History of K-12 Education
The K-12 education system is the public education system that most people are familiar with today. Comprised of 13 grades, kindergarten through 12th, it refers to the public school system in all of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and parts of Europe as well. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact history of education, as it has been occurring in some form for centuries in all parts of the world.
Today, K-12 education represents the compulsory education required of all children in the US. Though this type of education can be attained from either publicly or privately funded institutions, children who have reached compulsory school age (ranging from age six to eight, depending on the state) are required by law to attend school. Compulsory education in the United States began over 150 years ago when Horace Mann established a statewide system of education in Massachusetts, which became the first state to pass school attendance laws in
K-12 Education in America
In today’s global economy, a high-quality education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity—it is a prerequisite to success. Because economic progress and educational achievement are inextricably linked, educating every American student to graduate from high school prepared for college and for a career is a national imperative. The President has articulated a goal for America to once again lead the world in college completion by the year 2020, and all of President Obama’s education efforts aim toward this overarching objective.
To create an economy built to last, we need to provide every child with a complete and competitive education that will enable them to succeed in a global economy based on knowledge and innovation. To provide a high-quality education to all American children, President Obama has advanced reforms around four key objectives:
Higher standards and better assessments that will prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace
Ambitious efforts to recruit, prepare, develop, and advance effective teachers and principals, especially in the classrooms where they are most needed
Smarter data systems to measure student growth and success, and help educators improve instruction
New attention and a national effort to turn around our lowest-achieving schools.
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