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Immigration Onslaught
From 1850-1900 500,000 immigrants were entering the United States each year. This created a need for a way to connect people of different backgrounds together, to create a common national identity and patriotism. A socializing institution was needed, and public schools was the answer. This period of substantial immigration created the push for public schooling that was needed. -
World War I and Standardized Tests
The standardized tests that are still used today in the modern education system were originaly developed to rapidly classify millions of American military recruits based on a generalized inteligence level. The Army Alpha and Army Beta tests created at this time are the models used for most group tests to this day. -
Brown v Board of Education
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were not equal. Segregated schools provided unequal educational opportunities, and denied African American students equal protection. This was groundbraking in the persuit of equal education for all U.S. citizens. -
PL 94-142
Children with disabilities from ages 3-21 were allowed to recieve educational services in public schools. Many students who were not receiving services in the past, started to recieve educational services. This opened the door to education for millions of disabled children previously unserved. -
No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act represented the federal governments first serious attempt to hold states accountable for the unequal achievement gaps within the schools. The NCLB Act created real learning gains for disadvantaged students. It also created new expectations for teachers. They were to be considered highly qualified, defined by documented subject matter knowledge in the area they were teaching,
