Historical perspective on a educational policy memorandum - Essay Example

This paper tracks the historical perspectives of the school uniforms from the time of inception to the present day. The first uniform policies have roots in England. In the early 13th century, the archbishop in charge of education crafted a universal robe to be worn by students as a simple of identity among students (Anderson, 2002). However, the modern uniforms originated in the 16th century. These policies were initially associated uniforms with the upper class (Brunsma, 2006). For this reason, most of the policies to the uniforms were first in the prestigious schools in England.

The policies stipulated for the type of top to wear bottom and even the hat (McCarthy & Moreno, 2001). Because the poor could not afford the uniform description policies provided for what, they were mainly used in private and parochial schools up to the 17th century. In the 1800 however some government boarding schools started using military style uniforms (McCarthy & Moreno, 2001). The government took these children from their families hence, the government saw it fit to give them what could identify them.

Therefore, the uniform policies in the US borrows from those in England (McCarthy & Moreno, 2001). At the same time, the uniform policies seemed to have relaxed in the private and parochial schools. Maryland and Washington were the first states to form state policies for uniform in 1987. The policies formed provided for voluntary participation of both public and private schools (Anderson, 2002). The parents supported them as parents show the uniforms to improve the discipline in students and general improvement in learning.

In Baltimore the uniform policy formulation was triggered by the1986 shooting in which a student was shot as he could not be identified (McCarthy & Moreno, 2001). With time, many other states followed suit to form policies that regulated the use of uniforms. However started as voluntary, by 1988 over 40 schools