to revive his mother's education method in the United States.

After returning home, Dr. Rambusch started teaching the Montessori method to small groups of children in New York City. Then she was approached by a small group of parents from nearby Connecticut, who were interested in founding a private school based on the Montessori education.

On September 29, 1958, the first Whitby School was opened in a carriage house just outside Greenwich, Connecticut. The school's name was inspired a story from Whitby Abbey in Yorkshire, England where an Abbess invited a stable boy to join their education program after she recognized his musical talent.

As other parents learned about Whitby's unique education, the school rapidly attracted more students and the first official Whitby campus was established in 1960. Whitby's success also inspired renewed interest across the United States in the Montessori education.

Letters and people poured into Whitby from across the United States, demanding insistently that writers and visitors be given help in starting Montessori schools and teacher training programs. -
Montessori Comes to America by Phyllis Povell. pg 74

As interest grew in the Montessori education, Dr. Rambusch founded the American Montessori Society (AMS), where she modeled the ideal classroom after the Whitby program. The Whitby School also became the first certified Montessori teacher training program in the U.S.

Over the next few decades, the number of Montessori schools in the U.S. soared as educators and parents learned how this unique teaching method could build children's confidence, creativity and love of learning.

The Montessori Education Today

The Montessori education has a long record of success preparing children to take on the challenges of the future. Many parents choose this type of education because of its long and proven history and the way it works closely with each child's level of development. Successful Montessori graduates include Peter Drucker, Julia Child, Jeff Bezos, Sean 'P.Diddy' Combs, Katherine Graham, Helen Hunt, and Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Today, the Montessori classroom is still centered around children and their educational interests and uses the latest findings about child development to ensure that each child's education is appropriate for their level of development. The American Montessori Society is the largest organization in the world dedicated to the Montessori method, with more than 1,300 affiliated schools and almost 100 teacher-education programs.

At Whitby School, we continue to teach according to the principles of Maria Montessori and Whitby/American Montessori Society founder Dr. Nancy McCormick Rambusch. Our Montessori preschool educates children from 18 months through kindergarten and we continue the Montessori education for children in Grades 1 and 2 in our private elementary school ( a ccredited with non-traditional Montessori age groupings.)

If you're considering a Montessori preschool for your child and would like to learn more about the Whitby School, we invite you to schedule a tour of our campus.

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Many parents come to Whitby because they've heard about our Montessori program. They've heard that it inspires students to become passionate, lifelong learners-and that it's completely different from a traditional education where a teacher stands at the front of the classroom.

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Maria Montessori created a new way of letting children learn individually. letting the kids take their own way without forcing them to learn a curriculum in the young ages. This is now still a thing today as many had experienced it too. Maria Montessori: Impact on Modern Childhood Education - 830 Words | Research Paper Example (ivypanda.com) (Olivia)

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John Dewy publishes "democracy and education"  1916

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John Dewy publishes "democracy and education"  1916

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Tell how we need hands on learning styles. He also talks about advancing progressive education movements. He criticizes and expands on the works of Rousseau and Plato.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/369051.Democracy_and_Education

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1917 Compulsory Education Attendance Laws

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1917 Compulsory Education Attendance Laws

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Mississippi was the last state to enforce the attendance of children at school for a set number of days in the week. Along with this, they were also the last state to enforce children to attend a schooling of a sort from age 6-16 by Federal Law. (Daniel Cicerrella)

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The Scope Trial was a case brought up in Tennessee about what can and cant be taught to students. In 1925 John Scope, a high school teacher, discussed the idea of evolution with his students. this was frown upon since he was going against the idea of god and religion. John was seen as gulity and charged a fine for his actions

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SEP 15, 1930

The Suffrage Movement established equality between men and women and allowed women to take up the position of teaching. Women were able to be teachers without discrimination or being looked down upon.

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The idea of a progressive education, educating the child to reach his full potential and actively promoting and participating in a democratic society, began in the late 1800s and became widespread by the 1930s. John Dewey was the founder of this movement.

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In 1933, President  Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed a "New Deal" act as a way to help with the aftermath of the Great Depression. The National Youth Administration was one of the programs established. It focused on providing work and education for Americans between the ages of 16 and 25. It operated from June 26, 1935 to 1939 as part of the Works Progress Administration

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1938 B.F. Skinner, a psychologist, started developing theories on human behavior.

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1938 B.F. Skinner, a psychologist, started developing theories on human behavior.

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B.F. Skinner, who received his doctorate from Harvard, is most known for creating the behaviorism theory. The Behavior of Organisms (1938), one of Skinner's writings, and the novel Walden Two, which is based on his theories (1948). Positive reinforcement, in his opinion, strengthens behavior, while negative reinforcement steers a child away from a particular conduct.

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although the bill did many things, it had an educational component that helped WWII veterans pay for college or trade school education.

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Bonus Marchers

The assimilation of World War I veterans back to civilian life didn't go well. With so many men flooding the labor market, many couldn't make ends meet, even with help from government programs.

Congress stepped in and passed the Bonus Act of 1924, which promised veterans a bonus based on number of days served. But it wouldn't be paid until 1945, almost 20 years later, much too late to help countless struggling veterans.

By 1932, during the Great Depression, around 20,000 frustrated veterans-known as Bonus Marchers-marched on the Capitol in Washington, D.C., demanding their bonus money.

The government didn't capitulate, though, and President Herbert Hoover sent the Army to get them out, a move which pitted soldier against veteran. The confrontation would be an integral turning point in the crusade for veteran's rights.

The GI Bill is born

President Franklin D. Roosevelt was determined to do better for veterans returning from World War II. He also wanted to expand the middle class and help prevent economic turmoil.

He started preparing for the veterans' return well in advance of the end of the war. Congress tossed around various ideas, but they limited benefits to veterans who met specific criteria such as income.

It was former American Legion National Commander and Republican National Chairman, Harry W. Colmery, who proposed extending benefits to all World War II veterans, male or female. His proposal became the first draft of the GI Bill.

The bill went to Congress in January 1944 as the war still raged along the European and Pacific fronts. It was hotly debated in both Congressional houses but finally approved in mid-June. President Roosevelt signed the GI Bill into law on June 22, 1944.

GI Bill Benefits

The GI Bill gave World War II servicemen and servicewoman many options and benefits. Those who wished to continue their education in college or vocation school could do so tuition-free up to $500 while also receiving a cost of living stipend.

As a result, almost 49 percent of college admissions in 1947 were veterans. The GI Bill opened the door of higher education to the working class in a way never done before.

The bill provided a $20 weekly unemployment benefit for up to one year for veterans looking for work. Job counseling was also available.

The government guaranteed loans for veterans who borrowed money to purchase a home, business or farm. These loans enabled hordes of people to abandon city life and move to mass-produced, "cookie cutter" homes in suburbia. This exodus from major cities would help shape America's socioeconomic and political landscape for years to come.

Medical care for veterans was also provided in the GI Bill. Additional hospitals were established for veterans and the Veterans Administration took over all veteran-related concerns.

By 1956, almost 10 million veterans had received GI Bill benefits.

The GI Bill and Discrimination

Although the GI Bill extended benefits to all veterans regardless of gender or race, it was easier for some people to collect than others. In many cases, benefits were administered by an all-white Veterans Administration at the state and local level.

In an era of rampant racial and gender discrimination, African Americans and women struggled to receive higher education or loans. In some southern states, they were steered to menial jobs instead of college.

Even if an African American received tuition money, their choices were slim since many colleges were segregated, especially in the southern states. African American veterans in the North fared somewhat better but still didn't receive a higher education in numbers anywhere near their white peers. College choices for women were also slim since men almost always received enrollment preference.

The discrimination didn't end with education. Local banks in the south often refused to lend money to African Americans to buy a home, even with the government backing the loan. And many of America's new, suburban neighborhoods prohibited African American's from moving in. As a result, many African Americans remained in the cities as whites flocked to the suburbs.

Post-9/11 GI Bill

Mississippi Representative G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery proposed legislation in 1984 to make the GI Bill permanent. It insured that veterans of the Vietnam War could receive higher education.

The Montgomery GI Bill is still in action today. It's an opt-in program which offers help to veterans and service members with at least two years active duty. It also provides benefits to those in the Selected Reserve who meet specific criteria.

In 2008, Congress passed the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act, also called the Post-9/11 GI Bill. It gives veterans on active duty on September 11, 2001 or after greater educational benefits. It also allows them to transfer unused educational benefits to their spouse or kids.

Forever GI Bill

In 2017, President Donald Trump signed the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act, also called the Forever GI Bill, into law. The bill further expanded veterans' educational benefits by:

eliminating the 15-year limitation on Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits for eligible veterans and their dependents

authorizing certain work-study programs

offering the VetSuccess on Campus program, a vocational rehabilitation program, to students across the country

offering veterans priority enrollment educational counseling

offering Reservists who lost eligibility under the Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP) credit towards the Post-9/11 GI Bill program

The GI Bill played an integral role in shaping post-World War II America. It enabled hundreds of thousands of men and women to get a higher education, many of whom could never have afforded it otherwise.

The bill also helped build America's middle class, although it left many minority veterans behind. It's been decades since President Roosevelt signed the first GI Bill, yet it continues to empower and enable veterans and their families to reach their goals.

Sources

Black and white veterans and the GI Bill. Dartmouth College.
But not all Americans benefitted equally. American Psychological Association.
Education and Training: History and Timeline. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
GI Bill History. The American Legion.
The GI Bill. Khan Academy.
Veterans of Foreign Wars. PBS.
History of the GI Bill. American RadioWorks.
H.R.5740 - Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008. Congress.gov.
Forever GI Bill - Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

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G.I. Bill - Definition, Forever GI Bill & Benefits

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The G.I. Bill- officially known as the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944-was created to help veterans of World War II. It established hospitals, made low-interest mortgages available and granted stipends covering tuition and expenses for veterans attending college or trade schools.

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Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. The Supreme Court unanimously agrees that segregated schools are "inherently unequal" and must be abolished. Almost 45 years later in 1998, schools, especially in the north, are as segregated as ever.

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“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”

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Martin Luther King Jr. is known for his leadership in the  Civil Rights Movement.  In the mid-1950s, Dr. King led the movement to end segregation and counter prejudice in the United States through the means of peaceful protest. He fought for equal opportunities in schools as well and helped fight segregation in schools.

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Coleman's report examined the achievement gap between children of different races, income groups, and national origins. This was the first-time children's educational development was looked beyond the classroom and into the homes of the children. (Daniel Cicerrella)

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Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District

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Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District

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Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District was a supreme court case that discussed the amount of control schools have over students freedom of speech. Children were wearing black armbands to protest the vietnam war. The school didnt like this so they banned them from school but the students believed they were violated by their first amendment right to freedom of protest. The supreme court agreed with a 7-2 decison and the decison between what can and can't be controlled began.

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On November 14, 1960, at the age of six, Ruby became the very first African American child to attend the all-white public William Frantz Elementary School.

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SEP 15, 1950

Enlisted the federal government in an effort to equalize educational opportunities for children of color. Brown vs. Board of Education led to segregation in schools, which was later accompanied by protests. They welcomed equality in schools and a variety of cultures in classrooms.

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Twelve African American students integrate into Clinton High School in Clinton, Tennessee.

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Federal courts ordered integration of little rock Arkansas public schools but the governor ordered his national guard to prevent this. Which forced Eisenhower to deploy federal troops to enforce the court order.

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The Elementary and Secondary Education Act

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The Elementary and Secondary Education Act

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APR 6, 1965

The ESEA started Head Start, gave free lunches to those and need, and gave greater attention to special education.

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The National Defense Education Act was signed into law on September 2, 1958, providing funding to United States education institutions at all levels.

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In the Abington school, the school was enforcing mandatory religious practices. this led to the Abington School District v. Schempp which was the supreme court case that officially banned the reading of the bible or religious teachings in public school as unconstitutional under the first amendment, freedom of religion.

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Plessy V Ferguson was a supreme court ruling that decided segregated schools were acceptable as long as all schools had equal access.

"Separate but Equal" became the motto during this time period.

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the government gave grants to school districts for the purpose of establishing educational programs for students with limited English

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Bilingual Education Act (BEA), U.S. legislation (January 2, 1968) that provided federal grants to school districts for the purpose of establishing educational programs for children with limited English-speaking ability. It was the first time that the U.S. government officially acknowledged that these students need specialized instruction. The Bilingual Education Act (BEA) was an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

Beginning in the late 19th century, millions of immigrants entered the United States, and many could not speak English. Some state governments pushed for assimilation, requiring non-English-speaking adults to take English-language classes. Children went to public schools, where they were totally immersed in the English language and often punished for speaking their native language. California and Texas established segregated public schools to accommodate the increase in Spanish-speaking children from Mexico. These schools concentrated on teaching English, but they had less funding than the schools for white non-Latino children and thus had inferior resources and underqualified teachers. Under these conditions many immigrant children dropped out or received an education that limited job opportunities.

In the ensuing years there were sporadic efforts to end school segregation, and these intensified in 1946 after a federal court ruled in that the segregation of Mexican American students in California schools was unlawful. More lawsuits followed, culminating in the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court found that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional. This decision helped guide future educational policies toward equal opportunity. The civil rights movement and passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964-intending to end discrimination based on race, colour, religion, or national origin-also furthered equality in education.

Despite these developments, language difficulties continued to hamper the education of many Spanish-speaking students. In 1967 U.S. Sen. Ralph Yarborough of Texas introduced a bill to help school districts educate students with limited English-speaking ability. This was a particularly important issue in Texas and other southwestern states, which were experiencing an increase in Mexican immigration. The bill recommended bilingual education-including Spanish and other native languages-and funding was designated for developing programs, training staff, and obtaining educational resources. In 1968 U.S. Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson signed the BEA into law.

Over the years, the BEA underwent various revisions to meet the needs of students, parents, and teachers. For example, when first conceived, the act favoured school districts with high percentages of students from low-income families. Funding was later broadened to include students from a wider range of economic groups. The grants were also expanded to include more options for their use, such as for technical assistance and for the establishment of special training programs.

In January 2002 U.S. Pres. George W. Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. It sought to improve public primary and secondary schools and, thus, student performance via increased accountability for schools, school districts, and states. For example, states were required to administer yearly tests in reading and mathematics to public school students and to demonstrate adequate progress toward raising the scores of all students. (In 2015 U.S. Pres. Barack Obama signed into law the Every Student Succeeds Act, which modified NCLB.) Under NCLB the BEA became the English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement Act.

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Bilingual Education Act | Definition, 1968, Summary, & Facts

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Bilingual Education Act, U.S. legislation (1968) that offered federal grants to school districts for the purpose of creating educational programs for students with limited English-speaking ability. It was the first time that the U.S. government officially acknowledged that such students need specialized instruction.

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Federal Civil Rights Law that prohibits students and employees from being discriminated against due to their gender.

Prior to, women/girls remained limited in what they could achieve.

(ex: sports)

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Equality, sports, and Title IX - Erin Buzuvis and Kristine Newhall

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1974 The Equal Education Opportunities Act

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1974 The Equal Education Opportunities Act

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Prohibits discrimination and forces school to take down the barriers that prevents students from equal opportunities.

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1975 Education for all Handicapped Children Act

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1975 Education for all Handicapped Children Act

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On November 29, 1975 the United States congress passed the EHA which guaranteed all disabled children to a free public school through federal funds for equal access to education and one free meal a day.

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the book outlined just how far behind in education the U.S. was compared to other countries.

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In April 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education formed by then-U.S. Secretary of Education Terrel H. Bell released the report A Nation at Risk. The most famous line of the widely publicized report declared that "the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people" (U.S. Department of Education, 1983).

Characterized by its authors as "an open letter to the American people," the report called for elected officials, educators, parents, and students to reform a public school system it described as "in urgent need of improvement." That need for improvement was based on numerous statistics listed in the report that the commission said showed the inadequate quality of American education. The authors ominously cautioned that the data showed the nation was at risk and expressed grave concern that our "once unchallenged pre-eminence in commerce, industry, science, and technological innovation is being overtaken by competitors throughout the world."

The findings and data presented in the report were organized around four major topics: content, expectations, time, and teaching. Out of those areas, the report made four major recommendations:

Regarding content, the commission recommended that all students seeking a high school diploma have a foundation in the "five new basics." Such preparation included four courses in English, three in mathematics, three in science, three in social studies, and one-half credit in computer science. Two credits in a foreign language were also recommended for students planning to attend college.

The commission recommended that schools, both K-12 and higher education, adopt more "rigorous and measurable standards," and have higher expectations for student performance and conduct. The commission also suggested that institutions of higher education raise admissions standards to push students to do their best during their elementary and secondary years.

Another recommendation asked schools to devote more time to teaching the new basics, which could take the form of longer, seven-hour school days, a school year with 200 to 220 days, or a more efficient use of the existing school day.

The report listed seven recommendations for improving teacher quality, including higher standards for teacher-preparation programs, teacher salaries that were professionally competitive and based on performance, 11-month contracts for teachers allowing more time for curriculum and professional development, career ladders that differentiated teachers based on experience and skill, more resources devoted to teacher-shortage areas, incentives for drawing highly qualified applicants into the profession, and mentoring programs for novice teachers that were designed by experienced teachers.

The problems listed in the report that led to its recommendations and the strong language it used caused a stir, both among the general public and in the education policy community. The report, which was widely circulated and was often cited by President Ronald Reagan, provided much of the impetus for a raft of school improvement measures undertaken throughout the United States. But as the report and its implications became more widely visible, A Nation at Risk also drew intense criticism.

The Manufactured Crisis Challenges Report

A book published more than a decade later, The Manufactured Crisis, remains one of the most popular challenges to the report's conclusions. The authors of the critique, David Berliner and Bruce Biddle, question the statistics documenting educational failure, on which the report was based, and decry how politicians used the report as a reason to implement what Berliner and Biddle see as misdirected reforms. The book alleges that the report was just one example of the ways political leaders at the time were misleading the nation about the quality of public schools (1995).

The prominent education scholar John I. Goodlad writes that the report was able to gain a great deal of media attention, but that the attention seldom focused on its recommendations, looking instead at the "bad news" and the problems the report showed existed in schools. Goodlad also argues that the link between student achievement and the national economy was overstated in the report (2003). Other criticisms of the report point to its emphasis on high schools, virtually ignoring K-8 education (Peterson, 2003), and to a lack of citations for the numerous statistics used as evidence of the low quality of American schools (Berliner & Biddle, 1995).

Even though the report had its weaknesses, it still had a strong impact on American education. Most notably, the report led to comprehensive school reform efforts, was the impetus for the academic-standards movement, drew attention to the importance of education policy, and led to a focus on school accountability (Weiss, 2003).

In April 2003, the 20th anniversary of the release of A Nation at Risk triggered numerous analyses of the progress of American education over the past two decades. The attached shows areas where progress has been made, especially in the development of more rigorous course requirements and academic-content standards.

Not every recommendation made by the report has taken hold over the past 20 or so years, however. According to the Koret Task Force, a group organized by the Hoover Institution and Stanford University to study the status of education reform, there has been "uneven" implementation and only minor gains in academic achievement during this time. The Koret Task Force argues that A Nation at Risk did a good job of pointing out the problems in American schools, but was not able to identify the fundamental reasons for the problems or address the political influences in the public education system (Peterson, 2003).

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In April 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education formed by then-U.S. Secretary of Education Terrel H. Bell released the report A Nation at Risk. The most famous line of the widely publicized report declared that "the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people" (U.S.

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This act established a community college on all Indian reservations

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School Choice Movement and Tax Vouchers(1990)

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School Choice Movement and Tax Vouchers(1990)

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John Tubb and Terry Moe introduced arguments about school choices in 1990 pushing to make choices available. Making a big impact where parents have more control over their child's education. This means parents had the ability to send their kids to private schools also with help from the government for better or more private education. This is still in today's world as we have private, religious, boarding, and public schools available. (Olivia)

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1990 Americans With Disabilities Act(ADA)

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1990 Americans With Disabilities Act(ADA)

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A law that prohibits any form of discrimination against people with disabilities in all areas including education.

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Bridget Mergens Mayhew & her attorney Douglas Veith (1990)

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(1990) Westside Community Schools v. Mergens

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(1990) Westside Community Schools v. Mergens

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Bridget Mergens requested to have a Christian club after school. Westside schools insisted that it would be illegal.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Mergens for the following reasons:

1. In 1984, a law called the Equal Access Act required schools to allow religious and political clubs if schools had other student interest clubs.

2. The Equal Access Act was underneath the constitutional Establishment Clause which acknowledges that Congress cannot create laws that respect the establishment of religion or prohibit the free exercise of religion.

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The first charter school in the US opens in St. Paul, Minnesota.

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City Academy High School is a public charter school in Saint Paul, Minnesota. We were the first charter school to begin operation in the country. Our students have typically experienced challenges in traditional academic settings. We focus on providing opportunities for our students to either attend postsecondary institutions or begin employment. Our school shares facilities with a neighborhood recreation center, and utilizes community resources as much as possible. Information on our COVID mitigation approach is found here. Please contact us with any questions.

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City Academy High School is a public charter school in Saint Paul, Minnesota. We were the first charter school to begin operation in the country. Our students have typically experienced challenges in traditional academic settings. We focus on providing opportunities for our students to either attend postsecondary institutions or begin employment.

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Google was invented and completely rewrote how students can learn. Students now can look up any answer they could need in seconds. Google was invented in 1998 by Lary Page and Sergey Brin students at Stanford.
https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/history-of-google/m01188rqz?hl=en

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provided more founding and resources in an attempt to raise education standards. they also set goals in multiple curriculum areas to be achieved by 2000.

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Goals 2000: Educate America Act

In March 1994, President Clinton signed the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. He said that, "We insist, with Goals 2000, that every student can learn. We insist that it's time to abolish the outdated distinction between academic learning and skill learning. We know now that most academics has practical application, and that, more and more, practical problems require academic knowledge. And I hope to goodness we don't do anything else - we've finally erased that divide so that we can teach our young people to learn in the way that best suits their own capacities and the work they have to do. But I am absolutely convinced that there is not a single, solitary problem in American education that has not been solved by somebody, somewhere. What we have done as a nation is to resist learning from each other, to resist institutionalizing change, to resist, therefore, holding ourselves accountable for results as a nation.

Clinton added that what we the government was trying to do with Goals 2000 is to say, here are the goals, you figure out how to get there, you learn from each other. Come up with aggressive plans, we will help you fund them and go forward, but you are in charge. The federal government can't tell you how to do it, but we can help you get it done. What this Goals 2000 movement, with the School to Work program, with the adult education program, with the retraining program and the re-employment program, what it all seeks to do is to give America a system by which at the grass roots level we can fulfill the promise of Brown v. Board of Education for all our people. "

Secretary Richard Riley observed at the kick off meeting for Goals 2000 that, "some of you will use the new provisions of Goals 2000 to expand what you have started. Some of you will use it to reinvigorate and connect existing reforms. And others of you may use it to launch a comprehensive new effort to improve teaching and learning. That's really what we're about isn't it? But how you use Goals 2000 to encourage learning back home is really your choice. I urge you to think big, to think comprehensively, to recognize that this won't happen in a year or in just a few years. We spent ten years getting to the point where we had the support to pass Goals 2000. A Nation at Risk was ten years ago. We will probably spend another ten years making it work for all of our children."

Three times in the last six years, Congress has attempted to pass education reform legislation and each time it has been unable to resolve its differences. The strong bipartisan support for Goals 2000 demonstrates that we are ready to move from "a nation at risk" to a nation on the move.

The enactment of Goals 2000 is the beginning of a new era in school and education reform - a revolutionary, all-inclusive plan to change every aspect of our education system, while at the same time aligning its individual parts with one another.

It offers an opportunity for those concerned with the state of American education to become involved in the implementation of real change and improvement of our nation's education system, working at the local community and state levels. It will create and improve learning opportunities for everyone from pre-school to those who return to school.

By generating enthusiasm in schools and states throughout this nation, it will create thousands of community-based reform efforts, each working for the betterment of our educational system, and each allowing every school and every student to be the best they can be - to learn to world-class standards.

Goals 2000 will move the nation toward a system that is based on high standards that all students can meet - a system that will provide both equity and excellence for all of the students in this country.

When we fail to hold all students to high standards, the results are low achievement and the tragic experience of children leaving school without ever having been challenged to fulfill their potential.

High standards lets everyone in the education system know what to aim for. It allows every student, every parent and every teacher to share in common expectations of what students should know and be able to accomplish. Students will learn more when more is expected of them, in school and at home. And, aligning teacher education, instructional materials, assessment practices and parental involvement, will create coherence in educational practice.

The American people have said they are ready to move from the old assembly line version of education to a better way of educating their children. They want their children to be part of the new, emerging high-tech, high-knowledge economy of the 21st century.

By transforming the national education goals into a policy for which committed people across our nation can work, President Clinton has helped to ensure that the future of this nation will remain strong and secure and that its citizens will be able to compete and prosper in this new global economic era that is already upon us.

Since early in our history, the public education system of this nation has been a magnet and a model for people throughout the world who yearn to make something better of their lives. It is a beacon of light across the globe, a symbol of our democratic and egalitarian traditions. Unfortunately, in recent years, this standard has slipped; the beacon has dimmed. That is why the Goals 2000 law is so important, as well as the subsequent enactment of additional education reform legislation like the School-to-Work Opportunities Act, and the revolutionary reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Act, both of which are designed to dovetail with Goals 2000. Each of these important changes in the law will offer federal assistance in implementing local education reform...help that is designed to assist, but not interfere with the traditional local character of education.

It has been nearly thirty years since this nation has seen the kind of reform in education that Goals 2000 offers. It is up to us to ensure that we maximize the opportunities this law offers us and work to guarantee a challenging education for every student. For the future of our children and our nation, it is the least we can do.

Goals 2000 provides resources to states and communities to develop and implement comprehensive education reforms aimed at helping all students reach challenging academic and occupational skill standards.

The Goals 2000: Educate America Act is not an experiment; it incorporates the lessons of education reform from communities and states in the 1980s.

Raising standards and making course content more challenging really works. When more is expected of students,they work harder and achieve more. When employees know what skills they need to succeed on the job, they will work to achieve them.

We must change our expectations of teachers. They cannot teach to new standards using the same old ways. We must overhaul teacher training and make continuing professional development an integral part of their job.

Accountability is essential. Schools must be given the tools and the flexibility they need to get the job done and then be held accountable for the results they achieve. There must be real rewards for high performance and significant consequences for failure.

Schools can't do the job alone. Parents, businesses, families, community organizations and public and private agencies that provide health care, counseling, family support and other social services must be part of community-wide efforts to support students.

All children in America will start school ready to learn.

The objectives for this goal are that...All children will have access to high-quality and developmentally appropriate preschool programs that help prepare children for school. Every parent in the United States will be a child's first teacher and devote time each day to helping such parent's preschool child learn and parents will have access to the training and support parents need. Children will receive the nutrition, physical activity experiences and health care needed to arrive at school with healthy minds and bodies, and to maintain the mental alertness necessary to be prepared to learn, and the number of low-birth weight babies will be significantly reduced through enhanced prenatal health systems.

The high school graduation rate will increase to at least 90 percent.

The objectives for this goal are that...The Nation must dramatically reduce its school dropout rate, and 75 percent of the students who do drop out will successfully complete a high school degree or its equivalent; and the gap in high school graduation rates between American students from minority backgrounds and their non-minority counterparts will be eliminated.

The objectives for this goal are that...The academic performance of all students at the elementary and secondary level will increase significantly in every quartile, and the distribution of minority students in each quartile will more closely reflect the student population as a whole. The percentage of all students who demonstrate the ability to reason, solve problems, apply knowledge and write and communicate effectively will increase substantially.

All students will be involved in activities that promote and demonstrate good citizenship, good health, community service and personal responsibility. All students will have access to physical education and health education to ensure they are healthy and fit. The percentage of all students who are competent in more than one language will substantially increase. All students will be knowledgeable about the diverse cultural heritage of this Nation and about the world community.

The objectives for this goal are that...Mathematics and science education, including the metric system of measurement, will be strengthened throughout the system, especially in the early grades. The number of teachers with a substantive background in mathematics and science, including the metric system of measurement, will increase by 50 percent. The number of United States undergraduate and graduate students, especially women and minorities, who complete degrees in mathematics, science and engineering will increase significantly.

The objectives for this goal are that...Every major American business will be involved in strengthening the connection between education and work. All workers will have the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills, from basic to highly technical, needed to adapt to emerging new technologies, work methods and markets through public and private educational, vocational, technical, workplace or other programs. The number of quality programs, including those at libraries, that are designed to serve more effectively the needs of the growing number of part-time and mid-career students will increase substantially. The proportion of the qualified students, especially minorities, who enter college, who complete at least two years and who complete their degree programs will increase substantially. The proportion of college graduates who demonstrate an advanced ability to think critically, communicate effectively and solve problems will increase substantially. Schools, in implementing comprehensive parent involvement programs, will offer more adult literacy, parent training and life-long learning opportunities to improve the ties between home and school, and enhance parents' work and home lives.

The objectives for this goal are that...Every school will implement a firm and fair policy on use, possession and distribution of drugs and alcohol. Parents, businesses, governmental and community organizations will work together to ensure the rights of students to study in a safe and secure environment that is free of drugs and crime, and that schools provide a healthy environment and are a safe haven for all children. Every local educational agency will develop and implement a policy to ensure that all schools are free of violence and the unauthorized presence of weapons. Every local educational agency will develop a sequential, comprehensive kindergarten through twelfth grade drug and alcohol prevention education program. Drug and alcohol curriculum should be taught as an integral part of sequential, comprehensive health education.

Community-based teams should be organized to provide students and teachers with needed support. Every school should work to eliminate sexual harassment.

Partnerships will be established, whenever possible, among local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, parents and local labor, business and professional associations to provide and support programs for the professional development of educators.

Parents and families will help to ensure that schools are adequately supported and will hold schools and teachers to high standards of accountability.

Goals 2000 Funding

Only weeks after enactment, the U.S. Education Department invited states to apply for first-year funding under the new Goals 2000: Educate America Act. Legislation made $86.5 million available to states in 1994 to begin developing school improvement plans. An additional $5 million was made available to develop plans to use state-of-the-art technology to enhance teaching and learning. The President has asked for $700 million in his 1995 budget proposal to be administered by the Department of Education and $12 million for the Department of Labor to support the National Skill Standards Board. The administration expects to seek $1 billion in 1996.

For first-year funding, state educational agencies (SEAs) will be asked to submit an application that will describe the process by which the state will develop a school improvement plan and how the SEA will use the funds received, including how the SEA will make subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs) and awards for education pre-service programs and professional development.

In year one, SEAs will use at least 60 percent of the allotted funds to award subgrants to LEAs for the development or implementation of local improvement plans, and to make awards for education pre-service programs and professional development activities.

In succeeding years, at least 90 percent of each state's funds are to be used to make subgrants for the implementation of the state and local improvement plans and to support educator pre-service and professional development.

In year one, LEAs will use at least 75 percent of the funds they receive to support individual school improvement initiatives.

After year one, LEAs will pass through at least 85 percent of the funds to schools. The state improvement plans will address, among other things:

a process for development or adopting content standards and performance standards for what students should know and be able to do in core subjects;

a process for developing and using valid, non-discriminatory and reliable assessment;

standards or strategies for ensuring that all students have a fair opportunity to achieve to the established standards;

strategies for assisting school-aged children who have dropped out of school;

strategies for coordinating Goals 2000 efforts with other programs such as the new School-to-Work Opportunities Act and the Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act;

strategies for involving parents and the community in planning, designing and implementing the plan.

"Goals 2000 creates an unprecedented opportunity for all Americans to contribute their ideas and energy to make schools work for kids," Riley said. "The states will be seeking ways to reach out and promote bottom-up reform."

In developing an improvement plan, states will establish a broad-based reform panel, with members appointed by the governor and the chief state school officer. If a state has already made substantial progress in developing a comprehensive and systemic improvement plan with an existing panel, the secretary may elect to recognize that existing group. The application deadline is June 30, 1995. States are encouraged to submit their applications as soon as possible. A state's award amount is calculated under a formula based on previous allocations under Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Any funds not requested by states will be reallocated among states with approved applications.

In the first year that it participates in Goals 2000, a state will be required to pass at least 60 percent of its funds to local educational agencies (LEAs), which will develop or refine local improvement plans and work with higher education or other organizations to improve teacher training and professional development. In succeeding years, at least 90 percent of funds a state receives under the program must pass through to local agencies.

The simple four-page application asks states to describe how improvement plans will be developed, including milestones, products and timelines. States also are asked to provide descriptions of how subgrants will be made to LEAs and how plans to increase the use of technology will be developed. A budget, describing how funds will be spent, and a signed assurance of compliance with applicable federal laws complete the applications.

Goals 2000 is related to other federal education programs in the following ways:

State participation in all aspects of Goals 2000 is voluntary, and is not a precondition for participation in other Federal programs.

Goals 2000 is the first step toward making the Federal government a supportive partner in state and local systemic reforms aimed at helping all children reach higher standards.

Other new and existing education and training programs will fit within the Goals 2000 framework of challenging academic and occupational standards, systemic reform, and flexibility at the state and local levels. The aim is to promote greater coherence among Federal programs and between Federal programs and state and local education reforms.

For example, the School-to-Work Opportunities Act will support state and local efforts to build a school-to-work transition system that will help youth acquire the knowledge, skills, abilities and labor-market information they need to make a smooth transition from school to career-oriented work and to further education and training. Students in these programs will be expected to meet the same academic standards states establish under Goals 2000 and will earn portable, industry-recognized skill certificates that are benchmarked to high-quality standards such as the skill standards that will be established under Goals 2000.

Similarly, the Administration's proposed reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) allows states that have developed standards and assessments under Goals 2000 to use them for the ESEA, thereby providing a single set of standards and assessments for states to use for their reform needs and to meet Federal requirements.

In the future, the Administration's proposals for the reauthorization of education programs also will fit within the same framework of challenging standards and comprehensive reform.

Preparing Students for the High-Wage Jobs of Tomorrow
Skill Standards: What They Are and Why We Need Them

Many Americans are not equipped with the academic and occupational skills that an increasingly complex job market requires. Often, they do not find stable, career-track jobs for five to ten years after leaving high school. The cost to them, to businesses and to the American economy is staggering.

American students, workers, employers and educators must be aware of the knowledge and skills that the workplace of today and of the future will demand of them. The Goals 2000: Educate America Act encourages the development and adoption of a system of skill standards and certification of an individual's attainment of such standards. Skill standards identify the specific knowledge, skill and ability levels needed to perform a given job in a given industry.

With a system of skill standards in place, these groups will benefit:

Students in education and training programs will know what skills are needed for high-wage employment and they can earn a credential that is portable and recognizable by employees and demonstrates they have acquired such skills.

Employers and businesses will have reliable information to assist in evaluating workers' skill levels in making hiring and training decisions. This is especially important for small and medium-sized businesses that cannot afford to develop their own skill assessment systems.

Training providers and educators will be accountable for the services they provide because there will be a method in place to evaluate whether the participants or students have attained skills that are relevant to the demands of the workplace.

Unemployed Americans can seek retraining with the confidence that the skills they gain will lead to new employment opportunities.

Labor organizations can better determine which skills and training are vital to their members' employment security.

Skill Standards and the Goals 2000: Educate America Act

Goals 2000 contains two major components - a system for helping states and localities establish high, voluntary academic standards, and a system to support business, labor, educators and the public in the development of occupational skill standards. The two are inextricably linked. A new generation of workers - those prepared for high-skill, high-wage jobs - will emerge from a restructured American education system that produces workers firmly grounded in core academic subjects and equipped with skills that are in demand in today's labor market.

To further these goals, the legislation establishes a National Skill Standards Board to encourage and assist partnerships in developing and adopting standards that are relevant to industry. The partnerships - including broad-based representation from business, labor and education - would actually develop the standards. The Board's function would be to provide financial and technical assistance in the development of the standards and to endorse standards that meet objective criteria. Standards endorsed by the Board would be linked to the highest international standards and would promote the transition to high-performance work organizations.

Through the development of broadly defined skill standards, the U.S. will be able to set goals for skill achievement, competencies and performance that will help create a lifelong learning system for all Americans and will drive our nation's economic growth into the next century and beyond.

How the New Voluntary National Education Standards Will Improve Education

When we think about how to improve our schools, one of the most important questions is: What do we want our children to know and be able to do?

Not everyone leaves school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed. Too many of this nation's schools offer students watered-down curricula, inadequate textbooks and outmoded teaching methods. And we have, until now, often gauged student achievement by the number of courses taken - not actual learning - and by scores on multiple-choice tests that often measure little more than low-level skills.

The results of international assessments in the 1980s and 1990s show that the skills and knowledge of American students do not measure up to their international peers. Other developed countries have something we don't: clearly defined high standards.

American students can learn more if they are challenged - both in school and at home. If students and schools are not held to high standards, they will not work hard enough and achieve as much as they can. If their parents don't show them the importance of learning, they may not have the will to learn.

What National Standards Are and How They're Being Set

The voluntary national standards will describe what all students should know and be able to do at certain grade levels. The standards will encourage students to use their minds well, to solve problems, to think and to reason.

Voluntary national standards will provide a focus, not a national curriculum; a national consensus, not federal mandates; voluntary adoption, not mandatory use; and dynamic, not static, applications.

Mathematics standards are already in use in many classrooms. Standards in science, history, civics and government, geography, English, economics, foreign languages and the arts are now being developed by teachers and scholars. The input of state and local leaders, parents and citizens is also being sought.

The voluntary national standards are meant to be a resource to be used by parents, teachers and all citizens as one guide to high standards. They can be used by schools, districts and states to guide and revise curricula, assessments, teacher preparation and instruction. All of the elements should be aligned so that everyone and everything involved in education work together to help students learn more.

National standards do not have to be in place before states and communities can begin to develop their own standards. Indeed, some states have already introduced high standards into their classrooms. States and communities can develop their own standards or modify and adopt those developed under national consensus.

Under the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, federal funds will flow to states and communities to help them develop their own rigorous standards and implement their own programs of school reform to help their students achieve the higher standards.

Higher expectations for all students. High standards and enriched course content produce better student performance. All students can learn more than we currently ask of them. When we expect more of students, they work harder and achieve more.

New approaches to teaching. Helping students meet challenging standards requires new ways of teaching. Teacher preparation and professional development programs need to be overhauled and improved.

Making schools accountable We need to give schools the tools and flexibility to do their job, and then hold them responsible for results.

Building partnerships. We've learned that schools can't do it alone. Parents, educators, students, business, labor and public, private and nonprofit groups need to be active partners in the reform effort.

Supports the development of challenging voluntary academic standards that define what students should know and be able to do and offers states and local communities the support they need to put those higher standards to work in their classrooms.

Encourages the development of a new generation of student performance assessments and new methods of gauging student achievement that will be linked to national, state and local standards and which will be valid, reliable and free of discrimination.

Supports the creation of voluntary national occupational standards that, with the help of business and labor, will define the knowledge and skills needed for the complex, high-wage jobs of tomorrow.

Supports a "bottom-up," grassroots approach to school reform, with the federal government assisting states and local communities in the development and implementation of their own comprehensive and innovative reform programs.

A New Federal, State, and Local Partnership...

Each participating state and community will develop and implement a comprehensive improvement plan that raises standards and helps students achieve them. A broad-based leadership team composed of policy makers, educators, business and civic leaders, parents and others will help create each reform plan. States may adopt national content and performance standards or they may develop their own.

Federal funds will be provided to support state and local improvement efforts. By the second year of funding, 90 percent of the money will flow to local schools and districts to support their reform plans.

Supports the establishment of parent information and resource centers, in order to help provide parents with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively participate in their child's education.

The New National Partnership for Educational Excellence

The bill encourages a bottom-up approach to reform. States and local communities will develop their own improvement plans, tailored to their special needs. Business and labor will work together to define the knowledge and skills needed to create secure economic futures for employees and employers alike. The federal government will use its resources to assist local reform efforts and help them implement their improvement plans and will support the development of model standards against which states, communities, schools and individuals can measure their progress.

The Federal Role - Setting High Standards

A National Education Standards and Improvement Council (NESIC), comprised of teachers, parents, business groups, civic leaders and others, will be created to:

Review the efforts by national organizations of subject-matter experts to develop voluntary national content and performance standards in each subject area, such as math, science, history and geography. These will be clear statements of what students should know and be able to do as they progress through school. The standards will be far more rigorous than what is currently expected of students and will be as challenging as those in other countries.

Lead the effort to develop better measures of student progress and performance, measures that really reflect what we expect them to learn. New and promising assessment programs are being developed throughout the country; NESIC will keep track of changes and encourage those that advance the state of the art.

The State Role - Implementing Comprehensive Strategies for Real Improvement

Each state choosing to participate will be asked to develop and implement a comprehensive improvement plan that raises standards and helps all students achieve them. Many states have already begun this work, though few have undertaken anything as ambitious as called for in this legislation. Every state will be challenged to participate and to build on local reforms already under way.

States will be asked to form a broad-based and representative leadership team, comprised of policy makers, educators, business and civic leaders, parents and others at the grassroots level. Real and lasting change requires new partnerships working together.

Many states will want to use the national standards as a benchmark for their own efforts. On a voluntary basis, states may submit to NESIC their content and performance standards for certification that they are as rigorous and challenging as national standards.

In no state can all students meet challenging new standards as the schools currently operate. A fundamental overhaul is required. States will develop comprehensive reform plans and implementation strategies that will affect every aspect of the state's education system - curriculum, technology, teacher training and licensure, parental and community involvement, school management and accountability.

The Local Role - Putting Reform into Action

To make a difference, reform has to occur in every school. Local school districts and individual schools also will develop and implement comprehensive improvement plans, reflecting unique local needs and circumstances, in conjunction with the state's efforts.

For the first year, $105 million in federal funds is available to implement Goals 2000 with additional funds requested in subsequent years. By the second year of funding, states will be required to use at least 90 percent of their funds to support the development and implementation of reform plans in local school districts.

Creating A World-Class Work Force

American students, workers, employers and educators must know what knowledge and skills are required in the workplace. The bill encourages the development and voluntary adoption of national skill standards and certification. This effort is a critical step in establishing a lifelong learning system for all Americans, including high school students not planning to attend a four-year college, unemployed and dislocated workers and employed workers who want to upgrade their skills. The standards will allow us to build an education and training system that ties schools, colleges and other postsecondary institutions, other job training providers and employers together in an effort to create a high-skills, high-wage work force.

Media Research

Research evaluation and dissemination. Further research should not focus on whether the technology is as good as traditional face-to-face courses which has been established. What is needed is better and more compelling research.

Chu and Schramm (1967) stated that the effectiveness of television had been demonstrated in well over 100 experiments and that adults learn a great amount from instructional television. In 1977, after reviewing over 300 studies, Schramm also concluded that there was no significant difference between learning in classroom and television; this was again validated by Johnston (1987). Levine (1987) argues that the conclusion to draw from these studies is that television instruction is equivalent to traditional, classroom instruction in its learning; there are "good and bad television courses as there are good and bad campus-based courses" (p.16). The question is on what basis should one separate good and bad telecourses?

Bates (1974) observes that this type of research proves nothing and has been totally useless. He believes that the weakness in this research has been that the variables of content taught and styles of teaching have not been controlled; as a result, differences cannot be attributed to one medium over another. The main weakness of comparative studies is that they do not help producers or teachers to improve the product since they do not tell what is wrong or what can be done about it (Bates,1974).

We know very little about how to use television and how to support students in their use of television (Bates, 1974). The educational use of technology cannot reach its full potential until research uncovers more about the learning process and how it varies in each individual with different instructional treatment (Costello & Gordon, 1961; Saettler, 1979). For years, investigators have attempted to identify those media best suited to teaching various instructional objectives. The research has not yielded results that permit definitive statements about the superiority of one medium over another in a particular situation (Chu & Schramm, 1967; Schramm, 1977).

The pattern of research results obtained may have come about for a variety of reasons. In many studies, two media are used to present instruction and the relative effectiveness of the two are compared. Often, students learn equally well from either medium (Chu & Schramm, 1967). Kumata (1961) contends that hundreds of studies have attempted to discover an effect which is directly attributable to the delivery method; most conclude that it makes no difference whether television is absent or present.

Wagner and Wishon (1987) state that media research has not been able to provide concrete selection guidance and that research designs have decreased the ability to generalize the findings. Research has focused on the media as a product rather than on component interaction, or processual aspects which lead to learning outcomes. Others, believe that the findings reflect the situation and it does not matter which medium one chooses to teach a particular objective, as any can do the job equally well. Gagne states that "most instructional functions can be performed by most media" (1970, p. 364) but the statement in no way denies that in a given situation one medium may be more useful than others (Schramm, 1977).

There is a need to address issues of access in selecting technology. How should an institution choose between using a high technology "leading edge" media and one which is "low tech." By addressing the issue of access, an institution will be able to make the choice that provides access and maintains "open-ness" for its students.

Media research does not provide a clear direction, as it does not address the question of how media components of a course interact to produce learning outcomes where there are differences in learners, instructional treatments and content.

Mayor and Dirr reflect that we need to realize the demands that all of these changes place on learners to function independently. It is too easy to say, "Here, work on your own and integrate the materials at hand" (1986, p. 101). Mayor and Dirr assert that ways must be found to prepare students for the challenges that the new opportunities provide. To earn faculty support, we must demonstrate how to use the new tools and materials to serve them and their students by improving telecourse quality and making education accessible (Mayor & Dirr, 1986).

Withrow (1992) reports that evaluation from the Star Schools Program indicate that distance learning students enrolled in high school courses function slightly better than students in traditional classes. One reason may be that students who choose such courses are higher risk takers and more self-directed than the average student.

To be effective, distance education teachers report that they must change their style and create new opportunities for interaction (OTA, 1989). While reaching a small number of teachers today, distance learning will greatly affect the teaching force of tomorrow. Distance learning provides a variety of tools for teaching and a means to upgrade teachers' skills and encourage professional development.

Teachers can team teach with colleagues across town or across the country, discuss problems and challenges over electronic networks, observe master teachers in action, participate in professional meetings and courses, develop new skills and earn advanced degrees - all without leaving their home school. Teachers must have training, preparation, and institutional support to successfully teach with distance learning technologies. Their concerns about technology and the quality of instruction must be taken into consideration in planning distance learning efforts. Teacher input not only shapes development, it assures long-term commitment.

Adoption of the Innovation of Distance Education

Historically and currently, there has been little emphasis by educators on how to plan for, prepare, evaluate and utilize media. In the past, most university staff have been suspicious about technology and seem apathetic toward and unaware of the potential of the more sophisticated devices. Insights, wisdom, perception and precision applied in the process of media selection are an index of professionalism among educators.

Even though the greatest technological revolution of this era is considered to be information, educators seem oblivious to the potential as well as to the impact on their field. Knowles (1983) predicts that by the end of this century most education will be delivered electronically - if educators learn to use media in congruence with adult learning principles. Moore and Shannon's 1982 study of adult educators supports Knowles and reveals the adult educators' media inexperience.

Media technology has soared ahead of utilization. While media experts are using increasingly sophisticated technology, the fact is ignored that the teacher is bewildered by technology and still does not know how to use it.

Chu and Schramm (1967) found that instructional technology required instructors to learn new roles and processes which they tend to resist because they perceive difficulties in using new techniques. Russell (1979) and Coder (1983) found that faculty tend to teach by lecture as they were taught, not as they were taught to teach by using media. Coder (1983) found that due to a lack of courses, faculty were unfamiliar with learning theory, instructional design or media utilization, a fact supported by Doerken (1977) who states that studies indicted that only 17 percent of all teachers had any training in the use of media.

In 1983, Doerken reported that it would take an estimated $400 million to provide training. During the 1984-85 Annenberg Study (Riccobono, 1986) about half of the institutions offered faculty only two to seven hours of training in media but ten to 15 hours of training in the instructional uses of computers. The figures did not report how many faculty members were trained. Bates (1987b) observes that there is a major requirement to train instructors in the selection and use of media. Brey's 1991 study reported that opposition by faculty, administrators and boards of trustees is not an important impediment to starting programs; the cost of starting programs was the most often reported obstacle by community colleges.

Lack of training in the use of educational technology has also been a problem in Japan (Nishimoto, 1969) and in Britain (1966). The lack of training in the effective use of educational technology and the tendency of faculty members to continue to teach by lecture contributed to technology resistance in these countries. Studies in Japan (Nishimoto, 1969) and in Great Britain (Britain, 1966) concluded that the effectiveness of education can be improved by training the teacher to use technology. Tanzman and Dunn (1971) state that media supervisors do not provide the leadership to encourage faculty to use media and that in-service training in effective media use has not resulted in skill transfer because; 1) media techniques vary markedly from the way teachers have been taught; 2) mechanical fear; 3) lack of professional acceptance; 4) lack of funding for media experts; and 5) decision makers' resistance to technology primarily due to a lack of understanding of its use and value.

There is still a pressing need to train them in media selection and utilization. There is a need to help faculty utilize media so that learners are central to the process; mastering the technology will take time and commitment.

Unwin (1969) states that the faculty's function is to organize learning situations and interpret them after students experience them through technology. Faculty who are untrained in media selection do not effectively plan media use or ways to support instructional objectives. Only a few instructors in a thousand are now equipped to do this. Educators have had little practical help with purposeful selection. During the evaluation and adoption process the judgment of the effectiveness of media is too frequently based upon general impressions, isolated praise or criticisms, personal hunches, intuition, imitation, comfort with the media or its availability . It is vital that adopters be aware of the importance of evaluation and develop evaluation skills since sophisticated instructional demands dictate that judicious use replace hit-or-miss selection. Kressel (1986) questions how educators are to know which packages to select for which students or how to select packages adaptable to their teaching style.

Lewis' (1985) study of faculty involved with instructional media identified problems of how to: 1) convey abstract concepts and relationships between abstract concepts and concrete experience; 2) motivate students and encourage active learning; 3) deal with learning differences; 4) encourage generic skill and ability development; and 5) obtain funds to train faculty. Faculty consider media appropriate to address the most difficult instructional problems, but also value course management, student contact and providing experiential learning (Lewis, 1985). He reports that faculty who used technology more were likely to agree that it can overcome instructional problems and are less bothered by obstacles that frustrate untrained colleagues. Faculty identified lack of training, funds, access to hardware, and lack of descriptive and evaluative software information as obstacles to effective use of technology (Lewis, 1985).

If the use of media and technology is to be increased, educators must learn how to reach educational goals and objectives through the media (Meierhenry, 1981). A 1979 EPIE study found that fewer than five percent of teacher training institutions surveyed offered courses in the selection of teaching materials. Hezel(1987) assumes that the most effective uses of technology will be made by faculty members who understand its potential, and strongly recommends that telecourse adoption should be preceded by educational technology seminars for faculty and education administrators. Henault (1971) recommends that training for adult educators be extensive while others suggest that instruction should include video production.

Methods to train instructors in media selection and use include in-service professional development provided by qualified media center personnel or qualified distance education specialists. Research found that teachers need guidance in interaction and learning style skills (Lane, 1989). In many cases the production team will also need to be trained so that curriculum and instructional design is not foreign to them. Distance education program administrators will also need to be trained so they can create the appropriate support systems for students and faculty (Lane, 1989). Other methods include publishing a newsletter to share information about instructional technology, viewing tapes on effective media use, reading about and observing the media, and visits to production houses. Teague (1981) recommends instructor training in the basic dynamics of learning, student motivation, adequacy of teaching techniques and timing of learning tasks.

Sive (1978) notes that few writers have analyzed what makes a workable selection tool. She observes that existing selection procedures may be among the factors causing the second class status of media as the purchases are made without the benefit of a thoughtful reviewing process (1983). For media to be instructional rather than supplemental aids to instruction, more sophisticated media selection procedures are indicated. Sive (1978) observes that methods to find out about media do not exist such as those for books; most media is not reviewed or rated for its suitability for use for a specific purpose; telecourse reviews receive significantly less space than educational computer programs and only a fraction of non-book media reviews; library catalogs and bibliographic tools such as Books in Print do not exist for media; there is little comparison of new and existing products; and cross-media approaches are unknown where two products on the same subject are compared. The end point of what can be done when television is combined with other media has not yet been reached; this is the beginning of an educational revolution involving many forms of telecommunications (Hewitt, 1982).

No instrument for evaluation will totally ensure that every resource used will be a positive learning experience for every user (Teague, 1981), however, using a model and an evaluating instrument based upon the model will help ensure the selection of resources that will make genuine contributions to student learning.

Two national studies were conduced to develop a model and evaluation criteria for distance education materials and teleconferencing (Lane, 1989, 1990) are discussed elsewhere. The models and evaluation instruments take into consideration how the material will function with all of its elements, the institution's services, the instructor's skills, and the target population. Both instruments serve as a bridge to inform and train distance education staff in aspects of distance education which are relevant to course adoption or program purchase.

The evaluation forms will: 1) ensure that selection committee members evaluate the same items and use the same scale for judgments; 2) guide adopters through the selection phase so that components are evaluated with the goal of student learning clearly focused; and 3) act as a training instrument for adopters who frequently do not have a media background and are not media selection experts (Lane, 1989).

The instrument trains the evaluator in media selection skills as components are evaluated and enables the evaluator to make an informed decision to adopt or reject the material after the instrument is completed. The instruments are valuable aids in achieving consistency in previewing and are usable by instructors, administrators, production team members, teleconference producers and their clients, as well as others in electronically mediated instruction fields. The instruments standardize evaluation and the models sets standards of excellence for distance education, teleconferencing and electronically mediated instruction.

As the cited literature suggests, the message that an evaluation method should be used has been regularly repeated since the inception of the telecourse. With hundreds of telecourses and 350,000 pieces of instructional media available, choosing suitable material is a problem.

from "A Technical Guide to Teleconferencing and Distance Learning," 3rd edition

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In March 1994, President Clinton signed the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. He said that, "We insist, with Goals 2000, that every student can learn. We insist that it's time to abolish the outdated distinction between academic learning and skill learning.

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2007 Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District

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2007 Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District

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Parents Involved in Community Schools, a non-profit organization, filed a lawsuit against the Seattle school District on the grounds that the racial tiebreaker to decide which school students go to  contravened the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Washington state law. The lawsuit was dismissed by a federal district court, which upheld the tiebreaker. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed on appeal in a three-judge panel. The District's racial tiebreaker scheme was ruled to be unlawful under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by the Court after applying a "strict scrutiny" approach.

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Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA)

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Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA)

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These acts were put in place to make individuals with special needs have more reasonable and accepting laws. this gave people access to free education, less restricted education, and appropriate testing for learning disabilities in students. Schools began to make ESE services and create a curriculum for kids with special needs.

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2010 The Common Core State Standards Initiative

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2010 The Common Core State Standards Initiative

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In 2010, the common core state standards initiative launched. It was a curriculum implemented to ensure that students across all states have corresponding standards that prepare high school graduates for college and the workforce. It also ensures that all students know certain topics by the end of the each grade.

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Special Education in Florida (Corinne Smith)

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Special Education in Florida (Corinne Smith)

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In 2013, 5 rights were permitted for special education making it easier for students with disabilities. First, it was allowed for parents to bring another individual into meetings like one of the child's specialists or therapists. They enacted a special diploma track. They also started allowing ABA, BCBA's, Therapists, etc, to work hand in hand with students in school or to observe them while they are at school. Lastly, students are allowed to be exempt from certain tests.

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Florida's new Exceptional Student Education law provides students with disabilities and their parents with five important new rights:

An expansion of your current right to bring an adult of your choice with you to meetings about your child with school officials is included in the new law. The law now says that schools cannot object or discourage you from bringing an adult to the meeting and cannot retaliate against you for doing so. Your responsibility is to thoughtfully select the adult and prepare them for the meeting. You will be asked to complete and/or sign a document about whether anyone with the school or district discouraged you from bringing someone, or threatened or retaliated against you. You are responsible to carefully review the document and accurately complete it.

A new right to have a greater voice in two major decisions made by IEP teams each year is included in the new law. IEP teams will be required to use a new standard state informed consent form that includes information about the benefits and consequences of consenting to one or both of these life-changing decisions. From now on, these decisions can only be made if you give your informed consent. The decisions are whether:

your child will receive instruction on standards and curriculum that do not count toward a regular diploma and therefore be on a special diploma track, and whether

your child will be educated at an ESE center school (also called a separate day school), defined by state and federal law as a separate school that only students with disabilities attend.

Your responsibility is to learn what your options are and carefully decide whether to give consent during the IEP meeting process. Be aware that these decisions must be reconsidered each year. If you do not consent, the district will have the burden to prove at a due process hearing that the proposal to put your child on a special diploma track or in an ESE center is the correct proposal. Otherwise, these changes will not be implemented.

A new right to have your private certified behavior analyst, applied behavior analyst, physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech language therapist, psychologist and/or clinical social worker work with public schools personnel and be allowed to observe, collaborate, and serve your child at school is included in the new law. Your responsibility is to negotiate a reasonable time and place that the teacher and principal will agree to. This new right does not relieve the district of any of its obligations to provide these services. This law removes a barrier to collaboration between professionals, reaffirming that professional collaboration usually works best for children with disabilities.

A new right to be informed, at the first IEP meeting of each year, how much money your district is receiving for each of the five ESE funding support levels is included in the new law. Florida Statute 1003.57(j). Your responsibility is to learn this new information, learn what level your child is, and consider how to use this information when advocating for your child.

A new right to request an extraordinary exemption from specified tests, if the test measures disability and not ability, is included in the new law. Under the limited circumstances outlined in the new law, the Commissioner of Education must grant the exemption. The new law also says that if you disagree with a decision, you may use an expedited due process hearing to appeal the decision. Your responsibility is to learn about the exemption and discuss it with your IEP team if you would like to start the process of making the request.

These changes were contained in Senate Bill 1108/House Bill 465, sponsored by Senators Andy Gardiner and Representative Jason Broduer, during the 2013 Florida Legislative session. The bills also made several important systemic improvements to special education in Florida. To learn more about these bills, you may access the final legislative staff analysis from this Florida House webpage.

After Governor Rick Scott approves these changes, they become effective on July 1, 2013.

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Five New Special Education Rights in Florida - Disability Rights Florida

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Florida's new Exceptional Student Education law provides students with disabilities and their parents with five important new rights: An expansion of your current right to bring an adult of your choice with you to meetings about your child with school officials is included in the new law.

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ESSA was established in 2015 and its purpose is to hold states accountable for the students not being able to meet needs within the frederal framework provided 

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2015 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Sofia Rodriguez

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2015 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Sofia Rodriguez

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https://www.understood.org/en/articles/the-difference-between-the-every-student-succeeds-act-and-no-child-left-behind

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State vs. federal authority

States are responsible for holding schools accountable for student achievement. The law provides a framework, but it's a flexible framework. Each state can set its own goals for student achievement within that federal framework.

States were responsible for holding schools accountable for student achievement. The law provided a framework for states, but there was less flexibility for states to set their own goals.

The law also put forward a universal goal that every student in every school be proficient in reading and math.

Annual testing

States must test students in reading and math once a year in grades 3 through 8, as well as once in high school. They must also test kids in science once in grade school, middle school and high school.

States had to test students in reading and math once a year in grades 3 through 8, as well as once in high school. They also had to test kids in science once in grade school, middle school and high school.

Students with IEPs or 504 plans could get accommodations on these tests.

States didn't have the option to use tests other than their own state tests.

There was no limit on the number of students who could take "alternate" tests.

Students with IEPs or 504 plans can get accommodations on all annual state tests.

States aren't limited to using their own tests. They can use nationally recognized tests, such as the SAT and ACT. (But those scores aren't necessarily valid for college admission.)

Only 1 percent of all students can be given "alternate" tests.

ESSA encourages states and districts to get rid of unnecessary testing. The law includes funding for them to audit their current testing.

ESSA will also provide funds for seven states to explore "innovative" tests. These are tests that align with personalized learning and competency-based education.

Academic standards

States have to adopt "challenging" academic standards in reading, math and science. That could be the Common Core State Standards. But the federal government can't try to influence a state's decision.

States had to adopt "challenging" academic standards in reading, math and science.

The law didn't bar the federal government from encouraging states to adopt a particular set of standards.

Accountability measures

With ESSA, states must consider more than just test scores when evaluating schools.

NCLB focused solely on student academic achievement and primarily used state reading and math test scores when evaluating how schools were doing.

Each state must use four academic factors that are included in the law. States can choose a fifth factor that impacts school quality.

The required academic factors must be:

Reading and math test scores

English-language proficiency test scores

High school graduation rates

A state-chosen academic measure for grade schools and middle schools

The school-quality factor could include things like:

Kindergarten readiness

Access to and completion of advanced coursework

College readiness

School climate and safety

Chronic absenteeism

Overall, states must give more weight to the academic factors than to the school-quality factors.

Achievement targets

States must set achievement targets for students in schools. States must also set ambitious goals for groups of students who are the furthest behind, like students in special education. These goals should help close the gap with other students.

States had to bring all students up to the "proficient" level on state tests. This included students in special education.

States also had to set targets for improvement, called adequate yearly progress (AYP). If a school didn't meet AYP, it could be labeled as "needing improvement." It could be required to fire its staff and face other federal penalties.

There are no federal penalties for struggling schools. Instead, these schools will get more funding and will have to develop a plan to improve.

Struggling students and schools

States and school districts must have a plan for helping schools that:

If a school or subgroup of students was struggling, the federal government offered the state a specific set of actions to take to improve the school. There was limited local decision-making.

Have high drop-out rates

Are consistently struggling, or

Have a specific group of students, like those in special education, who are struggling

Decisions about what to do may be made by the state, or by local school districts and schools. But ESSA requires states to use evidence-based methods to help these struggling schools and students.

State and school district report cards

Schools must publicly report test results, other measures of student achievement, and information about how much funding they are receiving.

Schools had to publicly report test results and other measures of student achievement.

They had to break these down by "subgroups" of students. The reporting had to show the performance of students in special education, minorities, those in poverty and those learning English.

They must break these down by "subgroups" of students. The reporting has to show the performance of students in special education, minorities, those in poverty and those learning English.

If a state identifies a school or subgroup as struggling, it must tell parents.

National Center on Reading Issues

ESSA calls for the creation of a national center focused on literacy and reading issues for kids with disabilities. This includes dyslexia.

NCLB didn't include a national literacy center.

The center will be a clearinghouse for information for parents and teachers.

Literacy programs

ESSA has a literacy education grant program. This program authorizes up to $160 million in literacy grants to states and schools.

NCLB had several literacy programs that have since been defunded.

The grants fund evidence-based instruction in literacy skills, including writing, phonological awareness and decoding.

UDL and personalized learning

ESSA endorses Universal Design for Learning (UDL). This approach to teaching aims to meet the needs of all students, including those with learning and thinking differences.

NCLB didn't include UDL or personalized learning.

The law also encourages states to expand personalized learning for students.

Parent involvement

ESSA requires states to get input from parents and families as they create state plans. To get involved, reach out to your state's department of education.

NCLB didn't require states to include parent input when creating their state plans.

Opt-out

ESSA doesn't create a federal opt-out option if parents don't want their child to take standardized tests.

NCLB didn't address the opt-out issue.

But it also doesn't stop states from having their own opt-out laws.

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The Difference Between ESSA and No Child Left Behind

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State vs. federal authority States are responsible for holding schools accountable for student achievement. The law provides a framework, but it's a flexible framework. Each state can set its own goals for student achievement within that federal framework. States were responsible for holding schools accountable for student achievement.

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The FCAT was started in Florida in the years 1998 as a way to measure students skills and implement higher standards for students.  This started in 3rd grade for students and went throughout high school. These tests specialized in the four aspects of education (Science, Math, reading, and writing). This ended in 2015.

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The FCAT began in 1998 as part of Florida's overall plan to increase student achievement by implementing higher standards. When in full implementation, the FCAT was administered to students in grades 3-11 and consisted of criterion-referenced assessments in mathematics, reading, science, and writing, which measured student progress toward meeting the Sunshine State Standards (SSS) benchmarks. During the 2010-11 school year, Florida began the transition from the FCAT to the FCAT 2.0 and Florida End-of-Course (EOC) Assessments. Selected grades and subjects participated in FCAT assessments until the final transition was complete. The FCAT Mathematics Retake was administered for the last time in Spring 2015. The Statewide Science Assessment continues to be administered, while FCAT 2.0 Historical information for reading and mathematics is also available. Beginning in Spring 2015, the Florida Standards Assessments will be administered for English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics assessments.

Taking the Assessments

Scores, Reports, & Searchable FCAT Databases
Note: You must contact the school for student scores.
Archives

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The FCAT began in 1998 as part of Florida's overall plan to increase student achievement by implementing higher standards. When in full implementation, the FCAT was administered to students in grades 3-11 and consisted of criterion-referenced assessments in mathematics, reading, science, and writing, which measured student progress toward meeting the Sunshine State Standards (SSS) benchmarks.

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African American Education (Corinne Smith)

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African American Education (Corinne Smith)

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African Americans were not allowed education for a very long time. They were forced to either learn by themselves or not know the simplicities of how to read or write. There was not a school for these kids until the mid 1800's and even then, the majority still weren't in schools until the mid 1900's. Another pivotal moment was integration between black and white schools.

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African American Education in the 19th Century

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Until the beginning of the nineteenth century, educating African Americans was not a priority of the white majority in the United States. Much of the country, especially the South, had firm laws against educating African Americans in order to protect the institution of slavery (Stowell).

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In the mid 1900's black and white schools were integrated for the first time and it was a hard time for both sets of individuals because they had to start the process of acceptance that has started many different acts in education. It started off as a test where they chose a few African- American students to attend a primarily white school and from there they moved everyone in. This was an amazing act of improvement from the segregation that they went through and still go through.

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For much of its history, education in the United States was segregated (or even only available) based upon race. Early integrated schools such as the Noyes Academy, founded in 1835, in Canaan, New Hampshire, were generally met with fierce local opposition. For the most part, African Americans received very little to no formal education before the Civil War. Some free blacks in the North managed to become literate.

In the South where slavery was legal, many states had laws prohibiting teaching enslaved African Americans to read or write. A few taught themselves, others learned from white playmates or more generous masters, but most were not able to learn to read and write. Schools for free people of color were privately run and supported, as were most of the limited schools for white children. Poor white children did not attend school. The wealthier planters hired tutors for their children and sent them to private academies and colleges at the appropriate age.

During Reconstruction a coalition of freedmen and white Republicans in Southern state legislatures passed laws establishing public education. The Freedman's Bureau was created as an agency of the military governments that managed Reconstruction. It set up schools in many areas and tried to help to help educate and protect freedmen during the transition after the war. With the notable exception of the desegregated public schools in New Orleans, the schools were segregated by race. By 1900 more than 30,000 black teachers had been trained and put to work in the South, and the literacy rate had climbed to more than 50%, a major achievement in little more than a generation.

Many colleges were set up for blacks; some were state schools like Booker T. Washington's Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, others were private ones subsidized by Northern missionary societies.

Although the African-American community quickly began litigation to challenge such provisions, in the 19th century Supreme Court challenges generally were not decided in their favor. The Supreme Court case of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) upheld the segregation of races in schools as long as each race enjoyed parity in quality of education (the "separate but equal" principle). However, few black students received equal education. They suffered for decades from inadequate funding, outmoded or dilapidated facilities, and deficient textbooks (often ones previously used in white schools).

Starting in 1914 and going into the 1930s, Julius Rosenwald, a philanthropist from Chicago, established the Rosenwald Fund to provide seed money for matching local contributions and stimulating the construction of new schools for African American children, mostly in the rural South. He worked in association with Booker T. Washington and architects at Tuskegee University to have model plans created for schools and teacher housing. With the requirement that money had to be raised by both blacks and whites, and schools approved by local school boards (controlled by whites), Rosenwald stimulated construction of more than 5,000 schools built across the South. In addition to Northern philanthrops and state taxes, African Americans went to extraordinary efforts to raise money for such schools.

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s helped publicize the inequities of segregation. In 1954, the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education unanimously declared that separate facilities were inherently unequal and unconstitutional. By the 1970s segregated districts had practically vanished in the South.

Integration of schools has been a protracted process, however, with results affected by vast population migrations in many areas, and affected by suburban sprawl, the disappearance of industrial jobs, and movement of jobs out of former industrial cities of the North and Midwest and into new areas of the South. Although required by court order, integrating the first black students in the South met with intense opposition. In 1957 the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, had to be enforced by federal troops. President Dwight D. Eisenhower took control of the National Guard, after the governor tried to use them to prevent integration. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, integration continued with varying degrees of difficulty. Some states and cities tried to overcome de facto segregation, a result of housing patterns, by using forced busing. This method of integrating student populations provoked resistance in many places, including northern cities, where parents wanted children educated in neighborhood schools.

Although full equality and parity in education has still to be achieved (many school districts are technically still under the integration mandates of local courts), technical equality in education had been achieved by 1970.

Inequality
The Coleman Report, by University of Chicago sociology professor James Coleman proved especially controversial in 1966. Based on massive statistical data,, the 1966 report titled "Equality of Educational Opportunity" fueled debate about "school effects" that has continued since. The report was widely seen as evidence that school funding has little effect on student achievement. A more precise reading of the Coleman Report is that student background and socioeconomic status are much more important in determining educational outcomes than are measured differences in school resources (i.e. per pupil spending). Coleman found that, on average, black schools were funded on a nearly equal basis by the 1960s, and that black students benefited from racially mixed classrooms.

The comparative quality of education among rich and poor districts is still often the subject of dispute. While middle class African-American children have made good progress; poor minorities have struggled. With school systems based on property taxes, there are wide disparities in funding between wealthy suburbs or districts, and often poor, inner-city areas or small towns. "De facto segregation" has been difficult to overcome as residential neighborhoods have remained more segregated than workplaces or public facilities. Racial segregation has not been the only factor in inequities. Residents in New Hampshire challenged property tax funding because of steep contrasts between education funds in wealthy and poorer areas. They filed lawsuits to seek a system to provide more equal funding of school systems across the state.

Some scholars believe that transformation of the Pell Grant program to a loan program in the early 1980s has caused an increase in the gap between the growth rates of white, Asian-American and African-American college graduates since the 1970s. Others believe the issue is increasingly related more to class and family capacity than ethnicity. Some school systems have used economics to create a different way to identify populations in need of supplemental help.
[edit] Special education

In 1975 Congress passed Public Law 94-142, Education of the Handicapped Act. One of the most comprehensive laws in the history of education in the United States, this Act brought together several pieces of state and federal legislation, making free, appropriate education available to all eligible students with a disability. The law was amended in 1986 to extend its coverage to include younger children. In 1990 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) extended its definitions and changed the label "handicap" to "disabilities". Further procedural changes were amended to IDEA in 1997.

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For much of its history, education in the United States was segregated (or even only available) based upon race. Early integrated schools such as the Noyes Academy, founded in 1835, in Canaan, New Hampshire, were generally met with fierce local opposition.