Significant Changes of Education in America

Education in America has seen many significant changes since the Modern Post-War Era. Children are allowed to attend classes with kids of various races, schools have equal opportunities for both males and females, and for children with disabilities or handicaps. These three events in the history of American Education helped set a basic framework that has standardized the minimum educational requirements for all schools throughout the country. Now each and every student can get an equal chance to be educated. Horace Mann†s contributions in 1868 to the common school movement, allowed elementary schools to become free and available to all in the state of Massachusetts. Mann wanted all school doors to be opened to any child of the state, no matter where that child was from or his background. As the Secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education in 1837, this position allowed Mann to speak his ideas to improve the quality of schools. Soon after, he and Catherine Beecher established, The Normal School, a professional program that gave teachers the proper training with a higher level of education and skills than previous educators needed. Brown vs. Board of Education was another significant event that changed education in America. By the end of World War I, school segregation was in effect. This meant that all schools with â€Å"white† children were separated from all â€Å"black† children. Children in America were getting a limited education as well as the idea the racism is allowed and tolerated. In 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren put an end to all segregated schools. While some schools were changed, others were reluctant and resistant to the new change. Not all schools agreed with this new law. Some districts, even a year after the law was in full effect, were so set in their racist ways, allowed school grounds to became battlefields with riots and obscene violence. In 1975, Congress passed the Education For All Handicapped Children Act. This new law enabled an even wider range of children to join an educational setting. It allows children with disabilities an equal opportunity to a greater education. For instance, students may have previously been forced into costly alternative institutions, home schooling, or simply lack of any formal education because of their unique needs. Without this law, students with disabilities would be segregated, just like African Americans were and deprived of the chance for a â€Å"normal,† everyday educational experience in a public school. This Act guarantees that by law, all children will receive a free education in an environment suited for their special needs if they so desire. These legal, moral, and social changes have fostered the need for educator†s instructional strategies to evolve. To deal with the diverse needs of the learning community, teaching mediums and methods must encompass not only the latest legal or school board changes, but embrace the latest technological changes available in the 21st century classroom.