The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 (Pub. L. No. 89–10) is one of the first and largest federal laws to provide monetary support for public education. The purpose of ESEA was to improve educational opportunities for children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. While the Act was originally authorized through 1970, the government has reauthorized ESEA every 5 years since its enactment. As a result, ESEA has undergone numerous name changes over the years. Some of the major amendments include the Improving America’s Schools Act (1994) and the No Child Left Behind Act (2002).
The Civil Rights movement (1954–1968), which aimed to abolish public and private acts of racial discrimination against African Americans, set the social and political climate of the time in the United States (U.S.) leading up to ESEA. In 1954, the historical Brown v. Board of Education case outlawed racial segregation in public schools, overturning the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson “separate but...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Suggested Reading
McClure, P. (2005). Segregation, civil rights and passage of the NSEA. Education Week, 24(33), 37–39.
Million, J. (2005). Nurturing teachers in the famine of NCLB. Education Digest, 70(9), 16–18.
Weaver, R. (2006). A positive agenda for ESEA. Education Leadership, 64(3), 32–36.
Suggested Resources
History of Education—http://fcis.oise.utoronto.ca/~daniel_schugurensky/: This website provides detailed reviews on select moments in the history of education in the U.S. during the twentieth century. The site also provides links to additional internet sources covering the history of education.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media LLC
About this entry
Cite this entry
Taylor, E.L., Christ, T.J. (2010). Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). In: Clauss-Ehlers, C.S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cross-Cultural School Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-71799-9_157
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-71799-9_157
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-71798-2
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-71799-9
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science