By Sydney Valentine-Parris

What is Policy?
Broadly, policy is the documented and formal guidelines and procedures that provide direction for functions and operations, decision-making, and maintaining standards. Policies are important because they function as a structural framework that outlines expectations, responsibilities, and processes within an organization or institution, big or small.   

Policy Types
There are four main types of policy: regulatory, constituent, distributive, and redistributive. Regulatory policy outlines what an entity can and cannot do and regulates it, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and Title IX. Constituent policies are often public policies made by federal, state, and local governments; for example, the Texas Public School Nutrition Policy dictates what foods are served in Texas public schools. Distributive policies are related to how funds, benefits, and resources are distributed to a specific group without directly taxing another group. Public research grants, such as those from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), are an example. Redistributive policies redistribute resources in an effort to achieve equity, like providing healthcare to low-income individuals through Medicaid and determining the distribution of benefits to low-income households via food stamps through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).   

Impactful Educational Policies
Federal educational policies have undoubtedly impacted and have fundamentally shaped American education, influencing structure, funding, accountability, and privacy. Such policies include the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the later Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the Educate America Act, and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).    

The civil rights-era Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was a landmark federal law enacted in 1965 that aimed to improve educational opportunities for economically disadvantaged students by directing federal funding to low-income student-serving school districts. In particular, Title I-A of ESEA is the primary source of federal funding for American elementary and secondary education (Skinner, 2024). ESEA was a civil rights-focused law designed to reduce the achievement gap between economically disadvantaged students and their peers through additional academic resources and support programs. The impact of ESEA is significant, as it was the first major federal involvement in public education funding, helped expand educational access, and highlighted a federal responsibility for educational equity. The more recent Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), established in 2015, is the main federal K-12 education policy. ESSA replaced the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act and reauthorized provisions of ESEA (Skinner, 2024). ESSA aims to ensure an equal and high-quality education for all students. Notably, ESSA still requires annual standardized testing and reporting of school performance, but shifts authority to states by allowing states to create accountability plans, set their own academic standards, and identify schools that need improvement. ESSA is impactful because it allows for a more balanced approach to federal oversight by increasing state control over educational policy, while also maintaining the federal commitment to education equity.    

In 1994, President Clinton's Educate America Act, also known as Goals 2000, established eight national education goals to be achieved by the year 2000. The Educate America Act focused on school readiness, high graduation rates, student achievement, teacher development, subject-matter competency, adult literacy, safe schools, and parental participation. The Educate America Act provided funding for state and local educational reform, setting a precedent for standards-based accountability in education, as did the aforementioned No Child Left Behind Act. While not all eight goals were fully achieved by 2000, the Educate America Act was impactful as it initiated long-term improvements in content standards, student performance, and high school graduation rates. However, states experienced "difficulty developing performance standards and assessments" (Orr, 2022).   

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records, which applies to all schools receiving funding from the United States Department of Education (United States Department of Education, 2021). FERPA grants parents the right to inspect records and controls disclosure until the student turns 18 years of age or attends a postsecondary institution, at which point those rights transfer to the student. FERPA has impacted education by establishing clear and strict privacy protections for students and their sensitive information. As a result, institutions are required to manage student records and data diligently and must receive proper consent to release student information. 

References

Orr, A. J. (2022). Educate america act of 1994. EBSCO Knowledge Advantage.
Skinner, R. R. (2024). The elementary and secondary education act (ESEA), as amended by the every student succeeds act (ESSA): A primer. Library of Congress.
United States Department of Education, Student Privacy Policy Office. (2021). A parent guide to the family educational rights and privacy act (FERPA). United States Department of Education.

Sydney Valentine-Parris 
Texas Southern University, Public Policy Co-Chair