K12 Connection

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A brief look at the history of K12 education helps teachers and students understand their importance. K12 education refers to the general public education system which most people are familiar with, i.e. from kindergarten (K) through 12th grade. Although the history of education can sometimes be a bit tricky to pinpoint, we’ll have a look at some of the key points of the K12 education system over the years, which have made it what it is today. The first kindergarten was established in the United States in 1856. Compulsory education was already required in many states before that time, but there was not always a kindergarten available. Generally the K12 education system has been pretty much the same since the US Department of Education was formed in 1979. Before then, each state had its own set of standards and rules. In some states, for example, it was permitted for children to miss parts of every school year, particularly the children of farmers who may be needed to help with the harvest and preparing the farm for the winter. Funding has always been a real problem for public schools, particularly in the poorer, urban districts, which severely affected the quality of education available in those areas. Partly because of this, in 2002, Congress passed No Child Left Behind (NCLB) which sets new standards of accountability to individual schools and means that federal funding is now proportionate to their schools performance in standardized tests. This was hoped to encourage schools to improve their performance and also to give parents more flexibility when choosing a school for their children. Of course, this is still a ‘work in progress’ as there are always areas for improvement, and the education of children is so important to the future of the nation both academically and socially. There is still a huge gap in the quality of education available in different areas.

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