According to Time, President Barack Obama has exempted 10 states from the strictest requirements of No Child Left Behind, which many critics claim are impossible for schools to meet and place undue burdens on educators. NCLB became law in 2002 under President George W. Bush and has since become a thicket of controversy. Under NCLB, school districts are required to meet certain performance standards. Proponents claim these performance standards help children by forcing districts to focus on teaching and curricula quality, while critics claim that the standards are too difficult to meet and harm educators' reputations and job security while creating a "kill-and-drill," "teach-to-the-test" mentality.
While NCLB has always been controversial, what is the background of education regulation in public schools? Here's a history provided by PBS.
1892: The National Education Association appoints a committee of 10 people to study school curriculum.
Early 1900s: Indiana, Massachusetts and Louisiana begin to track the progress of high school students.
1912: IQ tests are created, allowing objective measurements of student intelligence. Some 250,000 students will take the tests over the next 20 years.
1917: The federal government passes the Smith-Hughes Act, which provides funding for agriculture, trade, industrial and home economics education. It creates a foundation for vocational educational.
1918: The NEA publishes the "Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education," which argues schools must focus on the development of the all youth, not just the ones who are bound for college.
1920s: High schools begin focusing more on educating youth in results-oriented career tracks as opposed to liberal arts-based college-tracks. At Stanford University, a program begins training educators in the "science of school management."
1923: Lewis Terman creates subject-specific Achievement Tests.
1932: Some three-quarters of urban school districts report using written standardized intelligence tests.
1942-1945: Vocational education expands rapidly with the U.S. entry into World War II.
1945: Public education in 29 states expands to include topics like citizenship, home and family life and health.
1947: The Educational Testing Service, which handles the creation and implementation of important standardized tests, is created.
1958: In response to the Soviet Union's launch of the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik, the National Defense Education Act is passed and provides funding for more education in math, science and foreign languages.
1959: James Conan, writing for the Educational Testing Service, recommends ability testing, grouping students according to level of ability, and differentiation of curricula in The American High School Today: A Report to Interested Citizens.
1970s: Students begin to be classified based on test scores. The "Back to Basics" movement seeks to ensure that all high school graduates have mastered basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills.
1983: The National Commission on Excellence in Education releases a report critical of American education titled A Nation at Risk.
1980s: Businesses and local and state governments nationwide begin urging tougher education requirements to make students more competitive and attract business and investments to their respective areas.
1986: E.D. Hirsh begins popularizing the concept of "core curriculum" to be shared by all students in each grade level.
1988: State governors, in order to receive federal funding, adopt National Education Goals to help guide school and curriculum improvement.
3 comments