Executive leadership of the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) initiated a flexibility offering from No Child Left Behind. Our work explores specific design decisions made in these state-specific accountability systems as associated with state political environments, resources, and demographic characteristics. Our analysis, focused on 42 states…

In the United States after World War II, science had come to occupy a central place in the minds of policy makers, scientists, and the public. Negotiating different views between these groups proved a difficult task and spilled into debates over the role and scope of science education. To examine this process, this dissertation traces the history…

This article develops a framework, drawn from earlier work by education scholars, as well as broader theoretical insights on advocacy and policymaking developed by political scientists, for thinking about education politics in the post-No Child Left Behind era. The authors use this framework to examine the evolution of the national education…

The author reports on a measure to renew the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), which faces steep political hurdles. Leaders of the Senate education committee still aim to push a bipartisan revision of the much-criticized No Child Left Behind Act through Congress by year's end, in time to stave off the Obama administration's move to…

Drawing from the existing body of data and research on the community education concept, effective schools, and standards-based reforms, this essay examines educational achievement in the United States corresponding to and resulting from reform movements and political actions. The 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is reviewed in…

The 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was one of the most significant legislative accomplishments in twentieth-century American politics. To date, legislative histories have usually argued that the ESEA's passage was the result of either auspicious political circumstances or the political skill of the Johnson White House.…

In 1954, the Supreme Court delivered the landmark decision of "Brown v. Board of Education"--establishing the right to attend a desegregated school as a national constitutional right--but the decision contained fundamental ambiguities. The Supreme Court has never offered a clear definition of what desegregation means or laid out a…

This article considers the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in light of current educational inequities and the impact of the pandemic. The reauthorization presents an opportunity to center equity and justice and revitalize the civil rights aspects of the law. The authors review recent studies about the myriad…

Historical empathy is a critical aspect of history and social science education that has its roots in the inquiry-based education movements of the twentieth century. Although the term "historical empathy" is not specifically mentioned in most history curriculum documents in the United States, dozens of "new social studies"…

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…

In this critique, race is centralized to draw attention to the role it plays in the complex evolution of response to intervention, past and present. I use a critical race theory analytical lens to focus on how the dominant narrative serves as a framework within institutional and political structures in support of the approach. A brief overview of…

The ability to read independently is essential for success in high school, college, and most careers. Students with disabilities must be able to comprehend literally and inferentially to meet the demands of the general education curriculum and navigate the complex political, social, and economic environment of the 21st century (King- Sears &…

Passed by the U.S. Congress in the spring of 1965 as part of President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was one of the most significant and expansive education policy initiatives ever undertaken by the federal government. The main component of the act, Title I, allocated significant resources to…

Educational publishing corporations and media corporations in the United States have been converging, especially through the promotion of standardization, testing, and for-profit educational technologies. Media and technology companies--including News Corp, Apple, and Microsoft--have significantly expanded their presence in public schools to sell…

This article reviews the impacts of the civil rights policies framed in the 1960s and the anti-civil rights political and legal movements that reversed them. It documents rising segregation by race and poverty. The policy reversals and transformation of U.S. demography require a new civil rights strategy. Vast immigrations, the sinking White…