As the needs of people in the country of the United States continue to develop and expand, so do the policies. The laws and regulations need to keep up with the wants and needs of society to keep the country pleased and functioning in a relevant way. One need of the people in the country would be education and its policies. As time has gone on, many factors within the education system changed, such as who was allowed to gain an education, what schools would teach the students, what were the most important subjects to be presented in schools, etc.
Drastic changes have been happening in the education system in recent years to keep up with the needs of all the people in the system. Not only in terms of the actual material have there been changed, but even in 1946 when a “US education policy that immediately affected students nationwide” was President Harry Truman signing the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act in 1946, which funded the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) to provide nutritionally balanced free or reduced-cost lunches to school children daily” was presented which was aimed to help the students themselves and not what the students were learning. Even in more recent news such as when Michelle Obama was pushing for healthier school lunches for students, even those with lower income as “research also shows that when students have access to healthy lunches, they perform better in school”.
Other policies such as allowing each individual state to create their own curriculum is another advancement in education policies that have allowed for a better flow of the school systems in the modern-day. For example, Connecticut used to have students take a state standardized test called the CMT for elementary school students, “Pennsylvania has paid $425 million for the Keystone test for high school students and the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment exam for elementary school students”, and many other states have their own set of tests that are best fit for their curriculum and standards. Many of these tests are created and removed as time goes on, policies are created, and the needs of students change. There are also certain tests in Connecticut schools that are beneficial such as placement tests from k-12 public schools that allow English teachers to see your reading level so they can best understand how to help you succeed and grow throughout the year. Every state has its own version of this placement test whether it be a different computer system that they use, if it’s on paper, etc.
One major policy change is the addition of technology in the school setting. It started with “educational software and interactive white boards, which have already made their way into classrooms, shifting how many educators teach and how many students learn. With new advancing technologies, more educational tools will become available and will further affect the teaching and learning in future classrooms”. The United States continued to urbanize and along with that came the new modernization of technology. Google applications such as Google docs or Google spreadsheet became popular amongst most teachers and schools. These new tools and advancements have become more practical for students and teachers and this is beneficial for the education system because if the system is outdated then students will fall behind and not be prepared for the real world. These new movements have created shifts from traditional teaching methods as well. Students can now learn at their own pace with there being “educational software-that makes- it possible to personalize learning content to the skill levels of individual students’ ‘. Kids are learning at their own levels and ability, eliminating the feeling of being lesser than another student due to not being able to keep up with the material in class. It has been notably agreed by many professionals that everyone learns at their own pace, so creating policies that allow for these education software in the classroom is crucial for all students, not just those who may be struggling compared to their peers. “This easy access to information has pushed many to reconsider what types of knowledge and skills students will need to succeed in their lives”, opening new ideas and inspirations for students and creating a new passion for learning.
Education is one of the most important things to all people of all ages across the country, and making sure it is keeping up with all of these people’s needs is so important. Policies in education updating and staying current are crucial for creating educated people to be put out into the workforce to create a working environment that is best adapted to society and its wants and needs.