<P> In mid-20th century America, there was intense interest in using institutions to support the innate creativity of children . It helped reshape children's play, the design of suburban homes, schools, parks, and museums . Producers of children's television programming worked to spark creativity . Educational toys proliferated that were designed to teach skills or develop abilities . For schools there was a new emphasis on arts as well as science in the curriculum . School buildings no longer were monumental testimonies to urban wealth; they were redesigned with the students in mind . </P> <P> The emphasis on creativity was reversed in the 1980s, as public policy emphasized test scores, school principal were forced to downplay art, drama, music, history and anything that was not being scored on standardized tests, lest their school be labelled "failing" by the quantifiers behind the "No Child Left Behind Act . In the 21st century teachers report that many students in classrooms seem mesmerized by their personal cell phones or smart phones, often checking their text messages or Facebook page . </P> <P> The Coleman Report, by University of Chicago sociology professor James Coleman proved especially controversial in 1966 . Based on massive statistical data, the 1966 report titled "Equality of Educational Opportunity" fueled debate about "school effects" that has continued since . The report was widely seen as evidence that school funding has little effect on student final achievement . A more precise reading of the Coleman Report is that student background and socioeconomic status are much more important in determining educational outcomes than are measured differences in school resources (i.e. per pupil spending). Coleman found that, on average, black schools were funded on a nearly equal basis by the 1960s, and that black students benefited from racially mixed classrooms . </P> <P> The comparative quality of education among rich and poor districts is still often the subject of dispute . While middle class African - American children have made good progress; poor minorities have struggled . With school systems based on property taxes, there are wide disparities in funding between wealthy suburbs or districts, and often poor, inner - city areas or small towns . "De facto segregation" has been difficult to overcome as residential neighborhoods have remained more segregated than workplaces or public facilities . Racial segregation has not been the only factor in inequities . Residents in New Hampshire challenged property tax funding because of steep contrasts between education funds in wealthy and poorer areas . They filed lawsuits to seek a system to provide more equal funding of school systems across the state . </P>

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