Course Description
The substantive and political evolution of the federal role in education from 1965 to present. Attention will be paid to analysis of current policy proposals and programs.
Athena Title
Federal Education Policy
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in EDAP 8220E
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Students will: 1. Gain an understanding of what the historic objectives of the federal role in elementary and secondary education have been, and how that role has evolved since 1965 in both legislation and the courts 2. Gain an understanding of the role of presidential administrations from Lyndon Johnson to the present in shaping and directing federal policy 3. Gain understanding of the complex institutional factors that shape federal education policy, including the role of national interest groups, Congress, and the executive branch 4. Engage in analysis of the substance of the current debates about the future of federal education policy, such as accountability, standards and assessments, choice, and the role of the states 5. Demonstrate in-depth mastery of a particular topic relevant to either the history of a particular program or policy and/or the current policy debates about the design of a program or policy
Topical Outline
1. Brown and Desegregation as Prelude to the ESEA and Head Start as Part of the War on Poverty 2. Implementation of ESEA and Head Start 3. Foundational Supreme Court Decisions: San Antonio v. Rodriguez, Plyler v. Doe, Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Lau v. Nichols, Milliken v. Bradley 4. Education for All Handicapped Children Act 5. Founding of federal Department of Education 6. A Nation at Risk, State Standards-Based Reforms, and the National Education Goals 7. The Clinton and Bush Years: the Improving America’s Schools Act, Goals 2000, and No Child Left Behind 8. Race to the Top and the Reauthorization of ESEA: Challenges for Politics and Policy Design 9. Current federal actions and issues in pre-K-12 education