80s

By: Emma, Emily, Hannah, Batul

Trends of the 1980s
The 1980s was all about big hair, bright colors, and bold fashion. It was the decade of shoulder
pads, leg warmers, mullets or side ponytails, ripped jeans and spandex. Everything was totally
rad! They said thing like rad, totally tubular, gag me with a spoon, grody to the max, hella, and
chill pill.
Trends of the 1980s
Movies and shows
- the simpsons
- Seinfeld
- Golden girls
- Full house
- The Cosby show
- Saved by the bell
- Working girl
- Batman
- Honey I shrunk the kids
- Terminator
- The breakfast club
Songs
- I wanna dance with
somebody
- Never gonna give you up
- Beat it
- Call me
- Straight outta Compton
- Come on Eileen
- Let’s dance
- Don’t stop believin’
- Careless whisper
- Express yourself
 Teacher and student roles
Teachers
Then: teachers were able to help children outside of school. Bring them to there houses and tutor them. Teachers were
considered almost the second parents helping children grow up and learn right from wrong

Now: teacher are very distant from there students. Parents and teachers don’t mix very well anymore and are stepping
away from guiding the child and is now just letting kids do there own thing.

Administration
Then: the 1980s where the beginning of an era of educational reforms. They focused on accountability. The programs
included school choice, charter schools, standards-based education and teacher evaluations.

Now: they are focused on student attendance, block schedules, remote learning and accessibility.

Students
Then: computers where large and only accessible at computer labs so students still needed textbooks. There was only
face to face social standards and kids cared more about sports and school.

Now: kids care about the phones and social media and how that reflects them as a person. Students don’t care about
grades as much as they used to because of the no child left behind rule.
 academics
● Academics in the 1985 included being able to sew

● Real exercise in physical education

● The people in class were very limited

● More rules on drinking habits+on the education system

● SAT scores helped students but also didn’t if they got a bad score

● College credit for classes

activities & clubs
● Plays/Drama ● Career-training programs
● Chess ● DECA
● Fire Cadet ● Library Aides
● Orchestra ● Media Help
● Jazz Band ● Student Council
● Tech ● Student Athletic Trainers
● International Club ● Marching Band
● Debate ● NHS
● Speech
These are the activities and clubs in
high school in the 1980s. Most of
these still remain in high school, but
others such as Fire Cadet,
International Club, and Library
Aides
Sports Boys Girls
● Softball
● football
● Orchesis
● Pom-pon
● Colorguard
● Dance
● Pom-pom
● Baseball
● Tennis
● Tennis
● Track
● Track
● Soccer
● Football
● Cross Country
● Cross Country
● Badminton
● Golf
● Volleyball
● Soccer
● Gymnastics
● Gymnastics
● Swimming
● Swimming
● Bowling
● Wrestling
● Basketball
● Basketball
● Cheerleaders
 A Nation At Risk
A Nation at Risk was a report from 1983 that showed American
students were under performing other developing countries students
on standardized testing. This report generated a lot of outcry and
attention to the education system because education is so important to a
society. Many people believe in the fact that the key to a successful
democracy, is to have an educated citizens. Many people wanted the
way children were taught to change and to become more effective. This
lead to a lot resources being poured into the education system to try and
fix this issue.
 Back to the Basics
The Back to Basics movement was triggered by the Nation at Risk report, which was
the evident decline in standardized testing scores across the nation. This
movement supported an increased importance to the basics subjects such as
reading, writing, and math. Things such as phonetic, spelling, and grammar
were being reintroduced into classrooms because at one point they were being
phased out of classrooms. This was an issue because inorder for our democracy to
be successful, our society demands a generation of students with solid academic
knowledge.
Political Climate
In the 1980s, there was a switch to conservatism in the US where Republicans
were more popular in office, this time was known as the New Right. For majority
of the 1980s, Ronald Reagan was president; he is vastly known for his economic
policy, that is now referred to as Reaganomics. In 1985 the US went to war
against the Solvent Union, and this war lasted six years. During Reagan's
presidency, the economy was very poor with a recession in 1982 and the stock
market crashing in 1987.
Art from the 1980

Art in the 1980s was full of

percisness and specialty. Most
students took this class just to fill it
as an elective. But, a handful of
students took this class to improve
in a different subject;like
engineering, advertising and mainly
art. Students came to art class to
learn about their future classes and
determine their future Jobs.
Yearbook pictures
In the 80s during homecoming there was a parade
and the homecoming court would ride around in a en fans
Gr
decorated car wing
sho ol
scho
it
spir

Befor
e
phone cell
s
there
w
pay p ere
ho
that c nes
o
cents st 25
to use
Yearbook pictures
ill
Kids st
e d a nd
us
ted
decora
t h e re
lockers
Eg media team hard at work

The grens offensive line huddling

together for another drive
Yearbook pictures

1987 Eg
marching
band

Homecoming
court on there We
parade ride hav still
the e all
spo same
rts
Technology available
In the 1980s schools invested in computer labs, a
designated room for students to learn how to use
technology. However, personalized technology, such
as cellphones, had not made its way into classrooms
yet.
Technology available in 1980’s:
● Personal computers
● Walkmans
● Fax machines
● CDs
● Video game consoles
● Internet was invented in 1983 (not for public
use)
 References
https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/1980s-slang

https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.educationnext.org/two-tracks-school-ref
orm/&source=gmail-imap&ust=1698430804000000&usg=AOvVaw2N5I4TG9D1qXcBsx1p
E9mc

https://www.thegazette.com/staff-columnists/back-to-school-but-not-just-back-to-b
asics/

https://www.the74million.org/article/landmark-1983-report-faced-backlash-but-chang
ed-u-s-history-by-changing-the-way-we-look-at-education-and-putting-it-back-on-th
e-american-agenda/

https://www.history.com/topics/1980s/1980s