Federal impact on K-12 schooling 1953 to 1983: Toward developing a programmatic agend

The basic problem of this study was an examination of selected presidential directives and congressional actions, 1953 to 1983, in an effort to assess their impact on programmatic thrusts for schooling K-12. The aim of this examination was to provide a basis for the development of a programmatic agenda for schooling K-12.;First, the presidential directive of Eisenhower establishing the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and the congressional action establishing the National Defense Education Act of 1958 and its funding were studied.;Second, the presidential directive of Johnson establishing the legislative task force on education and the congressional actions--the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, and the Bilingual Education Act of 1968--and their funding were studied.;Third, the first presidential term of Reagan with his announced intention to defederalize schooling and the congressional action establishing the Educational Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981 and its funding were studied.;The focus of Chapters II, III, and IV was to determine the relationships and consistency between and among the presidential directives, congressional actions, and federal funding provided, and to assess their impact on schooling.;In Chapter V, it was determined that in all three presidential eras, the increase or decrease in funding has had a direct impact on the programmatic thrust of schooling. In no instance was the programmatic thrust determined within schooling. Each successive major redirection imposed different programmatic thrusts. The abandonment of any given programmatic thrust in favor of the adoption of a different programmatic thrust was in no instance based on a determination of adequacy, appropriateness or effectiveness.;It is proposed that the focus and subject matter emphasis of schooling should be determined within the community of schooling which would necessarily require collaboration among specialists committed to schooling: curricularists, teachers, subject matter experts, school administrators. Collaboration among these specialists must identify and describe a programmatic agenda that provides a grounding for the focus of schooling and the subject matter thrusts for schooling. Such collaboration must center on concerns intrinsic to schooling: the appropriateness and adequacy of subject matters for schooling.