Educational Time Line and Marcus Foster
1940's
WWII; education is put on the back burner
students and teachers enlist or leave to work in defense plants.
FDR signs the GI bill, the population of colleges/universities almost
doubles
Mendez vs. Westminster and the California Board of Ed.
1st computer.
Truman commission report - higher ed rec.
1950's
Brown vs. Board.
Civil Rights movement/act.
Cultural desegregation.
Early Childhood Project.
Segregation worsens.
Racial liberals.
Anti-discriminatory color-blindness promoted.
Social promotion in schools.
Awareness of a black-white achievement gap.
Public high schools for girls (gender segregated).
Demonstration Guidance Project.
Philadelphia Fellowship Commission.
B.F. Skinner's work on human behavior influences education.
Bloom's taxonomy.
Sputnik drives a new focus on science, math, and foreign language.
Projects such as the Demonstration Guidance Project, which provided smaller classes, after school programs,
individualized tutoring, professional development for teachers, engaging hands
on experiences (e.g. field trips) and above all an increased emphasis on reading
skills impacted educators across the nation. (Spencer, 2012 p.62)
Post war liberals optimistically look to the nation's schools to break the alleged cycle of white prejudice and black failure. (Spencer,
2012)
1960's
Compensatory education movement dealt with home and school factors.
Families were seen as educationally and culturally deprived.
Parent involvement (teaching them how to be a good parent - as their child's 1st teacher) was needed.
The Ford Foundation Great Cities School Improvement Program was an example of addressing school and non-school factors in students'
achievement.
Head Start as part of the War on Poverty.
Free community college options, enrollment triples.
Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development.
Should/can public schools teach evolution is revisited?
Emphasis on student-centered classrooms and the Open Classroom.
Nation's 1st bilingual public school in Miami.
ESEA.
Bussing to achieve desegregation.
Bilingual Education Act.
Warring interpretations of who is responsible for low achievement: culturally deprived black students or racist white teachers. (Spencer,
2012 p.7)
Teachers argue that accountability singles them out for blame and makes them the scapegoats for social problems beyond their control.
Foster and his team implement differentiated instruction at Dunbar Elementary with positive impact on student achievement.
When other schools attempted the replicate the Great Cities program they discovered that compensatory education was only as effective as the people
carrying it out.
By the end of the decade the goal for educators is to get African American children living in poverty to build a bridge from their school
culture to their home culture, thereby attaining cultural pluralism or multiculturalism. (Spencer, 2012)
In Philadelphia Foster led educators to address the disadvantages associated with poverty without turning them into excuses for inaction and low expectations.
By focusing their attention beyond the schools and motivating parents, they were building cultural capital for their students. (Spencer, 2012)
1970’s
Conflicts on bussing and redistricting to achieve racial integration of public schools are part of the social and political turmoil.
Back to the basics movement (in response to student-centered holistic learning).
Should school attendance be compulsory (Deschooling Society by Illich).
Piaget's Learning Cycle Model.
Diana v. California State Board (students referred for special ed services should be tested in their primary language).
Mentally retarded children are entitled to a free public education (Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children (PARC) v. Pennsylvania).
Indian Education Act.
Title IX.
Giftedness in education.
Lau v. Nicholas (San Francisco school district didn’t provide equal opportunities for all students, including those who do not speak English).
Apple personal computers.
Can schools foster equal opportunity in a fundamental unequal capitalistic society? (Spencer, 2012 p.8)
Marcus Foster did not single out educators for blame. He recognized a range of factors, both inside and outside of schools that
impact student achievement.
Foster charted a course between the extremes of demanding too little and expecting too much of the schools as agents of equal opportunity in America.
(Spencer, 2012 p. 10)
Foster insisted on accountability from educators, families, taxpayers, and political and economic institutions.
In Oakland Foster helped pioneer an ethos of urban school accountability that continues to resonate today.
1980's
Refugee Act of 1980; resettlement of 3+ million refugees in the US, many who bring special needs and issues to the classroom.
Conservative era in education with Reagan as president.
Home schooling movement.
IBM personal computer (PC).
Madeline C. Hunter’s direct instruction teaching model.
Plyler v. Doe, the Texas law denying access to public education for undocumented school-age children violates the Equal Protection Clause of the
14th Amendment.
Board of Education v. Pico, the U.S. books cannot be removed from a school library because school administrators deemed their content to be offensive.
A Nation at Risk, calls for sweeping reforms in public education and teacher training.
Vocational and technical education Act.
Emergency Immigrant Education Act passed to help schools with funding.
1990's Internet and websites.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), changes terminology from handicap to disability, mandates transition services and adds autism and
traumatic brain injury to the eligibility list.
Teach for America is formed, reestablishing the idea of a National Teachers Corps.
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1990, increases annual immigration to 700,000 adding to the diversity of our nation and its schools.
Minnesota passes the first "charter school" law.
Constructivist Classrooms.
Massachusetts' leads a state-wide, high-stakes testing program.
Improving America's Schools Act (IASA) reauthorizes the ESEA of 1965 and includes reforms for Title I; increased funding for bilingual and immigrant education; and
provisions for public charter schools, drop-out prevention, and educational technology.
Georgia offers universal preschool to all four year olds.
Growing body of scholarship regarding multiculturalism in education.
The Oakland, California School District proposes Ebonics be recognized as the native language of African American children.
Columbine.
2000-current
the Modern Era: NCLB replaces Bilingual Education Act; 504's.
School vouchers.
Presidents and legislators promote education as the civil rights issue of our time and insist that schools eliminate the achievement gap.
The Higher Education Act changed to expand access to higher education for low and middle income students.
K-12 Online learning.
The Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act (IDEA 2004), modifies the IEP process, requires school districts to use the Response to Intervention
(RTI) approach as a means for the early identification of students at risk for specific learning disabilities.
Community Schools v. Seattle School District No 1 and Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education rules that race cannot be a factor in
assigning students to high schools, thus rejecting integration plans in Seattle and Louisville, and possibly affecting similar plans in school districts around
the nation. NCLB is not reauthorized and states receive waivers.
American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 provides more than 90-billion dollars for education, nearly half of which goes to local school districts to prevent layoffs and for school modernization and repair.
Race to the Top funds.
Common Core State Standards Initiative.
Teachers in some states lose collective bargaining rights.
Seattle high school teachers refused to give the district-mandated Measures of Academy Progress, joining a "growing grass-roots revolt against the excessive use of
standardized tests."
Urban school reform is seen as a larger social and economic policy response to the urban crisis.
Addressing problems of inadequate housing, health care, and unemployment are part of the discussion on school reform. (Spencer, 2012)
Can policy makers continue to ignore the full range of factors leading to, perpetuating, and propagating the achievement gap?
References
Sass, E. (2013). American Educational History: A Hypertext Timeline
http://www.eds- resources.com/educationhistorytimeline.
Spencer, J. (2012) In the crossfire; Marcus Foster and the troubled american history of school reform. University of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia; PA
Spencer, J. (2012) From “Cultural Deprivation” to cultural capital: the roots and continued relevance of compensatory education. Teachers College Record, 114 (060303) 1- 41.
WWII; education is put on the back burner
students and teachers enlist or leave to work in defense plants.
FDR signs the GI bill, the population of colleges/universities almost
doubles
Mendez vs. Westminster and the California Board of Ed.
1st computer.
Truman commission report - higher ed rec.
1950's
Brown vs. Board.
Civil Rights movement/act.
Cultural desegregation.
Early Childhood Project.
Segregation worsens.
Racial liberals.
Anti-discriminatory color-blindness promoted.
Social promotion in schools.
Awareness of a black-white achievement gap.
Public high schools for girls (gender segregated).
Demonstration Guidance Project.
Philadelphia Fellowship Commission.
B.F. Skinner's work on human behavior influences education.
Bloom's taxonomy.
Sputnik drives a new focus on science, math, and foreign language.
Projects such as the Demonstration Guidance Project, which provided smaller classes, after school programs,
individualized tutoring, professional development for teachers, engaging hands
on experiences (e.g. field trips) and above all an increased emphasis on reading
skills impacted educators across the nation. (Spencer, 2012 p.62)
Post war liberals optimistically look to the nation's schools to break the alleged cycle of white prejudice and black failure. (Spencer,
2012)
1960's
Compensatory education movement dealt with home and school factors.
Families were seen as educationally and culturally deprived.
Parent involvement (teaching them how to be a good parent - as their child's 1st teacher) was needed.
The Ford Foundation Great Cities School Improvement Program was an example of addressing school and non-school factors in students'
achievement.
Head Start as part of the War on Poverty.
Free community college options, enrollment triples.
Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development.
Should/can public schools teach evolution is revisited?
Emphasis on student-centered classrooms and the Open Classroom.
Nation's 1st bilingual public school in Miami.
ESEA.
Bussing to achieve desegregation.
Bilingual Education Act.
Warring interpretations of who is responsible for low achievement: culturally deprived black students or racist white teachers. (Spencer,
2012 p.7)
Teachers argue that accountability singles them out for blame and makes them the scapegoats for social problems beyond their control.
Foster and his team implement differentiated instruction at Dunbar Elementary with positive impact on student achievement.
When other schools attempted the replicate the Great Cities program they discovered that compensatory education was only as effective as the people
carrying it out.
By the end of the decade the goal for educators is to get African American children living in poverty to build a bridge from their school
culture to their home culture, thereby attaining cultural pluralism or multiculturalism. (Spencer, 2012)
In Philadelphia Foster led educators to address the disadvantages associated with poverty without turning them into excuses for inaction and low expectations.
By focusing their attention beyond the schools and motivating parents, they were building cultural capital for their students. (Spencer, 2012)
1970’s
Conflicts on bussing and redistricting to achieve racial integration of public schools are part of the social and political turmoil.
Back to the basics movement (in response to student-centered holistic learning).
Should school attendance be compulsory (Deschooling Society by Illich).
Piaget's Learning Cycle Model.
Diana v. California State Board (students referred for special ed services should be tested in their primary language).
Mentally retarded children are entitled to a free public education (Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children (PARC) v. Pennsylvania).
Indian Education Act.
Title IX.
Giftedness in education.
Lau v. Nicholas (San Francisco school district didn’t provide equal opportunities for all students, including those who do not speak English).
Apple personal computers.
Can schools foster equal opportunity in a fundamental unequal capitalistic society? (Spencer, 2012 p.8)
Marcus Foster did not single out educators for blame. He recognized a range of factors, both inside and outside of schools that
impact student achievement.
Foster charted a course between the extremes of demanding too little and expecting too much of the schools as agents of equal opportunity in America.
(Spencer, 2012 p. 10)
Foster insisted on accountability from educators, families, taxpayers, and political and economic institutions.
In Oakland Foster helped pioneer an ethos of urban school accountability that continues to resonate today.
1980's
Refugee Act of 1980; resettlement of 3+ million refugees in the US, many who bring special needs and issues to the classroom.
Conservative era in education with Reagan as president.
Home schooling movement.
IBM personal computer (PC).
Madeline C. Hunter’s direct instruction teaching model.
Plyler v. Doe, the Texas law denying access to public education for undocumented school-age children violates the Equal Protection Clause of the
14th Amendment.
Board of Education v. Pico, the U.S. books cannot be removed from a school library because school administrators deemed their content to be offensive.
A Nation at Risk, calls for sweeping reforms in public education and teacher training.
Vocational and technical education Act.
Emergency Immigrant Education Act passed to help schools with funding.
1990's Internet and websites.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), changes terminology from handicap to disability, mandates transition services and adds autism and
traumatic brain injury to the eligibility list.
Teach for America is formed, reestablishing the idea of a National Teachers Corps.
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1990, increases annual immigration to 700,000 adding to the diversity of our nation and its schools.
Minnesota passes the first "charter school" law.
Constructivist Classrooms.
Massachusetts' leads a state-wide, high-stakes testing program.
Improving America's Schools Act (IASA) reauthorizes the ESEA of 1965 and includes reforms for Title I; increased funding for bilingual and immigrant education; and
provisions for public charter schools, drop-out prevention, and educational technology.
Georgia offers universal preschool to all four year olds.
Growing body of scholarship regarding multiculturalism in education.
The Oakland, California School District proposes Ebonics be recognized as the native language of African American children.
Columbine.
2000-current
the Modern Era: NCLB replaces Bilingual Education Act; 504's.
School vouchers.
Presidents and legislators promote education as the civil rights issue of our time and insist that schools eliminate the achievement gap.
The Higher Education Act changed to expand access to higher education for low and middle income students.
K-12 Online learning.
The Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act (IDEA 2004), modifies the IEP process, requires school districts to use the Response to Intervention
(RTI) approach as a means for the early identification of students at risk for specific learning disabilities.
Community Schools v. Seattle School District No 1 and Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education rules that race cannot be a factor in
assigning students to high schools, thus rejecting integration plans in Seattle and Louisville, and possibly affecting similar plans in school districts around
the nation. NCLB is not reauthorized and states receive waivers.
American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 provides more than 90-billion dollars for education, nearly half of which goes to local school districts to prevent layoffs and for school modernization and repair.
Race to the Top funds.
Common Core State Standards Initiative.
Teachers in some states lose collective bargaining rights.
Seattle high school teachers refused to give the district-mandated Measures of Academy Progress, joining a "growing grass-roots revolt against the excessive use of
standardized tests."
Urban school reform is seen as a larger social and economic policy response to the urban crisis.
Addressing problems of inadequate housing, health care, and unemployment are part of the discussion on school reform. (Spencer, 2012)
Can policy makers continue to ignore the full range of factors leading to, perpetuating, and propagating the achievement gap?
References
Sass, E. (2013). American Educational History: A Hypertext Timeline
http://www.eds- resources.com/educationhistorytimeline.
Spencer, J. (2012) In the crossfire; Marcus Foster and the troubled american history of school reform. University of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia; PA
Spencer, J. (2012) From “Cultural Deprivation” to cultural capital: the roots and continued relevance of compensatory education. Teachers College Record, 114 (060303) 1- 41.