Yesica Diaz

EDU 201-1001

Portfolio Project # 8 Educational Time Line

The head turning case Brown V. The Board of education in 1954 was very detrimental to

our modern day version of education. This landmark case declared that there would now be state

laws that established separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional.

The decision allowed all state sponsored segregation to be set forward in every public school.

Progress came again in 1958 with the National Defense Education Act or NDEA signed into law.

This law would fund U.S. schools at every level to teach more science. This law was set forth

because the president believed that U.S. students needed to increase their technological skills

because as a country we were falling behind the Soviet Union. The Soviets launched their first

ever satellite Sputnik that previous year and America was determined to catch up. In the 1950s

there was yet another adjustment made to U.S education. Middle Schools were seen as necessary

and started to slowly emerge. This movement recognized that teenagers are caught at the cusp

between childhood and young adulthood and they are going through very dramatic changes.

Scientist concluded that there are deep cognitive, social, and emotional changes that need to be

kept in mind. In 1965 another change was enacted through the Elementary and Secondary

Education Act. The bill was enacted as a method to war on poverty emphasizing equal access to

education and established high standards and accountability. Also the bills goal was to shorten

achievement gaps between students. Part of that same bill was the Title I section which was

amended as ESEA provided financial assistance to local educational agencies and schools with a

high number of children from low income families to ensure that those students were meeting

academic standards. In 1972 Title IX was put into law and its goal was to prohibit discrimination

on the base of sex in any federally funded education program or activity. No doubt this helped
 Yesica Diaz
EDU 201-1001
even out many things and benefited everyone. Another law that did that was Public Law 94- 142

in 1975. This act mandated education for all handicapped children. This act made all schools that

were funded by public funds provided equal access to education and one free meal per day to

children with disabilities. Furthermore the schools were now responsible for evaluating this type

of students and creating an IEP for them. Further aide came for handicapped students in 1975 by

the enactment of the I.D.E.A act. This act made it so that the education of special needs children

be tailored to their individual needs. In 1983 there was an educational reform from the American

President Ronald Reagans National Commission on Excellence in Education. This report stated

that our nations schools were failing and this made an educational reform begin at state wide

and federal levels. Educational reform came once more in 2002 with the enactment of the No

Child Left Behind Act. That Act required that states create assessments to test basic skills. If

states did this then they would receive federal funding. There was no nationwide achievement

standard set though; each state is free to choose its own standards. Every state must focus on

annual testing, academic progress, and teacher qualifications and change in funding. All of these

landmark law, acts, and bills still have a lasting impact on all of students and teachers today.