From the mid 20th century and on, elementary school curriculums have been undergoing a process of standardization and expectations from students are increasing. Theories on the most optimum education models are continually developing. Psychological research is advancing. With this in mind, it is interesting to look at exactly how elementary school curriculums have evolved. In this project, a close comparison is made between elementary school curriculums between two time eras- the 1950’s and the present decade. A focus will be placed on early elementary, particularly first and second grades. Why the 1950’s? It was during this post-war time that psychology as a science was beginning to flourish. The way education looks today is different then the mid 20th century largely because of our understanding of developmental psychology. This will be a historical-document based project, drawing research largely from examining official documents from the 50’s and today. The goal is to extract differences between then and now and to suggest possible reasons for those differences from a psychological standpoint.
