ABSTRACT
Improving educational outcomes for racial minorities and students from economically disadvantaged households has long been a central objective of federal and state educational policies. The federal government’s involvement arguably started with the United States Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision to end racial segregation in schools.1 Although federal policymakers were initially reluctant to support the decision, they eventually helped to implement and build on it with complementary policies such as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965.
