In 1958, the event of Sputnik, where Russia placed a satellite into space first, shaped the way education was viewed by society. Because of Sputnik, the National Defense Education Act was passed in the United States. This act provided more funding for education and prepare students for higher education. Emphasis was put more onto core subjects, such as science and math, so students could attend college and eventually get qualified positions in engineering (National Defense Education Act, 2017). In 1965, The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was passed to assist low income students and schools an opportunity to succeed in education. President Lyndon Johnson passed the law and believed students should have the full opportunity when it came to their education. He believed that …show more content…
The act also provided scholarships for low-income college students who wanted to pursue higher education. While the ESEA provided a foundation for equal education for all students, the implementation of No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), passed in 2001, exposed achievement gaps when it came to underserved students and brought about an issue on education improvement. The issue that that NCLB brought about was putting a great emphasis on test scores and less on the learning of real-world experiences in the classroom. If annual reports regarding testing scores did not meet expectations, then the school was at risk of shutting down, changing the curriculum, changing teachers, etc. This emphasis brought about teachers having to change their curriculums to where students where more worried about test scores then retaining content that would be beneficial for real life scenarios. This act limited a teacher’s influence on the student’s learning and provided more stress to the teachers and students instead of providing a meaningful education experience (ESSA,