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Ximena Gomez Peralta

EDC 250
M3A1
Three of the major events that I feel have had the strongest influence in the US educational
system today are Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954 , No child left behind in 2001
and Common core Standards in 2009
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954 ruled that segregation among African American
and European American was unconstitutional, and decisions previously made of separate but
equal were overturned. (Lynch 2014) Schools were order to integrate as well as other public
places that required segregation among Whites and Colored people which violated the fourteen
amendment Equal Protection Clause. (Lynch, 2014) I believe that even though it has taken many
years to get rid of legal segregation in schools and other places it was an important step in the
right direction, allowing students to receive a quality education no matter what race they were.
The Brown v. Board of Topeka I believe was a stepping stone for equal rights in race, gender and
sex segregation in schools and in other areas.
No Child Left Behind in 2001 had at its aim to close the achievement gap between high
achieving and low achieving students which roughly translates to the white and minority students
as well as increasing performing standards for all students. (Lynch, 2014) Under the NCLB
schools that were not meeting the annual targets were required to present a plan of improvement
and States are required to sanction poorly performing schools. Under the NCLB many schools
that where not performing well had to close doors, re-hire new personnel or looked for other
avenues such as the corporate framework. (Lynch, 2014) In Tucson some schools closed their
doors or joined other schools and re-hired new personnel when it happened to the first few

schools I think it was a wake up call for all. I believe this reform showed the public that there
had to be accountability for what happened inside the classroom and schools plan of
improvement efforts. As many detractors of the NCLB I also believe that this reform made
many teachers weary of the standardize testing. Many teachers began teaching to the test and
students were missing on many opportunities to have a well rounded education because of the
fear of not meeting the standards or closing the achievement gap within their own schools. Great
programs and classes such as OMA (Opening Minds through the Arts) Physical Education were
cut because they took funding and time away from the Language Arts and Math focus.
Common Core State Standards are aligned to future education and labor expectations, promote
higher order skills such as critical thinking, are in line with other top performing countries
making students better suited to thrive in a global economy and are data based. (Lynch 2014)
People that defend the Common Core say the the CCSS will make it easier to compare
standardized testing across the nation, cost of developing state test will decrease, it will increase
rigor in the classroom as well as higher thinking skills it will benefit kids with high mobility and
will allow teachers to collaborate with each other as to what are the best practices to teach.
(Meador, 2014) I believe that the CCSS reform at its core does have great standards for all
students to achieve their full potential but it does not take into account that across the nation
there are a variety of very different communities with a plethora of students that have different
needs and deficiencies. Parent support and education has been deem very important, yet in a lot
of minority communities, parents are unable to support their students academically and
sometimes even morally since they spend many hours working in order support their families.
Schools across the nation or even with in the state are not funded equally while some schools

have surplus of supplies many have to make do with what little they have. I believe the idea and
sentiment of Common Core is great but it has many problems that need to be resolved I do not
believe that comparing students across the nation would be something feasible because of the
many variables in students, classroom, schools and teachers.
These are three of the major events that have had a strong influence on the U.S. educational
system, while segregation is illegal there are still many schools that have no diversity where the
population has stay the same and few rarely venture out and take advantage of the School Choice
programs. The NCLB was a great attempt to make schools and administrators responsible for
the learning growth of their students but it relied to much on the standardize testing and left
many teachers afraid of loosing their jobs. Students were still not prepared for global economy.
Under the CCSS critical thinking is definitely a great feature that will help many students be
more proactive about their education and future as they grow older and comparing the growth of
students over the course of a year would be more realistic instead of trying to compare apples
and oranges across the nation.

REFERENCES
Meador, D. (2014). What are some Pros and Cons of the Common Core Standards? Retrieved
from: http://teaching.about.com/od/assess/f/What-Are-Some-Pros-And-Cons-Of-TheCommon-Core-Standards.htm
Lynch, M. (2014). The call to teach: An introduction to teaching. Upper Saddle River: NJ:
Pearson.

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