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The United States began to develop and organized the idea of the "common school," which was intended to give all children a common experience, no matter their background. These were funded by property taxes and were open to all white children. This was the "original" public school. -
This Supreme Court ruling upheld "the doctrine that 'separate but equal' facilities for Blacks and whites were
constitutionally permissible" (Cushner, 2019). The ruling effectively legalized racial segregation in schools, creating school systems were "usually inferior" for African-American students. -
The Supreme Court reverses the earlier ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson. Their decision stated that "segregated schools were inherently unequal and that state laws that allowed separate schools for Black and white students were unconstitutional" (Cushner, 2019). -
During this timespan, numerous anti discriminatory statutes were passed by Congress, many of which benefited public education. These include voter registration, increasing political awareness and participation; the Equal Pay Act, requiring equal pay for men and women; and the Civil Rights Act, "which ended discrimination in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin" (Cushner, 2019).
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President Johnson signed the ESEA into law because of the belief that "'full educational opportunity' should be 'our first national goal'" (2023). The act offered grants to low-income students, grants for libraries and textbooks, special education funding, and college scholarships (2023). -
Title IX is enacted, which prohibits "sex discrimination against students and employees of educational institutions" (Cusher, 2019). This decision created widespread change in schools, allowing more women to compete in scholastics sports, along with other activities. -
No Child Left Behind is signed into law following growing concerns that the American public school system is falling behind that of other countries (Klein, 2023). Under NCLB, students must reach certain standards or the school district's federal funding will be impacted. It was intended to boost scores, make sure all districts had "highly qualified teachers" and specifically assist disadvantaged students (Klein, 2023) -
As technology (and the internet) improved and access was expanded, it began to be more prevalent in the classroom. This led educators to coin the term "mobile learning," which focused on adapting to technology, teaching students to become global citizens, and use the devices available to modify and expand curriculum (McQuiggan et al., 2015).
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The global spread of COVID-19 in late 2019 and 2020 drastically altered the education landscape. Schools shut down, transitioned online, dealt with a contagious disease, and had to examine traditional educational policies and practices. It led to an increase in global education, which had countries collaborating on findings, and inspiring them to "Think Globally, Act Locally" (Cushner, 2019).