The Elementary and Secondary Education Act at Fifty: A Changing Federal Role in American Education

Abstract

For this first History of Education Quarterly Policy Forum, we invited participants in the special Plenary Session at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the History of Education Society (HES) in St. Louis to publish their remarks on the historical significance of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) at fifty. Organized and introduced by HES vice‐president and program chair Adam R. Nelson, the session consisted of presentations by three expert panelists from the fields of History and African American Studies, American Law and Politics, and Political Science and Public Policy: Crystal Sanders of Penn State University, Doug Reed of Georgetown University, and Susan Moffitt of Brown University, respectively. What follows are the texts of Adam Nelson's introductory remarks—including his introduction of the three panelists—followed by the panelists' remarks.

A Comparative Study of Educational Policies in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan: From the Perspective of Education Inequity Related to Socioeconomic Status

“…One significant attempt was the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). The aim of the ESEA was to address inequity caused by poverty and segregation in education [18]. Through the reform, the federal government also tried to highlight the power of the central education department.…”

“…Through the reform, the federal government also tried to highlight the power of the central education department. The central government provides local governments with financial support to strengthen educational facilities, improve the local educational department, support educational research and aid students from disadvantaged families [18]. These policies aimed to ensure the basic right of the disadvantaged students and improve the inequity between schools.…”

“…These policies aimed to ensure the basic right of the disadvantaged students and improve the inequity between schools. Though these policies imposed high financial and political costs [18], the reform increased the acceptance of the central government's role in education and encouraged critiques beyond neighbourhood and towns [20], which could be considered a significant step in changing the federal role in the United States' education system. However, granting authority and financial aid to local education departments without a corresponding supervision system or national standard led to problems.…”

Compulsory School Attendance and the Elementary Education Act of 1870: 150 Years On

“…In terms of more recent legislation, Marsha Minow has appraised the longer term legacies of the landmark Brown case of the 1950s (Minow, 2010). Adam Nelson has led a revisionist debate on the fiftieth anniversary of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, linking this key legislation on the one hand to African-American freedom struggles in Mississippi and on the other to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the emergence of Head Start (Nelson, 2016). This recent American literature has also begun to take account of the law and higher education.…”

Problems in English Education Under the No Child Left Behind Act

“…With the popularity of NCLB in the United States, some potential problems exist. The U.S. schools would possibly face some federally mandated sanctions [9]. If one school cannot meet the state's achievement targets or fails to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) for more than two years, this school would get sanctions from the state, like closing the school or turning the school into a charter school [1].…”