Federal Government Programs and Issues
- LAST REVIEWED: 28 April 2017
- LAST MODIFIED: 15 December 2011
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756810-0049
- LAST REVIEWED: 28 April 2017
- LAST MODIFIED: 15 December 2011
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199756810-0049
Introduction
Since the founding of the United States, subnational levels of government have shouldered the vast majority of responsibility for educating the nation’s children. Although the federal government provides mere pennies on the dollar to support the nation’s schools—in any given year approximately 90 percent of school funding is from state and local governments—federal education policy is wide-ranging and often consequential. Due to the relatively small federal footprint in this policy area, the success of federal programs depends heavily on the capacities and implementation decisions of state and local governments. Historically and up to the 21st century, federal efforts have touched on preschool, elementary, and secondary education, and higher education in the nation’s colleges and universities, while addressing a range of substantive issues at these levels.
General Overviews
The governance of American education is fragmented and diverse. Understanding the federal role requires examining the many actors and institutions that interact with federal policy as it is developed and implemented by officials at federal, state, and local levels. These works help to place the federal role in this larger institutional and political context. Wirt and Kirst 2009 provides a classic textbook treatment of the subject. Anderson 2007, Kaestle and Lodewick 2007, and Cross 2004 examine broad changes, with the latter having participated as a policy maker in several of the debates that the author analyzes. Radin and Hawley 1988 considers an important institutional development, the creation of the US Department of Education. Henig 2009 offers a political scientist’s perspective on recent changes in educational leadership, comparing presidents to other elected executives (governors and mayors) in the American intergovernmental system. Finally, Ravitch 2000 and the Center on Education Policy 2009 examine trends in the performance of federal policy across a range of areas.
Anderson, Lee. 2007. Congress and the classroom: From the Cold War to “No Child Left Behind.” University Park: Pennsylvania State Univ. Press.
Historical treatment of federal policy developments focusing on the last half of the 20th century.
Center on Education Policy. 2009. Rethinking the federal role in elementary and secondary education. Washington, DC: Center on Education Policy.
A collection of papers from scholars and policy practitioners designed to inspire debate and discussion about future federal efforts in areas including standards, testing, technology, and teacher policy. Contains comparisons between the United States and other nations.
Cross, Christopher T. 2004. Political education: National policy comes of age. New York: Teachers College Press.
Analysis of historical developments in federal education policy from a former public official who worked in Congress, the federal executive branch, and state government.
Henig, Jeffrey R. 2009. Mayors, governors, and presidents: The new education executives and the rise of educational exceptionalism. Peabody Journal of Education 84.3: 283–299.
DOI: 10.1080/01619560902973449E-mail Citation »
Considers presidential leadership in education as characteristic of a more general phenomenon that has seen presidents, governors, and mayors assert more aggressive leadership and interest in American schools.
Kaestle, Carl F., and Alyssa E. Lodewick, eds. 2007. To educate a nation: Federal and national strategies of school reform. Lawrence: Univ. Press of Kansas.
Edited collection of papers analyzing the federal influence on school reform, intergovernmental relations, equal educational opportunity, and the balance between the public and private sectors in education.
Radin, Beryl A., and Willis D. Hawley. 1988. The politics of federal reorganization: Creating the U.S. Department of Education. New York: Pergamon.
Analysis of the creation of the US Department of Education during President Jimmy Carter’s administration from the perspective of public administration scholars who also have worked in the federal government.
Ravitch, Diane, ed. 2000. Brookings papers on education policy. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
Examines major components of the federal role in elementary and secondary education at the close of the 20th century. Chapters authored by leading scholars and researchers in the field.
Wirt, Frederick M., and Michael W. Kirst. 2009. The political dynamics of American education. 4th ed. Berkeley, CA: McCutchan.
Assesses federal education policy and politics in the context of the American intergovernmental system, which reserves most authority over education to state and local governments. Considered one of the classic textbook treatments of the subject.
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Article
- Academic Achievement
- Academic Audit for Universities
- Academic Freedom and Tenure in the United States
- Action Research in Education
- Adjuncts in Higher Education in the United States
- Administrator Preparation
- Adolescence
- Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Courses
- African American Racial Identity and Learning
- Alternative Certification Programs for Educators
- Alternative Schools
- American Indian Education
- Art Education
- Assessing School Leader Effectiveness
- Assessment, Behavioral
- Assessment, Educational
- Assessment in Early Childhood Education
- Athletics, College
- Augmented Reality in Education
- Beginning-Teacher Induction
- Bilingual Education and Bilingualism
- Blended Learning
- Bullying
- Case Study in Education Research
- Changing Professional and Academic Identities
- Character Education
- Children’s and Young Adult Literature
- Children's Beliefs about Intelligence
- Children's Rights in Early Childhood Education
- Civic and Social Engagement of Higher Education
- Classroom Management
- College Admissions in the United States
- Community Relations
- Comparative Education
- Computer-Based Testing
- Counseling in Schools
- Creativity
- Critical Race Theory
- Crossborder and Transnational Higher Education
- Culturally Responsive Leadership
- Culturally Responsive Pedagogies
- Culturally Responsive Teacher Education in the United Stat...
- Curriculum Design
- Data Collection in Educational Research
- Data-driven Decision Making in the United States
- Deaf Education
- Desegregation and Integration
- Development, Moral
- Digital Age Teacher, The
- Digital Divides
- Disabilities
- Distance Learning
- Distributed Leadership
- Doctoral Education and Training
- Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in Denmark
- Early Childhood Education and Development in Mexico
- Early Childhood Education in Australia
- Early Childhood Education in China
- Early Childhood Education in Europe
- Early Childhood Education in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Early Childhood Education in Sweden
- Early Childhood Education Pedagogy
- Early Childhood Education Policy
- Early Childhood Education, The Arts in
- Early Childhood Mathematics
- Early Childhood Science
- Early Childhood Teacher Education
- Early Childhood Teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand
- Early Years Professionalism and Professionalization Polici...
- Economics of Education
- Education For Children with Autism
- Education Leadership, Empirical Perspectives in
- Education of Native Hawaiian Students
- Education Reform and School Change
- Educational Statistics for Longitudinal Research
- Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
- Epistemic Beliefs
- Equity, Ethnicity, Diversity, and Excellence in Education
- Ethics and Education
- Ethics of Teaching
- Ethnic Studies
- Evidence-Based Communication Assessment and Intervention
- Family and Community Partnerships in Education
- Family Day Care
- Federal Government Programs and Issues
- Finance, Education
- Financial Aid
- Formative Assessment
- Gender and Achievement
- Gifted Education
- Global Mindedness and Global Citizenship Education
- Global University Rankings
- Governance, Education
- Grounded Theory
- Growth of Effective Mental Health Services in Schools in t...
- Higher Education and Globalization
- Higher Education and the Developing World
- Higher Education Faculty Characteristics and Trends in the...
- Higher Education Governance
- Higher Education in China
- Higher Education in Latin America
- Higher Education in the United States, Historical Evolutio...
- Higher Education, International Issues in
- Higher Education Management
- Higher Education Policy
- Higher Education Research
- Higher Education Student Assessment
- High-stakes Testing
- History of Education in the United States
- Homeschooling
- Inclusive Education
- Indigenous Education in a Global Context
- Inservice Teacher Education
- Integrating Art across the Curriculum
- Intelligence
- Intensive Interventions for Children and Adolescents with ...
- Intersectionality and Education
- Knowledge Development in Early Childhood
- Leadership Development, Coaching and Feedback for
- Leadership Training
- Learning Difficulties
- Learning, Lifelong
- Learning, Multimedia
- Learning Strategies
- Legal Matters and Education Law
- LGBT Youth in Schools
- Linguistic Diversity
- Linguistically Inclusive Pedagogy
- Literacy
- Literacy Development and Language Acquisition
- Literacy, Multiple Documents
- Literature Reviews
- Mathematics Instruction and Interventions for Students wit...
- Mathematics Teacher Education
- Measurement in Education in the United States
- Meta-Analysis and Research Synthesis in Education
- Methodologies for Conducting Education Research
- Mindfulness, Learning, and Education
- Mixed Methods Research
- Motivation
- Multivariate Research Methodology
- Museums, Education, and Curriculum
- Music Education
- Narrative Research in Education
- Note-Taking
- Numeracy Education
- Online Education
- Organizing for Continuous Improvement in Education
- Pedagogy of Teacher Education, A
- Performance Objectives and Measurement
- Performance-based Research Assessment in Higher Education
- Performance-based Research Funding
- Phenomenology in Educational Research
- Philosophy of Education
- Physical Education
- Play
- Policy
- Politics of Education
- Portable Technology for Special Education
- Pre-Service Teacher Education
- Problem Solving
- Productivity and Higher Education
- Professional Development
- Professional Learning Communities
- Program Evaluation
- Programs and Services for Students with Emotional or Behav...
- Psychology Learning and Teaching
- Psychometric Issues in the Assessment of English Language ...
- Qualitative Data Analysis Techniques
- Qualitative Research Design
- Quantitative Research Designs in Educational Research
- Race and Affirmative Action in Higher Education
- Reading Education
- Refugee and New Immigrant Learners
- Reliability in Educational Assessments
- Religion in Elementary and Secondary Education in the Unit...
- Researcher Development and Skills Training within the Cont...
- Response to Intervention
- Restorative Practices
- School Accreditation
- School Choice
- School Culture
- School Improvement through Inclusive Education
- School Reform
- Schools, Private and Independent
- School-Wide Positive Behavior Support
- Science Education
- Secondary to Postsecondary Transition Issues
- Self-Regulated Learning
- Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices
- Service-Learning
- Severe Disabilities
- Single Salary Schedule
- Single-sex Education
- Single-Subject Research Design
- Social Context of Education
- Social Justice
- Social Network Analysis
- Social Pedagogy
- Social Science and Education Research
- Social Studies Education
- Sociology of Education
- Standards-Based Education
- Statistical Assumptions
- Student Access, Equity, and Diversity in Higher Education
- Student Assignment Policy
- Student Engagement in Tertiary Education
- Student Participation
- Student Voice in Teacher Development
- Teacher Evaluation and Teacher Effectiveness
- Teacher Preparation
- Teacher Training and Development
- Teacher Unions and Associations
- Teaching Critical Thinking
- Technologies, Teaching, and Learning in Higher Education
- Technology Education in Early Childhood
- Technology, Educational
- Technology-based Assessment
- The Bologna Process
- The Regulation of Standards in Higher Education
- Theories of Educational Leadership
- Three Conceptions of Literacy: Media, Narrative, and Gamin...
- Tracking and Detracking
- Transitions in Early Childhood Education
- University Faculty Roles and Responsibilities in the Unite...
- Using Ethnography in Educational Research
- Value of Higher Education for Students and Other Stakehold...
- Vocational and Technical Education
- Wellness and Well-Being in Education
- Women's and Gender Studies