education system in the usa essay

Education Comparison: United States and Pakistan Words: 2276
Charter Schools Impact on the US Educational System Words: 2064
The Education System in Japan Words: 1117
Comparing Education in USA and in Saudi Arabia Words: 1187
Comparing Education Systems of Britain and Finland Words: 1653
School Sex Education and Teenage Pregnancy in the United States Words: 898
How American Education System Prepares Students to Thrive Words: 1747
European and American Education Systems: Similarities and Differences Words: 1130
Immigration of Chinese Students to United States High Schools Words: 620
Public and Private Schools: Comparing Words: 1170
Why Important Education System Words: 578
School Desegregation in the United States Words: 1190
School System: Poverty and Education Words: 598
Nigerian Student’s Education in the United States Words: 1680
How to Fix Sex Education in the United States Words: 1369
Major Courts of the United States Words: 1303
Inequality Issues in K-12 Public Education System Words: 575
Prison System in the United States Words: 1044
United States Withdrawal From Iraq Words: 1974
Governance System of United Kingdom and United States of America Words: 564
Global and Cosmopolitan Education System Words: 2002
The United States Healthcare System Words: 1408
The United States Legal System and Constitution Words: 2620
Should Education Be Free For Everyone? Words: 863
Student Activism in the United States Words: 1884

Education System in the United States

introduction.

Ideally, education should continually prepare an individual for life so that they may live it to the fullest while aiming at an experience of the greater good for all and sundry. Nurturing of the human capacity for creativity requires a fertile environment for growth. Thus, education can be acquired from home, where the educative process is informal. It can also be appropriated from an institutionalized setting in the form of a public school or a privately owned school. In the United States, each of these environments is well represented as a source of education. The extent to which each of them has been instrumental in the drive for the greater good has, however, not yet been established.

Also, it would be an interesting engagement to try and determine how much each of the three entities have contributed towards this goal in the American context. This article shall explore education in the United States based on the aforementioned sources of enlightenment. According to the National Catholic Educational Association, no database extant in the American continent provides data regarding public schools. Furthermore, no database collects the same; also, no database compares findings concerning private and public schools (NCEA, 2010). This treatise shall attempt to make such comparisons. Findings of privately run schools and home-based learning centers shall be considered in mutual exclusivity, and comparisons made of the same regarding various parameters of interest. The author shall then endeavor to draw logical conclusions from the comparisons thus made.

General Structure of the Education System in the United States

In the United States, education can be seen from two perspectives. There is a level at which education is considered not to be compulsory, and there is compulsory education. The non-compulsory level of education is below kindergarten. Different states have different ages at which children may enter compulsory education. This is usually six years of age. However, the range is usually between five and seven years (USAEducation, 2011). This level of education is also known as pre-higher education, and it lasts for ten years on average. For example, a child who joins compulsory education classes at the age of six years shall be expected to graduate at the age of sixteen, approximately ten years later. Within this level, one starts with pre-schooling, which commences from age three to six. The types of schools that provide pre-primary education include nursery schools, kindergarten, and daycare centers. A child in kindergarten spends two years in school (EuroEducation, 2011). In some cases, certificates are awarded as proof that a child indeed attended pre-primary classes. These certificates make the children eligible for admission into Elementary school.

Elementary school lasts four years, and the age of entry is usually six years, immediately after completion of Kindergarten. There are four grades at this level, but that also depends on the state and local practice. At ten years of age, one is likely to graduate with a certificate or a diploma that is awarded by the State or District. The student is then eligible to join Middle School. Sometimes, however, the issuance of awards may not be necessary (EuroEducation, 2011). For example, when a student is to maintain their residency within the same school, there will be no need for proof of graduation to the next level since the student is already known.

From ten to fourteen years of age, a student attends Middle School. This is from grade four to grade six but in some cases, it may go up to grade seven, or grade eight. On average the level takes three years to be completed. High school is from grade seven (or eight) to twelve and lasts six years; from thirteen to eighteen years of age. Some schools offer a level known as the Junior Secondary, which typically runs from thirteen to fifteen years of age and lasts an average of three years. The representative grades in this level are grade seven to eight, seven to nine, or eight to nine. It is a level followed immediately by the Upper secondary. The latter takes five years, is composed of grades nine or ten to twelve, and involves children who are between fifteen and eighteen years of age. Twelfth grade is the level for graduation from secondary school in all states. When one graduate, they are awarded a High School Diploma together with a transcript which details the marks that the student obtained and the curriculum in which he or she was involved (USAEducation, 2011).

Beyond secondary school education, there are two branches of education that one may opt for. They may get vocational education and training. This does not culminate in one being awarded a degree, but under certain circumstances, there may be transferable credits that lead to the award of a degree. On the other hand, a high school graduate can opt for the pursuance of a degree in any field that interests him or her (USAEducation, 2011). Higher education, also called post-secondary education can last an entire lifetime. It might also last for only three years after which the student decides to seek employment either in a field relevant to the acquired knowledge or an entirely different field. The transmutability of knowledge gained from higher education places the scholar at an advantage in that they are not confined to their area of expertise. The open-minded graduate will find gainful employment in whichever field they opt for. The essence of education is not to end up having a job, but to live life fully. Therefore, one who gets a job after they have acquired their degrees is fortunate

Subjects Taught at Various School Levels

Much of what children are introduced to while they are in Kindergarten is repeated through the course of their elementary school life. Numbers, language, and social science are taught using computers, film, and books. These lists are, however, not exhaustive. Teachers have the responsibility of shaping the way children will think at this level and what the children learn shall be important determinants of whether or not the students shall be successful in the future. The teacher encourages them to play so that they may develop language and social skills. At Elementary School, one or two teachers are usually held responsible for a group of children whom they instruct in one of several special subjects. These subjects include science, music, and art (United States Bureau of Labour, 2002).

The private education system in the United States

Behind every decision for one to embrace either the public school system or private school system, there is a motive. The rationale behind American people opting for private education is multi-faceted. However, there seems to be one underlying reason (opines the author) that traverses all others and that is, a collectively disgruntled group of people who have lost faith in the education that the public sector provides. What are some of the reasons for opting to go private? If the 2004 publication on private schooling is anything to go by, private schools are a reserve of the financially capable. The same publication gives the impression that the majority of rich people prefer having their children attend private schools that have no religious affiliations (Education Week, 2004). It would also so appear as if this group of people detests the idea of their progeny being indoctrinated with religious dogma; that not being relevant to their realization of the good life. Moreover, it depicts the definition of “the good life” as something subjective, arguable depending on personal perspectives of what comprises the good in life. If the observations on religious dogma were true, then a paltry 10% of the school-age population would still be an overestimation of the proportion of people who do not view success in life as a function of one’s religiousness or lack thereof.

According to the Council of American Private Education, one of the reasons the American populace opts for private educational institutions is the provision of quality education that they appropriate (CAPE, 2011). The implication of this is that, for the parents of school-going children who attend private school, the delivery of quality is better experienced away from public institutions. Other reasons cited for preferring private to public schools are supportive communities, safety and orderliness in private environments, and the impartation of morals and ethical values. When each of these factors is taken in isolation and regarded as a polarizing factor, it does not appear to hold much water, if any at all. About the quality of education, for example, it would be expected that public schools would offer better quality. This is because the federal government has the backing of the whole American population, albeit begrudgingly for some, in form of income tax returns. Therefore, the acquisition of quality personnel and educative amenities would/should not be an unbearable burden.

The National Centre for Education Statistics (NCES) defines a private school as one that does not obtain its financial support primarily from public funds. Besides, such schools use classrooms to deliver educative material from kindergarten up to grade 12. Other levels that compare to K-12 but as yet ungraded are also considered, for example, some Montessori schools assign institutions to “primary” or “intermediate” levels rather than giving specific grades. The said schools should also employ one teacher or more, for them to snugly fit within this criterion. The NCES does not consider a private school an institution or organization that does not use a classroom set-up to deliver instruction. It has been running the private school survey since 1997, with data derived from administrative personnel in the same institutions (NCES, 2011).

According to NCESs 2009-2010 survey, some private schools had religious orientations and these formed the majority of private schools (Broughman, Swaim and Hryczaniuk, 2011). The religious leanings notwithstanding, an interesting fancy that comes to mind is a look at the reasons behind these proclivities. It would also be of sensual appeal to study the various religious interests represented in the various school, to find out which is the most represented and why.

From the same survey mentioned above, it was evident that the majority of private schools around the United States had no religious affiliations at all. That is, not one religion had several schools that exceeded that of schools devoid of religious inclinations. These “unspiritual” (read non-sectarian) schools were closely followed in number by private schools that are predominantly Roman Catholic (Broughman, Swaim, and Hryczaniuk, 2011). According to the National Catholic Educational Association, when a single year is considered, examining test scores to determine student achievement, and to compare the quality of education between public and private schools avails very little relevant information (NCEA, 2006). This statement has been construed to engender the lack of comparison of other relevant data within any single academic or survey year.

For example, based on the 2009-2010 NCEA report, one may easily compare the enrolment of students in Roman Catholic schools and those in the Baptist church, thereby concluding that the higher the number of schools, the higher the number of students who enroll in them. This conclusion, however, is flawed, especially when one goes a step further and makes the same comparisons with, say, Jewish schools. The conclusion would imply direct proportionality between the number of schools and the number of enrollees. Nevertheless, the Jewish schools number less than half of the Baptist schools, but students enrolled in Jewish schools are more than half the number of those in Baptist schools. Similarly, it would be expected that since the number of Greek orthodox schools are exactly half the number of schools of the Church of God in Christ, the enrollees in the latter institution would be, ideally, half the number in the former give or take a few thousand students. A stark contrast is observed in this case, when the number of Greek orthodox enrolees exceeds the number of enrollees in schools considered to be affiliated with the Church of God in Christ (Broughman, Swaim and Hryczaniuk, 2011). With such discrepancies, it is highly unlikely that comparisons within different years would avail anything different.

From the survey carried out by the NCEA, several questions are likely to arise in the curious-minded. One would ask, for instance, how religious affiliations affect examination scores or how the religiously inclined to turn out in life after attending school. Furthermore, one would be interested in knowing the drop-out rate per grade of the religiously inclined vis a vis the non-sectarian. This, followed by an exploration of the reasons why would be a worthwhile engagement leading to a keener understanding of the school demographics. It would also enlighten one who needs to make decisions regarding which school his or her children ought to attend. However, the report provided addresses none of these concerns. Where one would probably get the answers to these questions, the data is not as detailed as to be of much relevance. A document by the Council for American Private Education, in mentioning the scores by students doing science, states that in 2009, 44% of the students in private schools “scored at or above the ‘proficient level’ in science”. The same publication further states that, for students in the fourth grade, 48% were deemed proficient according to NAEP (CAPE, 2011). It is thus evident that one might need to investigate to arrive at the answers to the queries above.

Apart from the meager statistical information from the well-established institutions like NAEP and the NCEA, several studies have been carried out whose objectives are congruous with the raised questions. Some studies have concluded that students from private schools perform better than their public school counterparts. However, other studies find conflicting results. Those whose results are in the affirmative invariably find out also that the best performers are students from catholic schools (Figlio & Stone, 2011).

According to Figlio and Stone, these studies did not employ robust instruments for the adjustment of non-random selection. They, therefore, proposed the implementation of a system of study that would improve system power prediction by about three times compared to studies done before theirs. They, like the aforementioned National Catholic Educational Association, did their studies while considering high schools in three categories: religious private high schools, nonreligious private high schools, and public high schools. Having made these modifications, they found out that nonreligious schools have a significant superiority to the religious schools in as far as science and mathematics subjects are concerned (Figlio and Stone, 2011).

There exists a debate about the benefits (if any at all) that private schools bring to the American schooling system. Those who criticize the private schools say that parents decide to opt for them being driven by the desire to appear socially elite or simply to separate themselves. It is the collective points of view of these critics that parents do not necessarily choose private schools because of better academic performance. They contend that these parents are hell-bent on keeping their children separate and untainted from those who come from other races and backgrounds. Furthermore, they say that for these parents, their children’s attending private schools is an attractive status symbol. The critical punch line they put forward is that private schools propagate segregation by class and race (Education Week, 2004).

On the other hand, there exist proponents for private education. In support of the system, they say that the monopoly extant with many public schools is not competitive. They add that a competitive system that opens up the opportunity for people to choose the schools to which they shall take their children is required. To support this point, they say that private school students are superior academies to their public school counterparts. They contend that schools need to be autonomous, and such a system would promote this autonomy; also adding that due to autonomy, student performance would improve. The proponents say that there is bias in the private school system. They propose an opening up of the system by the introduction of children from low-income families and those whose affiliate groups are underrepresented. This would mean that a means of supporting these students’ education be established. They, therefore, propose the use of vouchers as well as school choice programs (Education Week, 2004).

The proposal regarding the use of vouchers and increased school choice was given a counter-offer by the group called Americans United. On their website, they gave several reasons why people ought not to support this emerging trend. Among the reasons was the fact that the First Amendment gave a guarantee of freedom of religion from state influences. That is, they invoke the unending debate of the separation of church and state. They contended that this law would be broken when Americans agreed to support the issuance of vouchers for schooling. Citing the fact that a majority of private schools have religious affiliations and that these institutions have the mandate to indoctrinate the students and to educate them as well, the Americans United felt that Americans would be inadvertently supporting religion against their free wills. Americans would be paying for their children to be indoctrinated with religious dogma with which they did not agree (Americans United, 2011).

Ostensibly, the issuance of the voucher would be a tad more acceptable if it appreciably led to an improvement in the academic performance of students in their academics. That not being the case, however, the Americans United group is vehemently opposed to the idea. They contended that students in public schools performed much better in mathematics and reading than students in private schools. Furthermore, they would have expected the program to cause several changes in the students who participated in it. For example, participants were expected to have positive aspirations concerning their schooling in the future and to improve in the frequency with which they did their homework. However, the program never did bring such changes. On the contrary, student participants’ likelihood of absenteeism from class increased significantly (Americans United, 2011).

The report by the NCES never detailed graduation statistics for the year 2009-2010. Instead, it had data for the previous year. Whereas the reason for missing this data remains unknown, the NCES reported that of the twelfth graders who were enrolled in October 2008, ninety-eight percent graduated in 2009 (NCES, 2011). That was a very high success rate for graduates in private schools, which would have been taken as indicative of the quality of education that private institutions have to offer. Furthermore, 64% of the high school graduates from private schools later enrolled in 4-year colleges. This was representative of 308,813 high school graduates, who enrolled by the fall of the same year as they did graduate (NCES, 2011).

Using multiple sources of data, Heckman and LaFontaine made estimations of trends of graduation rates in the United States high schools. They noted that previous calculations were rife with biases and corrections had to be made for their study to be acceptable. Eventually, they found out that the rates provided by the National Centre for Educational Statistics were substantially high and thus misleading. They also found out that for forty-odd years, there had been a decline in the rate of graduation. Furthermore, they observed that even though the number of immigrants and minorities was on the increase in American society, this was not the cause of declining high school graduation rates among native populations. Therefore, they were able to explain why college attendance was also on the decline. Findings concerning gender differences in graduation from high schools were also useful in deciphering the reasons behind the gaps extant in male-female college attendance, and why those gaps were gradually increasing (Heckman and LaFontaine, 2011). These findings were not specifically for high school graduates from private high schools, but a traversal of all high schools regardless of their administrative leanings. In an appeal to the part being a representative of the whole, one would comfortably suggest that these findings could be transmuted to the private school population with similar implications.

The sizes of private schools might affect the effective transmission of knowledge and its receptivity among students. Here, the paper explores what other people have said regarding this, and the recommendations that they put forth towards improving the education system in the United States. Taken from an economic perspective, larger school sizes are better than smaller ones because of economies of scale benefits realized in the former. According to Ferris and Leung though, this is a consensus that requires revision because the benefits accrued from one side are outweighed by the disadvantages from other fronts. They cite the fact that more and more students are growing frustrated by the system, and coupled with the escalation of violence in the same schools, the drop-out rates are also on the rise (Leung and Ferris, 2008).

Since class sizes in most private schools are small, the student to teacher ratio critical for individual attention is easily achieved. This ratio stands at 15:1, but smaller ratios are more advantageous both to the teachers and students alike. With smaller ratios, teachers have fewer students to deal with and can divide their time well among the few students demanding their attention. Each student benefits by having more time spent with the teacher. Therefore, each student in a private school classroom has the opportunity to be personally aided by the teacher when the need calls for it (Kennedy, 2011).

A Summary of Some of the Benefits of Private School System

According to the United States Department of education, when private school students and their public school counterparts are compared, the former generally outperform the latter on standardized achievement tests. Also, for the former to graduate, they pass through requirements that are more demanding than for their counterparts. Completion of advanced-level courses is more likely for private school graduates than for their public school counterparts when they take three academic subject areas. National Assessment of Educational Progress results showed that private student scores were above average nationally. Experts recommend students to take up challenging subjects that push them into striving for excellence. Private schools make provisions for this by making it a requirement for students to take difficult courses like calculus before they graduate. When it was assessed who between the two was more likely to attain a bachelor’s degree by their mid-twenties, those who had gone to private schools in their eighth grade scored 52% compared to 26% for the public school attendees (CAPE, 2011b).

Depending on a school’s financial resources, compensation for private school teachers might be higher than that for public school teachers. On the whole, however, they are usually comparably lower. The teachers usually benefit from getting free housing and meals as opposed to the public school teachers who do not get such benefits. Also, teachers in private schools have widely variable pension schemes. They are required by private schools to be credentialed. That is, a teacher has to have a teaching certificate backed with a degree in the relevant subject. Armed with these two documents, a teacher stands a greater chance of being hired than one who does not have them. However, concerning budgetary costs, public schools stand a better chance of raising significantly large amounts of money. They do so by making annual appeals, cultivating alumni, and soliciting grants from corporations. Private schools nurture strong bonds with their alumni. Therefore, they also have high rates of fund-raising success. They also have a management structure that is considered to be lean. This means that a critical decision does not have to pass through several authorities to get approval. Rarely, if ever, will a private school have to contend with a union of teachers (Kennedy, 2011).

Some observed discrepancies to the generalizations regarding private school superiority

Rothstein, Carnoy, and Benveniste filed a report regarding the accountability of private schools to students’ parents, the outcomes parents expected of their children, and policies for retention and selection of teachers. They found out that in elementary school accountability to students’ parents does not differ significantly from the same in public schools. There was also no clearly defined school outcome expectation in private schools, and that was in no way different from the situation in public schools. Neither type of school did mentor teachers nor evaluate them formally to assess variation in their performance and delivery of instruction. They also found that where there was a competition between private and public schools, innovations by private schools never made their competitor public schools improve in any way whatsoever. Therefore, they made a point to the proponents for choice in public education, that to improve academic achievement, choice of public versus private institutions held very little weight (Benveniste, Carnoy and Rothste, 1999).

Private schooling also has its disadvantages. Some things are not implicitly taught in private schools. For example, a graduate from a private school would find it difficult to strike a conversation with any other person, who is essentially different from them. Unless it was a fellow graduate who came from the same institution, or a school with a similar status, building meaningful rapport would not be easy. Indoctrination also occurs in private schools albeit of a different kind than the commonplace religious dogma inculcation. That indoctrination goes a long way to assure students of private schools that they are better than those who never succeeded in attending similar schools.

The latter is seen as inferior people who are not even worth spending time with. The effect of this influence upon the indoctrinated was made evident in the Democratic presidential nominee, Al Gore, who could not speak to the populace. Thus, such students remain ignorant of some facts like there being other smart people apart from those who attend similar schools to theirs. They remain unaware that some highly adept people never see the inside of classrooms. Also, they realize rather belatedly that some of the so-called smart people are not smart at all. School is lacking in the instruction on social intelligence, the ability to be creative, and it does not teach emotional intelligence (Deresiewicz, 2008). Deresiewicz does not, however, give the way through which one may be educated in these latter aspects, pertinent through the acquisition of this knowledge might be.

The private school system achieves the creation of analytically biased minds, thereby developing lopsided intelligence that may not be entirely beneficial in seeing and appreciating the value inherent in other people. Such people are more adept at dealing with machines or analyzing books than interacting with other members of the human race. The system of private schooling essentially alienates one from that which is human in the sense that it creates a block to interpersonal interactions that are every bit human. Besides, a person develops a misguided sense of how worthy they are to receive certain rights and privileges. The unbearable truth in all of this is the fact that all through the life of a student who has been in private school, they have been graded using numerical rankings. Such students end up equating their grades to their identity and value. Absolute excellence, they forget, does not imply academic excellence or vice versa (Deresiewicz, 2008).

Whether it is a private school or a public school, one would contend that both have a common disadvantage. This is about the type of interaction a school-going child is exposed to. They can only interact with their age-mates while in school. Bigger children invariably bully the smaller ones, who in turn do the same to yet smaller ones. Among these children, none appreciates how to interact with grownups. The fear that is inculcated into them by the bullies they meet in school becomes the same fear that they show towards their parents back at home. Fear is a monster that feeds upon itself, however. Therefore, the fear engenders a reciprocal propensity for abuse from parents who do not know better. It is not a seldom occurrence to find children who’ve been abused by otherwise well-meaning parents.

The vicious cycle started with their being taken to school, which alienated them from their parents. They then picked up bits and pieces of strange behavior from their peers, which they came home with, much to the chagrin of their unprepared parents. Thus, there is a growing concern that home-schooling would be the only best option for a growing child (Oeser, 2011). Furthermore, time taken out to quietly reflect on one’s own is an alien concept to school-going students, who are more inclined to be rowdy, loud, and disorderly. Also, since they learn to pass their examinations, school-goers eventually lack long-standing applicable knowledge. Most of what they learn is quickly forgotten with the passing of the examination. Their understanding of concepts is not adequate as the knowledge they have does not correlate well with real-life issues.

American Education in Public Schools: A Brief History

A majority of people in the United States who come from low-income backgrounds take their children to public schools. Currently, the parents whose children attend private schools are rather similar in characteristics. For one, they are from affluent backgrounds. The fact that school fees charges in private schools are high shields this elitist group of people from other influences. However, if the restrictive costs of financing education in private schools were to be revised downwards, up to 59% of parents would opt for private education. This would be aided by vouchers which would, ideally, be catering for the whole tuition fees. Besides, parents with low income show greater enthusiasm for private school enrolment, but money continues to be their major hurdle. It is opined that there would be a greater diversity of parents and the group would inevitably be larger if the price of private education were reduced (Education Week, 2004).

For some people, the public education system is the ideal system of instruction. However, it faces a lot of criticism, and many times it has had to be revised so that it may continue playing a pivotal role in the shaping of public opinion regarding solidarity with the government. Having developed in the nineteenth century, its inception was the result of a suggestion by the then President Jefferson. Public school education is under the management of states and school districts. Whereas education in the United States began with puritans and Congregationalists, a purely Christian group of people, the introduction of the public school system came much later. With the coming of people from different countries, there was a foreign influence upon the natives. The entrant people did not all embrace the Christian faith, they have been of different inclinations. For this reason, private education began and thrived in the mid-eighteenth century (Thattai, 2011).

Disadvantages of Public Schools

In public schools, teachers generally get better remuneration. However, starter salaries are usually very low. This leads to very few teachers being retained in the public sector. Too much bureaucracy in the public sector implies that decisions take very long to be made even when those decisions are critical. Public schools are usually bogged down with political influences and union contracts. The rules that they adhere to while at work are also antique (Kennedy, 2011). Some courses are considered to be more challenging than others. It is less likely for a student in a public school to be required to take such courses as calculus before they graduate (CAPE, 2011b). This has the effect of developing an individual who shall not strive to excel in real life. It also relegates such an individual to a life of relative ease or one that is not well equipped to face challenges. Such an individual ends up having difficulties solving personal problems. Suicidal tendencies and drug-related escape mechanisms are rife among these people who will under most circumstances seek the easiest way out of any rut. The ways that appear easy, however, are illusions and present the individuals with a false sense of comfort or repose from the hardships they experience.

Of Co-Educational Schools versus Single-Sex Schools

Both private and public schools can be regarded as single-sex institutions or co-educational. In the latter case, a school trains students of both sexes, while in the former the school is exclusively for girls or boys. A debate continues regarding whether the genders should be separated in the school set-up. Those who oppose the idea are the conservative types who feel that there is the looseness of morals that comes into play when members of the two genders are nearby for extended periods. For the feminists, a separation of the sexes is the ideal environment for women to achieve success in life. Historically, it has been normal to separate girls and boys, giving them unequal status to each other based on their acquired societal roles in later life. Literacy was, therefore, more prevalent among males than among females. The former was trained in subjects that would be relevant in their workplaces, politics, and war. Girls, on the other hand, were trained on how to be better performers in the home arena. Thus, the inception of co-education was a threat to the widely accepted status quo, where men were regarded in higher esteem than women (Rury, 2008).

Controversies in the Adoption of Coeducation

In 2006, Title IX regulations of the US department of education were amended. This allowed single-sex school enrolment, but with reservations. It contended that the enrolments ought o be voluntary. Also, an equal school for the opposite gender should have been present or catered for. While endeavoring to convert to single-sex institutions, some schools have been met with challenges like meager finances and political pressures. Enrolment in such schools has also been a problem for some of the administrators (Rury, 2008).

It would have been thrift for the United States to have learned a thing or two from her European contemporaries. Europe’s experience with coeducation has been anything but rosy. They have documented disadvantages that they have observed against female students in such schools. They state that contrary to their expectation that coeducation would bring about a keen appreciation of either gender by the other, the opposite remains true. Girls have invariably been the sufferers while boys (and teachers) have been the perpetrators of a myriad of atrocities. In a literal sense, girls lack adequate space in these schools. They are the objects of boys’ desires, and often battered with lewd suggestive remarks. Male teachers also tend to get romantically attached to girl students. Girls do not get as much appropriate attention from teachers as the boys do, and they are also taken as social workers to be strategically seated next to ill-mannered boys. This is done to cause the boys to learn some good manners from the better-behaved girls. The missing point in all this is that the bad behavior of the boys seated next to the girls might (and does) rub off on the girls, whose behavior will then be all the worse (Anon., 2004).

In coeducational institutions, inequity exists in the meting out of punishments for wrongdoing. Girls get punished more severely than boys even when their misdeeds are essential of similar magnitude. It is understood, in a discriminatory manner, that girls are more diligent than boys, but that boys are more intelligent than girls. Therefore, when a girl performs well in class, it is attributed to her diligence, while if a boy does the same, it is said that he passed or excelled because he is intelligent. Boys are encouraged to be competitive while girls are frowned upon if they act similarly. The latter is expected to conform. They are also given less time for verbal expression than boys are given in class (Anon., 2004).

Other issues that have arisen through the years after the introduction of coeducational institutions include the argument by some doctors that women would suffer from overexertion and get harmed. It was argued that the overexertion would come from the girls’ competition with boys. Indulgence in sexual impropriety was also pointed out as being highly likely when the two sexes were left to interact for extended periods (Rury, 2008).

Outcomes of education that are of most interests to parents and students include academic achievement test scores, an appropriately delineated concept of self, and long-term success indicators. These are more evident in single-sex schools than in coeducational schools, and they give leverage for the proponents for single-sex schools. In comparison, single-sex schools perform academically better than coeducational schools.

Current Trends of Education in the United States

In the late twentieth century, there arose a drive for the reformation of elementary education in the United States. Its purpose was to indiscriminately improve the academic performance of students. Children were left accountable to the schools, districts, and ultimately the states for their academic achievement. However, concerns have been raised that the United States students perform relatively poorly in their academics compared to students of other countries. They blame this on an educational system that they deem not to be enabling the students to perform as it should be. Elementary education in the United States is constantly being reformed and refined. The United States is democratizing its education so that it does not support systems that are representations of goals and expectations, and are industrial or social. It is drawn toward an education system that is open and universal (Howey and Post, 2011).

When students perform poorly, the education system is seen as being a failure. It thus behooves the government to ensure that a running system strikes the right balance. One that places a lot of demands on the students is sure to cause them to perform poorly. A very lax system, on the other hand, will produce individuals who are ill-equipped for their roles in society. Thus, the government has put in place measures to ensure that all children have equal access to quality education. These measures include the creation of a welcoming environment, which embodies the prevention of bullying and harassment, and the outlining of the responsibilities that education providers have towards this goal. The onus rests on education providers to ensure that harassment does not occur. Such harassment might be from the education providers themselves, or other sources. Education providers should take the measures necessary to remedy harassment when they know that students are being harassed. Otherwise, they (education providers) face imminent sanctions, since their laxity (or presumed indifference) allows the education system to be poisoned. Harassment is seen as one of the impediments to the ease of access to educational services. When one is harassed, they may not “participate fully in the educational experience” (OHRC, 2011).

An education provider helps reduce instances of bullying and harassment by being non-tolerant to the act of bullying and being unequivocal about the consequences a student has to face for being a bully. The educator further communicates this by educating students concerning disabilities; he or she then encourages them to appreciate diversity. Appreciating diversity will imply that the students do not taunt their peers who may be disabled in one way or another. They will respect their disabled peers, and even protect them from further harm if necessary. The education provider may also get involved in role-playing to cultivate compassion and awareness of the impact that bullying has on other people. They may act like the ones upon whose taunts are being thrown or being big, act as the bullies. In either case, the students will see the folly behind bullying as a front. Bullies are essentially weak people who hide their weaknesses by attacking others. Finally, the educator protects students who report bullying by maintaining confidence regarding their report (OHRC, 2011). The educator does not let other students know the one who reports instances of bullying to the authorities.

The Role of Universities in the United States Education System

There was a decline in American education as was documented in 1983 by the National Commission on Excellence in Education. This brought about a change that saw the inception of standardized testing and accountability (Heckman & LaFontaine, 2011). A 2001 Act called the No Child Left Behind Act sets out requirements for each state to identify low-performing schools. Another of its requirements is for the annual assessment of students in reading and mathematics. Declining standards in the secondary school level of education imply that very few students get enrolled in universities around the country. America boasts of the largest number of institutions of higher learning throughout the world, but if these institutions cannot enroll Native Americans due to mediocre performance in their secondary schools, one is left to marvel at what the future holds for university education within the country.

Scientific research in universities thrives on funding from various sources. Research is important to the advancement of knowledge since it creates new perspectives to what is already known. Much of what results from research can be applied in areas such as pharmaceuticals for the production of new drugs. The current trend tends towards genetic science, which has brought about a lot of controversies. When universities lack students to carry out research then there is a paucity of funds from donors who fund the research projects. This brings a complication to the universities, which rely much on donor funding. The case of Berkeley and Novartis appears to have been instigated by such a state of affairs as has been described above. Berkeley signed an agreement with Novartis in November 1998 and rescinded about one-third of its patent rights to Novartis in exchange for a $25 million grant towards research (Washburn, 2005). The said company had vested interests in the outcome of the research and, thus, was in a way investing in it. That movie had a lot of ethical connotations.

Another issue that was highlighted in Washburn’s book is the notion that universities have gradually been shifting from their academic role to institutions that run businesses. This is a pithy subject since the university ought to be an institution of higher learning and not drawn into the rigmarole of generating income. Universities ought to set the pace for industry to follow, by making breakthroughs in research projects that will enhance the human experience of living within the planet earth. That notwithstanding, universities have become embroiled in the shaping of individuals to prepare them for employment within the industries. One may contend that they are responding to the dire needs of the economy by providing the market with the best brains the country has to offer. However, the country appears to stand no gain, especially when such patents as were aforementioned are left in the hands of foreign companies (Washburn, 2005).

A reversal of roles is readily observable in that the industry now makes the demands and the universities dance to her tune. For example, when the industry demands chemical analysts, the universities respond by giving their analysts to the industries. Due to the lack of employment in the country, an analyst who finishes their course at university and immediately finds a source of income sees herself as being very fortunate. This, however, results in a dilution of the high standards of excellence that are expected of all public institutions of higher learning. Universities need to maintain an autonomous stance that is neither swayed by the government nor by the industry as these two entities seek to push their agenda (Washburn, 2005). On one side is an entity with political ideals while on the other is one that seeks financial gains. Both the government and the industrial entities stand in opposition to the universities’ values of serving the common good of all humankind.

The involvement of outside forces in university affairs has made even students forget their primary agenda at having joined the universities. Like Reynolds in the Washburn (2005) book, many a scientist ends up being a politician due to these disruptions in the curriculum. If even the students should get derailed from their “calling” in such a manner, in all probability, the future of the universities is painted in bleak colors. It is necessary to redefine the role of the university and give the students clear guidelines as to the parts they ought to play therein. Not only are grades falling within secondary schools, but also those who end up in university, having attempted and succeeded at a difficult feat, may get disillusioned at what they find.

Hirsch (2006) appears to have the answer to one of the woes so far when he says that students have to read and comprehend. Any student can read, given the time to do so. But their understanding of what they have read is the most crucial part of their acquisition of knowledge. Comprehension is the difficult bone that students need to chew while at school to enable them to sit their examinations and pass with flying colors. Since they are not taught to comprehend, it follows that their performance in class also suffers. They are not even prepared within their extant grades for the grades which they shall be facing in the future. Hirsch says that a broad range of knowledge is required for students to be able to comprehend what they read (Hirsch, 2006). One may question at this point from whence that a “broad range of knowledge” shall be obtained.

Hitherto, it has been observed the diverse challenges that the American child faces as he or she pursues an education. The challenges start right from kindergarten through to university. The American child is also exposed to a lot of information that buffets them from all types of sources: the internet, television, radio, movies et cetera. These sources of information together with the students’ own experiences (however few and apart those experiences might be) ought to be sufficient to give the background knowledge that Hirsch craves for them. If these sources are not enough to give the American child the vast knowledge that Hirsch talks about, then it remains an enigma where else the knowledge shall come from. The school has synthesized the knowledge for the students to acquire, not in its raw form, but in a form that has been more purified; akin to the sugar that one gets on the table compared to the sugar from the cane.

According to Hirsch (2006), knowledge is all around us, but it is taken for granted. In essence, he says that even the modern student has a lot to learn from his or her surroundings. As they walk along the streets, go sightseeing or listen to music on the radio, all these areas hold a bit of knowledge here and a bit there that may stand the observer in good stead when they are faced with the problem of comprehending written material in class. It may be added that comprehension is context-dependent but knowledge garnered from one source can be transmuted to an application that is far much different than its source. Therefore, as students learn to be more in touch with their environments, they shall be better equipped to face the future challenges that they are bound to meet. They shall be able, when in university, to stand for what they know is right, disallowing the interference of other institutions whose missions stand at variance with the mission of the academia.

Conclusion

Reforms in education in the United States are bound to be a collective effort involving, not only the government but also all other stakeholders. America was founded as a nation on solid Christian principles, and these guiding principles worked well for the founding generation as well as the few generations that stood by them thereafter. The encumbrances that America faces are as a result of her generosity toward all nations. These nations have brought with them influences that have diluted the American spirit of democracy and freedom; for even the freedom that the founding father fought for has been misinterpreted. It is time that America went back to her first principles; for there lays the answer to most of the problems she faces nowadays. Democracy per se is a boon that the American people can never take for granted. Nevertheless, it only speaks of good things that have not been counterbalanced by the “bad”. A bit of non-democratization may be required to create the critical balance that America requires. The government needs to step up its authority to ensure that things happen in the correct way that they should, but that ought to be done with discretion as there still is an extant law that governs the land. It is a law that the people have put forth by themselves, and it is in the power of the people to repeal the same and come up with better laws.

The breaches in the education system in America are not irreparable. Since the United States has shined in glory in the past, she still can do the same but only if the people are willing to rise together and make that dream a reality. Right from elementary school to the university level, students have the latent ability to excel, for America does have the mental capacity to read and understand books. She is well endowed with comprehensive skills.

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Guest Essay

School Is for Everyone

By Anya Kamenetz

Ms. Kamenetz is a longtime education reporter and the author of “The Stolen Year: How Covid Changed Children’s Lives, and Where We Go Now,” from which this essay is adapted.

For the majority of human history, most people didn’t go to school. Formal education was a privilege for the Alexander the Greats of the world, who could hire Aristotles as private tutors.

Starting in the mid-19th century, the United States began to establish truly universal, compulsory education. It was a social compact: The state provides public schools that are free and open to all. And children, for most of their childhood, are required to receive an education. Today, nine out of 10 do so in public schools.

To an astonishing degree, one person, Horace Mann, the nation’s first state secretary of education, forged this reciprocal commitment. The Constitution doesn’t mention education. In Southern colonies, rich white children had tutors or were sent overseas to learn. Teaching enslaved people to read was outlawed. Those who learned did so by luck, in defiance or in secret.

But Mann came from Massachusetts, the birthplace of the “common school” in the 1600s, where schoolmasters were paid by taking up a collection from each group of households. Mann expanded on that tradition. He crossed the state on horseback to visit every schoolhouse, finding mostly neglected, drafty old wrecks. He championed schools as the crucible of democracy — his guiding principle, following Thomas Jefferson, was that citizens cannot sustain both ignorance and freedom.

An essential part of Mann’s vision was that public schools should be for everyone and that children of different class backgrounds should learn together. He pushed to draw wealthier students away from private schools, establish “normal schools” to train teachers (primarily women), have the state take over charitable schools and increase taxes to pay for it all.

He largely succeeded. By the early 20th century all states had free primary schools, underwritten by taxpayers, that students were required to attend.

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Transforming education systems: Why, what, and how

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Rebecca winthrop and rebecca winthrop director - center for universal education , senior fellow - global economy and development the hon. minister david sengeh the hon. minister david sengeh minister of education and chief innovation officer - government of sierra leone, chief innovation officer - directorate of science, technology and innovation in sierra leone.

June 23, 2022

Today, the topic of education system transformation is front of mind for many leaders. Ministers of education around the world are seeking to build back better as they emerge from COVID-19-school closures to a new normal of living with a pandemic. The U.N. secretary general is convening the Transforming Education Summit (TES) at this year’s general assembly meeting (United Nations, n.d.). Students around the world continue to demand transformation on climate and not finding voice to do this through their schools are regularly leaving class to test out their civic action skills.

It is with this moment in mind that we have developed this shared vision of education system transformation. Collectively we offer insights on transformation from the perspective of a global think tank and a national government: the Center for Universal Education (CUE) at Brookings brings years of global research on education change and transformation, and the Ministry of Education of Sierra Leone brings on-the-ground lessons from designing and implementing system-wide educational rebuilding.

This brief is for any education leader or stakeholder who is interested in charting a transformation journey in their country or education jurisdiction such as a state or district. It is also for civil society organizations, funders, researchers, and anyone interested in the topic of national development through education. In it, we answer the following three questions and argue for a participatory approach to transformation:

Why is education system transformation urgent now? We argue that the world is at an inflection point. Climate change, the changing nature of work, increasing conflict and authoritarianism together with the urgency of COVID recovery has made the transformation agenda more critical than ever.
What is education system transformation? We argue that education system transformation must entail a fresh review of the goals of your system – are they meeting the moment that we are in, are they tackling inequality and building resilience for a changing world, are they fully context aware, are they owned broadly across society – and then fundamentally positioning all components of your education system to coherently contribute to this shared purpose.
How can education system transformation advance in your country or jurisdiction? We argue that three steps are crucial: Purpose (developing a broadly shared vision and purpose), Pedagogy (redesigning the pedagogical core), and Position (positioning and aligning all components of the system to support the pedagogical core and purpose). Deep engagement of educators, families, communities, students, ministry staff, and partners is essential across each of these “3 P” steps.

Why U.S. Schools Are Simply the Best

Pat Quinn, the “RTI Guy,” (not the Pat Quinn who is the Governor of Illinois) recently sent this article to his mailing list, and graciously agreed to allow me to re-post it here. I wanted to share it for further discussion since it speaks very directly to issues of educational performance.

Simply the Best, by Pat Quinn The United States system of education that has been created for students in Kindergarten through High School is the best educational system in the world. No exceptions. No disclaimers. No doubt. It is simply the best. While other countries may offer excellence in one area or offer an outstanding education to some students, the United States has created and maintained a system that serves everyone at an almost unbelievable level of quality. While no system is perfect, and the United States education system is certainly no exception to that rule, it is vastly superior to any other system in the world.

If this is the case, then why all the bad press? If this is actually true, then why the public onslaught toward our schools and their educators? The answer to these questions is multi-faceted but centers around a few key areas. There are people with agendas other than educational excellence who benefit from bad news about US education. Politics, popularity and ratings all cause people to fire the first shot and shout the loudest about how bad things have become. Yet time and again these very same critics choose our system of education over every other system in the world.

At this point you are probably thinking: “But I have seen the data! Many countries outscore the United States in Math and Science and Reading and...” The list goes on and on. Critics will often take one isolated statistic out of context to prove their point. If you look at one small piece of data, such as the results of a single test given around the world you could use that to paint any picture you wish. A broader look beyond that one small piece will paint a very different scenario. In this larger picture the United States stands at the top. The United States system of education teaches more, helps more, achieves more and in the end still gets criticized more than any system in any country in the world.

Free for All One of the factors that make the United States educational system head and shoulders above other countries is the free access all children have to an education. This access is not limited to those who pay, as it is in some countries. This access is not limited to those with transportation, as it is in some countries. It is not limited to those who can afford uniforms, or lunch, or even a home. It is not even limited to those who legally reside in this country. Anyone can access this free education for 13 or more years of their life!

The next time someone shows you a country that has higher test scores in science than the United States ask them if free transportation is provided to school from the most remote regions of their country. Ask them if the students need money for uniforms, books, lunch or other costs before they can access the education. Do not even begin to compare our scores with the scores of a country that leaves hundreds of thousands of poor rural children without any education whatsoever. The comparison is false, unfair, and leaves you with an impression that is simply not true. No school system anywhere in the world exceeds the United States in providing free access to education for everyone.

Apples to Apples? If you are still thinking “But their test scores are higher than ours!” there is one simple fact you need to understand. It is not pretty. It is not fun to think about. But it is true: The broader spectrum of children who take a test, the lower the average score will be. What does this mean? It means if only your top students take the test your average score will be very high. If only your top and middle students take the test your average score will still be quite high. If all of your students take the test your average score will be lower.

Add into this equation other factors such as poverty. Living in poverty reduces your access to health care, books, early childhood education and many other assets that increase learning throughout your life. If a school only tests the wealthiest students the average test score will probably be quite high. The average score will go down if you test all of your students. What do you think happens in countries where the poorest children do not have access to education? Their test scores may appear to be higher than the United States, but you are not comparing apples to apples. This is why free access to all students is such an important factor. Critics of US education who make their living shooting arrows at others will conveniently ignore this factor. Include free access to education for 13 years for all children into your calculations and there will be no doubt: The United States system of education is the premier system in the world. A Premature Decision Twenty years ago if a mother carried her unborn baby for 28* weeks and then gave birth, the baby would die. Today in the United States that baby has a very good chance of living. Five years later that child will enter kindergarten* and our school system will be responsible for helping that student read, write and learn math. In other countries in the world that child has a much lower chance of survival. It is not pleasant to think about, but five, ten and fifteen years later that lower live-birth rate will actually improve average test scores.

Suicide rate has a similar effect on test scores. In some of the countries mentioned most often as being “superior” to the United States in education the suicide rate is much higher than it is in the US. A higher suicide rate will actually have the effect of raising average test scores. The next time someone tells you that the United States ranks fifteenth, twenty-eighth or even tenth among other countries in math or reading or science education ask them what the live birth rate is in the other countries? Ask about the chances of survival for a baby born ten weeks premature. Ask about the youth suicide rate. Then ask yourself if you would trade any of these for higher test scores. Be careful what you measure and where you place your trust.

We are Special A good measure of any society is how people treat those who are the most vulnerable and least protected. In the world of education these are students with special needs. The United States has developed a system of educating special education students that is vast and complex. It is also the benchmark by which every other system can be measured.

The response to students with exceptional education needs in other countries is wide and varied. In some countries these students are simply excluded. In other countries they are institutionalized. In some countries the parents must find and pay for special services. In the United States these students are not only included and offered full and free access, the schools go above and beyond in their offerings and do so well beyond the student’s 12th year of schooling.

In every school in the United States these students are included in class. In math and reading and social studies they are there benefitting from the instruction the teacher is offering. In addition to this every student in the class is benefitting from the presence of these students. In many cases these students will also be included in our test scores. While other countries do not even see it fit for these students to be included in school, much less in the testing system by which they are evaluated, the United States offers an inclusive and free education to all. It is the gold standard by which other countries simply do not compare favorably.

More is Better The list of reasons why the United States system of education is the best in the world is long and wide. Our curriculum has breadth that other countries simply would not even consider. As a nation we have placed a value on a wide and varied curriculum covering sciences, arts, language and literature. We have added societal issues to our curriculum like alcohol and drug abuse prevention, stress reduction and relaxation, and physical fitness. Many other countries would not consider adding these areas to their to-do list.

In addition to this we are committed as a nation to keep every option available to nearly every student through twelve years of education. This means that compared to many other nations we do not stratify our curriculum and pigeon-hole our students nearly as much. In the United States almost every 10th grader has course options available so they can attend a four-year college. This sort of access to higher education is simply not available in other countries where they determine at a much earlier age which track you will be pursuing.

The commitment to a wide and varied curriculum that includes societal issues as well as academic subjects is important in the United States. The commitment to make college available to nearly every student entering high school is another value the United States holds high. There is no doubt that doing education this way is more difficult than educating students with a stratified narrow curriculum. Yet despite this difficulty our schools continually step up to the plate and deliver on the promise we make. A promise that other nations cannot make nor fulfill.

Finally, size does matter. Most people who are comfortable cooking dinner for their family would struggle to cook dinner for a group of 200 people. Likewise, countries that educate thousands of students have no idea how their systems would stress if they needed to educate millions. Although critics are everywhere, it is easy to point out how small systems outshine big systems. The problem with this thinking is the belief that nothing would change if the small system would grow. The truth is that any other small system would collapse under the weight that the United States education system bears every single day.

Good but Not Perfect There is no doubt that the United States education system needs to improve. Our graduation rates in certain areas are unacceptable and the achievement gap between our best schools and our worst is atrocious. But make no mistake: There is not another educational system in the world that could deliver the curriculum that the United States does to the same students at anywhere near the level of quality that this system achieves. It is simply the best.

Why this Matters Why is this important? This is important not so that the United States can have one more area to claim to be the best. It is important because when the critics raise their voices, politicians and parents hearing only one side of the argument start to look for change. Not necessarily change for the better, but change to be different. Politicians start to look at other countries with inferior systems to ours for models to emulate. This very pattern has hurt US education more than it has helped, because the other system we are copying is not actually better. They are simply smaller, or educate only the top students or the rich students, or limit the opportunities of students early and often.

People who throw test scores around like they are the only measure of a school’s success have done more to hurt education in the United States than nearly any other culprit. They point to other countries with higher scores and never point out limited access, low pre-term live-birth rates, high suicide rates, narrow curriculum, or excluded special needs students. They paint you a picture that is inaccurate and misleading.

When you look at the whole picture there is only one conclusion you can come to: The United States education system is not perfect, but it is the best education system in the world. Bar none. No exceptions. No exclusions. No disclaimers. Simply the best. About the Author Pat Quinn is an author, researcher, and speaker. He has been studying successful school systems for over 20 years and is the author of the book Changing Lives: How Parents and Teachers can Change the Lives of Children they Know and Love . His presentations across the country have transformed the lives of students, teachers and administrators. Learn more about Mr. Quinn at www.PatQuinn.com or by calling 309-662-5016. Contact Pat Quinn at pat[at]betterteachingonline.com.

*Note: The original version of this essay stated 20 weeks and first grade, which have been corrected to 28 weeks and kindergarten, respectively.

The opinions expressed in On Performance are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

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A Brief History of Education in the United States

This essay is the companion piece to about 550 individual data series on education to be included in the updated Historical Statistics of the United States, Millennial Edition (Cambridge University Press 2000, forthcoming). The essay reviews the broad outlines of U.S. educational history from the nineteenth century to the present, including changes in enrollments, attendance, schools, teachers, and educational finance at the three main schooling levels -- elementary, secondary, and higher education. Data sources are discussed at length, as are issues of comparability across time and data reliability. Some of the data series are provided, as is a brief chronology of important U.S. educational legislation, judicial decisions, and historical time periods.

Acknowledgements and Disclosures

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Goldin, Claudia and Lawrence F. Katz. "The Shaping Of Higher Education: The Formative Years In The United States, 1890-1940," Journal of Economic Perspectives, 1999, v13(1,Winter), 37-62.

in Historical Statistics of the United States: Millennial Edition. Chapter Bc Education, Editor: Claudia Goldin. pp. 2-387 - 2-397

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Education in America Essays

Education in America Education in the United States is a very crucial part of a person’s life. Going to school opens doors and facilitates the pathway for future individual achievement and economic success. Formal education is a conscious effort by human society to convey the skills and modes of thought considered essential for social functioning. According to the census 2000, the total number of people in school between nursery and high school is approximately 57 million. Out of those 57 million, roughly 49 million are in public school. In students 15 – 17 years old, 30.8 % are below the modal grade. Furthermore, between 10 through 12 graders the annual dropout rate is 4.7%. Continuing education to the college level is a very …show more content…

Today, however, it seems as if the public has lost track of the importance of a great educational system. The main issue today’s public schools faces are funding problems. There is not enough money allocated to support the growing needs of school across the nation. Most of the other problems the schools face are directly related to the funding issue. Buildings are run down and sometimes mobile because of the lack of finances. No child wants to go to school in a dreary building that smells bad. It makes it hard to concentrate and hard to study in buildings such as this. Every school has some type of sport being played by the students. For some, sports are the only reason they do not drop out of school. However, if finances are not available then the school should focus mostly on the education of all of its students as a whole, not just a few who think they cannot make it without sports. Without the financial issues, schools have even more problems. School violence is becoming more and more common. School should be a place where children come to learn and be with their peers, in a very good environment. It should not be a place where children are afraid to go because of the anger or hurt of other children. This is probably the major issue of the public today. No matter what the issue, schools have important issues that they have to work around and with everyday to

Transformation Of The African American Intelligentsia Summary

If the problem is with teachers that do not value or wish the best for the students before them, then we need to stop that. If the problem is inequitable funding within and between school districts we need to correct that. If the problem is in the homes and hearts of the students themselves then we need to address that. Whatever it is, we cannot do nothing and scratch on heads as the current statistics continue to rise.

Argumentative Essay About Texas Education

If the teachers aren’t satisfied with the situation, he/she might not care for the students as much. Finally, the last issue that Politics and education simply does not mix, government individuals are not suited to run a school while they do know basics of what makes a school they do not know the students themselves and know what’s really happening there. They should stick to trying to running to the country since that they’re not evening doing well and if these factors continue to it will produce a domino effect that will continue generation after

Flaws In The American Education System

Nowadays the United States is not known for their educational system. Countries like South Korea, Japan, and Singapore have surpassed the United States buy large margins, in terms of educational success. While other countries are constantly revolutionising their education system, the United States’ education system has not changed in decades, leaving the U.S. unsuccessful. The U.S. continues to fall behind these same countries that are thriving. Due to the fact that the U.S. education system not developing as time went on, leaving them now with a multitude of flaws. The gap between the educated and non-educated, along with the length of how long students are in elementary and high school, are two consequential problems in the United States’ educational system that need to be addressed.

South America, France, And Detroit

For each successful school system, one could identify multiple systems that have failed or are currently failing. Challenging or underperformed school systems can be found at the continental, country or state level. Additional challenges are found both in developed and underdeveloped regions. Nonetheless, there are a myriad of reasons that contribute to school system failures, regardless of locations. Social, economical, cultural or pragmatic aspects are common reasons cited for ineffective or unsustainable school systems.

Racism In Education

Public education has faced many extreme challenges and obstacles historically. Based on the films I’ve viewed I think the top issues were segregation and poverty. Segregation in schools started in the 1800s and continued until the 1960s. I learned mostly about the problems with segregation in the film A Struggle for Education Equality. In the film, it explains facts and statistics about children and how their lives were like. From around the time period of 1950-1980 schools were very much segregated and only ⅗ of students graduated and 50% of them went to college. The fight for equality in schools began in Topeka Kansas where high schools became integrated. Elementary schools, however, were not integrated and still segregated. The NAACP tried to have 13 parents try to enroll their kids into white school but of course, it failed because of segregation. Linda Brown was one of the children in the experiment and that’s when the Brown v Board of Education of Topeka of 1954 was created which banned the inequality in schools. The southern states still had segregation problems, unfortunately, but the Elementary and Secondary Education Act gave 4 billion dollars of aid to disadvantaged children and around 9 years after that, 91% of southern black children attended integrated schools. Segregation had clearly gotten so much better but was a major problem for a long time in terms of public education. Poverty, in my opinion, is another major problem facing public education today. In

Educational Funding During The United States

Everyone has heard the saying “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” but few people think of schools when they here this phrase. The way our educational system is set up today benefits students in high income areas more than it helps students in low income schools. People in the United States like to think that anyone can achieve greatness if they try hard enough but getting an education is important and being in a well-funded school never hurts. In this country there is a profound lack of funding to our schools and there is an inequality when it comes distributing the funds and it only serves to help some and disadvantage others.

Persuasive Essay On School Funding

The most glaring impact of school funding is that of the major goal of the public school system: equal opportunity to a quality education for all people. How does school funding impact equal opportunity? Nobody is turned away from public school because of money. Public school is free for all and even required for certain ages. Everyone has an equal opportunity for an education. These are comments that one might make that doesn’t understand the concept of separate/different being inherently unequal. The biggest point made in the major goal mentioned above is the key word “quality”. The opportunity for an education may be offered to everyone, but the opportunity for the same quality education is greatly affected by school funding.

Budget Cuts In Schools

People tend to blame the government for the Educational systems budget cuts. Throughout the years there simply is not enough money to go around to meet the demand of the school system. The ones that are suffering the most are the staff and the students. The government has been trying to figure out ways each year to support the educational budget. Budget cuts are not only affecting teachers but it is also affecting class sizes, school supplies, and after-school programs.

Safety Rules In High School

Something that is also of alarm is the financial burden the schools must carry. It is no secret that schools barely have enough money to get by and yet schools are spending millions of dollars a year on

Effects of School and Class Size on the Quality of Students' Education

Education is fundamental in today’s modern society and is the subject of endless debates across the United States. Recently, it has risen to the top of both state and national agendas (Finn, 2002).

Examples Of Ctce Policies

Funding is always going to be an issue till they change the policy in the United States. Every school and program must be funded in some way or another. The US needs to make a change the school funding making sure it is going to all the right causes. The United States has seen funding and budget cuts year after year with no steady amount of funding for the programs. Leaving a serious situation to deal with when trying to progress as a country.

Why Is Gay Marriage Wrong

Education is the process of acquiring knowledge and information, usually within schools and academies in order to prepare students for employment and everyday life. Education is a major issue. They do not teach a whole lot on critical thinking and/or problem solving, speaking, written communication, curiosity, or data analysis. These are a lot of the skills employers are looking for, and that schools are lacking. That’s only the beginning of the issues. Another example being if your family moves to a new district, then the children of the family must start a new school, and in some cases they have to begin in the middle of the semester. If this is the case, the child (ren) have the chance of being much too far ahead, or way too far behind (education.com (hardcopy)). Another educational issue is sexual abuse. According to edsource.org almost 1 in 10 students are sexually abused or harassed by staff members, bus drivers, coaches, and others involved with schools. “The U.S. Government Accountability Office said

Essay on Public vs. Private Education

5 Works Cited

Problems facing the public schools. The general satisfaction with the public schools should not cause one to lose sight of the fact that the public wants those schools improved. It would be logical for such improvement to focus on areas in which problems exist. Down through the years, the public has been consistent in the area which shows lack of discipline. Other points of either drug abuse, lack of financial support, or lack of discipline has topped the list. This year, lack of discipline is identified as the top problem. Fighting/violence/gangs follows at high on the list and lack of financial support/funding/money is also an issue. Teachers and classroom sizes are recognized as a ongoing problem in public education.

Education: Past, Present, and Future

the stories of how our ancestors used to have to walk to school 5 miles in the

The Current Style Of Educating Our Children

There are a very large number of possibilities for improving the school system in a meaningful way. They are all possible if we exclude the two factors that keeps most of these things from happening: money and the government. We have all heard on the news how long government officials take to make decisions. Add on the schools’ very small budget, and we get a very slowly evolving system.

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Understanding the American Education System

The American education system offers a rich field of choices for international students. There is such an array of schools, programs and locations that the choices may overwhelm students, even those from the U.S. As you begin your school search, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the American education system. Understanding the system will help you narrow your choices and develop your education plan.

The Educational Structure

Primary and secondary school.

Prior to higher education, American students attend primary and secondary school for a combined total of 12 years. These years are referred to as the first through twelfth grades.

Around age six, U.S. children begin primary school, which is most commonly called “elementary school.” They attend five or six years and then go onto secondary school.

Secondary school consists of two programs: the first is “middle school” or “junior high school” and the second program is “high school.” A diploma or certificate is awarded upon graduation from high school. After graduating high school (12th grade), U.S. students may go on to college or university. College or university study is known as “higher education.”

Grading System

Just like American students, you will have to submit your academic transcripts as part of your application for admission to university or college. Academic transcripts are official copies of your academic work. In the U.S. this includes your “grades” and “grade point average” (GPA), which are measurements of your academic achievement. Courses are commonly graded using percentages, which are converted into letter grades.

The grading system and GPA in the U.S. can be confusing, especially for international students. The interpretation of grades has a lot of variation. For example, two students who attended different schools both submit their transcripts to the same university. They both have 3.5 GPAs, but one student attended an average high school, while the other attended a prestigious school that was academically challenging. The university might interpret their GPAs differently because the two schools have dramatically different standards.

Therefore, there are some crucial things to keep in mind:

You should find out the U.S. equivalent of the last level of education you completed in your home country.
Pay close attention to the admission requirements of each university and college, as well as individual degree programs, which may have different requirements than the university.
Regularly meet with an educational advisor or guidance counselor to make sure you are meeting the requirements.

Your educational advisor or guidance counselor will be able to advise you on whether or not you must spend an extra year or two preparing for U.S. university admission. If an international student entered a U.S. university or college prior to being eligible to attend university in their own country, some countries’ governments and employers may not recognize the students’ U.S. education.

Academic Year

The school calendar usually begins in August or September and continues through May or June. The majority of new students begin in autumn, so it is a good idea for international students to also begin their U.S. university studies at this time. There is a lot of excitement at the beginning of the school year and students form many great friendships during this time, as they are all adjusting to a new phase of academic life. Additionally, many courses are designed for students to take them in sequence, starting in autumn and continuing through the year.

The academic year at many schools is composed of two terms called “semesters.” (Some schools use a three-term calendar known as the “trimester” system.) Still, others further divide the year into the quarter system of four terms, including an optional summer session. Basically, if you exclude the summer session, the academic year is either comprised of two semesters or three quarter terms.

The U.S. Higher Education System: Levels of Study

First Level: Undergraduate

"The American system is much more open. In Hong Kong you just learn what the teacher writes on the board. In America, you discuss the issues and focus more on ideas."

Paolo Kwan from Hong Kong: Studying English and Business Administration at Sierra College in California

A student who is attending a college or university and has not earned a bachelor’s degree, is studying at the undergraduate level. It typically takes about four years to earn a bachelor’s degree. You can either begin your studies in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree at a community college or a four-year university or college.

Your first two years of study you will generally be required to take a wide variety of classes in different subjects, commonly known as prerequisite courses: literature, science, the social sciences, the arts, history, and so forth. This is so you achieve a general knowledge, a foundation, of a variety of subjects prior to focusing on a specific field of study.

Many students choose to study at a community college in order to complete the first two years of prerequisite courses. They will earn an Associate of Arts (AA) transfer degree and then transfer to a four-year university or college.

A “major” is the specific field of study in which your degree is focused. For example, if someone’s major is journalism, they will earn a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. You will be required to take a certain number of courses in this field in order to meet the degree requirements of your major. You must choose your major at the beginning of your third year of school.

A very unique characteristic of the American higher education system is that you can change your major multiple times if you choose. It is extremely common for American students to switch majors at some point in their undergraduate studies. Often, students discover a different field that they excel in or enjoy. The American education system is very flexible. Keep in mind though that switching majors may result in more courses, which means more time and money.

Second Level: Graduate in Pursuit of a Master’s Degree

Presently, a college or university graduate with a bachelor’s degree may want to seriously think about graduate study in order to enter certain professions or advance their career. This degree is usually mandatory for higher-level positions in library science, engineering, behavioral health and education.

Furthermore, international students from some countries are only permitted to study abroad at a graduate level. You should inquire about the credentials needed to get a job in your country before you apply to a postgraduate university in the USA.

A graduate program is usually a division of a university or college. To gain admission, you will need to take the GRE (graduate record examination). Certain master’s programs require specific tests, such as the LSAT for law school, the GRE or GMAT for business school, and the MCAT for medical school.

Graduate programs in pursuit of a master’s degree typically take one to two years to complete. For example, the MBA (master of business administration) is an extremely popular degree program that takes about two years. Other master’s programs, such as journalism, only take one year.

The majority of a master’s program is spent in classroom study and a graduate student must prepare a long research paper called a “master’s thesis” or complete a “master’s project.”

Third Level: Graduate in Pursuit of a Doctorate Degree

Many graduate schools consider the attainment of a master’s degree the first step towards earning a PhD (doctorate). But at other schools, students may prepare directly for a doctorate without also earning a master’s degree. It may take three years or more to earn a PhD degree. For international students, it may take as long as five or six years.

For the first two years of the program most doctoral candidates enroll in classes and seminars. At least another year is spent conducting firsthand research and writing a thesis or dissertation. This paper must contain views, designs, or research that have not been previously published.

A doctoral dissertation is a discussion and summary of the current scholarship on a given topic. Most U.S. universities awarding doctorates also require their candidates to have a reading knowledge of two foreign languages, to spend a required length of time “in residence,” to pass a qualifying examination that officially admits candidates to the PhD program, and to pass an oral examination on the same topic as the dissertation.

Characteristics of the U.S. Higher Education System

Classroom Environment

Classes range from large lectures with several hundred students to smaller classes and seminars (discussion classes) with only a few students. The American university classroom atmosphere is very dynamic. You will be expected to share your opinion, argue your point, participate in class discussions and give presentations. International students find this one of the most surprising aspects of the American education system.

Each week professors usually assign textbook and other readings. You will be expected to keep up-to-date with the required readings and homework so you can participate in class discussions and understand the lectures. Certain degree programs also require students to spend time in the laboratory.

Professors issue grades for each student enrolled in the course. Grades are usually based upon:

Each professor will have a unique set of class participation requirements, but students are expected to participate in class discussions, especially in seminar classes. This is often a very important factor in determining a student’s grade.
A midterm examination is usually given during class time.
One or more research or term papers , or laboratory reports must be submitted for evaluation.
Possible short exams or quizzes are given. Sometimes professors will give an unannounced “pop quiz.” This doesn’t count heavily toward the grade, but is intended to inspire students to keep up with their assignments and attendance.
A final examination will be held after the final class meeting.

Each course is worth a certain number of credits or credit hours. This number is roughly the same as the number of hours a student spends in class for that course each week. A course is typically worth three to five credits.

A full-time program at most schools is 12 or 15 credit hours (four or five courses per term) and a certain number of credits must be fulfilled in order to graduate. International students are expected to enroll in a full-time program during each term.

If a student enrolls at a new university before finishing a degree, generally most credits earned at the first school can be used to complete a degree at the new university. This means a student can transfer to another university and still graduate within a reasonable time.

Types of U.S. higher education

Xujie Zhao from China: Studying Computer Networking at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston

1. State College or University

A state school is supported and run by a state or local government. Each of the 50 U.S. states operates at least one state university and possibly several state colleges. Many of these public universities schools have the name of the state, or the actual word “State” in their names: for example, Washington State University and the University of Michigan.

2. Private College or University

These schools are privately run as opposed to being run by a branch of the government. Tuition will usually be higher than state schools. Often, private U.S. universities and colleges are smaller in size than state schools.

Religiously affiliated universities and colleges are private schools. Nearly all these schools welcome students of all religions and beliefs. Yet, there are a percentage of schools that prefer to admit students who hold similar religious beliefs as those in which the school was founded.

3. Community College

Community colleges are two-year colleges that award an associate’s degrees (transferable), as well as certifications. There are many types of associate degrees, but the most important distinguishing factor is whether or not the degree is transferable. Usually, there will be two primary degree tracks: one for academic transfer and the other prepares students to enter the workforce straightaway. University transfer degrees are generally associate of arts or associate of science. Not likely to be transferrable are the associate of applied science degrees and certificates of completion.

Community college graduates most commonly transfer to four-year colleges or universities to complete their degree. Because they can transfer the credits they earned while attending community college, they can complete their bachelor’s degree program in two or more additional years. Many also offer ESL or intensive English language programs, which will prepare students for university-level courses.

If you do not plan to earn a higher degree than the associate’s, you should find out if an associate’s degree will qualify you for a job in your home country.

4. Institute of Technology

An institute of technology is a school that provides at least four years of study in science and technology. Some have graduate programs, while others offer short-term courses.

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What Changes to the U.S. Education System Are Needed to Support Long-Term Success for All Americans?

With the pandemic deepening inequities that threaten students’ prospects, the vice president of the Corporation’s National Program provides a vision for transforming our education system from one characterized by uneven and unjust results to one that puts all students on a path to bright futures

At no point in our nation’s history have we asked so much of our education system as we do today. We ask that our primary and secondary schools prepare all students, regardless of background, for a lifetime of learning. We ask that teachers guide every child toward deeper understanding while simultaneously attending to their social-emotional development. And we ask that our institutions of higher learning serve students with a far broader range of life circumstances than ever before.

We ask these things of education because the future we aspire to requires it. The nature of work and civic participation is evolving at an unprecedented rate. Advances in automation, artificial intelligence, and social media are driving rapid changes in how we interact with each other and what skills hold value. In the world our children will inherit, their ability to adapt, think critically, and work effectively with others will be essential for both their own success and the well-being of society.

At Carnegie Corporation of New York, we focus on supporting people who are in a position to meet this challenge. That includes the full spectrum of educators, administrators, family members, and others who shape young people’s learning experiences as they progress toward and into adulthood. Our mission is to empower all students with the tools, systems, knowledge, and mindsets to prepare them to fully participate in the global economy and in a robust democracy.

All of our work is geared toward transforming student learning. The knowledge, skills, and dispositions required for success today call for a vastly different set of learning experiences than may have sufficed in the past. Students must play a more active role in their own learning, and that learning must encompass more than subject-matter knowledge. Preparing all children for success requires greater attention to inclusiveness in the classroom, differentiation in teaching and learning, and universal high expectations.

This transformation needs to happen in higher education as well. A high school education is no longer enough to ensure financial security. We need more high-quality postsecondary options, better guidance for students as they transition beyond high school, and sufficient supports to enable all students to complete their postsecondary programs. Preparing students for lifelong success requires stronger connections between K–12, higher education, and work.

The need for such transformation has become all the more urgent in the face of COVID-19. As with past economic crises, the downturn resulting from the pandemic is likely to accelerate the erosion of opportunities for low-skilled workers with only a high school education. Investments in innovative learning models and student supports are critical to preventing further inequities in learning outcomes.

An Urgent Call for Advancing Equity

The 2020–21 school year may prove to be the most consequential in American history. With unfathomable speed, COVID-19 has forced more change in how schools operate than in the previous half century.

What is most concerning in all of this is the impact on the most underserved and historically marginalized in our society: low-income children and students of color. Even before the current crisis, the future prospects of a young person today looked very different depending on the color of her skin and the zip code in which she grew up, but the pandemic exposed and exacerbated long-standing racial and economic inequities. And the same families who are faring worst in terms of disrupted schooling are bearing the brunt of the economic downturn and disproportionately getting sick, being hospitalized, and dying.

Our mission is to empower all students with the tools, systems, knowledge, and mindsets to prepare them to fully participate in the global economy and in a robust democracy.

Every organization that is committed to educational improvement needs to ask itself what it can do differently to further advance the cause of educational equity during this continuing crisis so that we can make lasting improvements. As we know from past experience, if the goal of equity is not kept front and center, those who are already behind through no fault of their own will benefit the least. If ever there were a time to heed this caution, it is now.

We hope that our nation will approach education with a new sense of purpose and a shared commitment to ensuring that our schools truly work for every child. Whether or not that happens will depend on our resolve and our actions in the coming months. We have the proof points and know-how to transform learning, bolster instruction, and meet the needs of our most disadvantaged students. What has changed is the urgency for doing so at scale.

Our starting place must be a vision of equal opportunity, and from there we must create the conditions that can actually ensure it — irrespective of how different they may look from the ones we now have. We need to reimagine the systems that shape student learning and put the communities whose circumstances we most need to elevate at the center of that process. We need to recognize that we will not improve student outcomes without building the capacity of the adults who work with them, supporting them with high-quality resources and meaningful opportunities for collaboration and professional growth. We need to promote stronger connections between K–12, higher education, and employment so that all students are prepared for lifelong success.

The pandemic has deepened inequities that threaten students’ prospects. But if we seize this moment and learn from it, if we marshal the necessary resources, we have the potential to transform our education system from one characterized by uneven and unjust results to one that puts all students on a path to bright futures.

In a pandemic-induced moment when the American education system has been blown into 25 million homes across the country, where do we go from here?

We Must Learn to Act in New Ways

These are not controversial ideas. In fact, they constitute the general consensus about where American education needs to go. But they also represent a tall order for the people who influence the system. Practically everyone who plays a part in education must learn to act in new ways.

That we have made progress in such areas as high school completion, college-going rates, and the adoption of college- and career-ready standards is a testament to the commitment of those working in the field. But it will take more than commitment to achieve the changes in student learning that our times demand. We can’t expect individuals to figure out what they need to do on their own, nor should we be surprised if they struggle to do so when working in institutional structures designed to produce different outcomes. The transformation we seek calls for much greater coordination and a broader set of allies than would suffice for more incremental changes.

Our best hope for achieving equity and the transformation of student learning is to enhance adults’ ability to contribute to that learning. That means building their capacity while supporting their authentic engagement in promoting a high-quality education for every child. It also means ensuring that people operate within systems that are optimized to support their effectiveness and that a growing body of knowledge informs their efforts.

These notions comprise our overarching strategy for promoting the systems change needed to transform student learning experiences on a large scale. We seek to enhance adult capacity and stakeholder engagement in the service of ensuring that all students are prepared to meet the demands of the 21st century. We also support knowledge development and organizational improvement to the extent that investments in these areas enhance adult capacity, stakeholder engagement, and student experiences.

Five Ways We Invest in the Future of Students

These views on how best to promote systems change in education guide our philanthropic work. The strategic areas of change we focus on are major themes throughout our five investment portfolios. Although they are managed separately and support different types of initiatives, each seeks to address its area of focus from multiple angles. A single portfolio may include grants that build adult capacity, enhance stakeholder engagement, and generate new knowledge.

New Designs to Advance Learning

Preparing all students for success requires that we fundamentally reimagine our nation’s schools and classrooms. Our public education system needs to catch up with how the world is evolving and with what we’ve come to understand about how people learn. That means attending to a broader diversity of learning styles and bringing what happens in school into greater alignment with what happens in the worlds of work and civic life. We make investments to increase the number of innovative learning models that support personalized experiences, academic mastery, and positive youth development. We also make investments that build the capacity of districts and intermediaries to improve learning experiences for all students as well as grants to investigate relevant issues of policy and practice.

Pathways to Postsecondary Success

Lifelong success in the United States has never been more dependent on educational attainment than it is today. Completing some education beyond the 12th grade has virtually become a necessity for financial security and meaningful work. But for that possibility to exist for everyone, we need to address the historical barriers that keep many students from pursuing and completing a postsecondary program, and we must strengthen the options available to all students for education after high school. Through our investments, we seek to increase the number of young people able to access and complete a postsecondary program, with a major focus on removing historical barriers for students who are first-generation college-goers, low-income, or from underrepresented groups. We also look to expand the range of high-quality postsecondary options and to strengthen alignment between K–12, higher education, and the world of work.

Leadership and Teaching to Advance Learning

At its core, learning is about the interplay between teachers, students, and content. How teachers and students engage with each other and with their curriculum plays a predominant role in determining what students learn and how well they learn it. That’s not to say that factors outside of school don’t also greatly impact student learning. But the research is clear that among the factors a school might control, nothing outweighs the teaching that students experience. We focus on supporting educators in implementing rigorous college- and career-ready standards in math, science, and English language arts. We make investments to increase the supply of and demand for high-quality curricular materials and professional learning experiences for teachers and administrators.

Public Understanding

As central as they are to the education process, school professionals are hardly the only people with a critical role to play in student learning. Students spend far more time with family and other community members than they do at school. And numerous stakeholders outside of the education system have the potential to strengthen and shape what happens within it. The success of our nation’s schools depends on far more individuals than are employed by them.

We invest in efforts to engage families and other stakeholders as active partners in supporting equitable access to high-quality student learning. We also support media organizations and policy research groups in building awareness about key issues related to educational equity and improvement.

Integration, Learning, and Innovation

Those of us who work for change in education need a new set of habits to achieve our vision of 21st-century learning. It will take more than a factory-model mindset to transform our education system into one that prepares all learners for an increasingly complex world. We must approach this task with flexibility, empathy for the people involved, and an understanding of how to learn from what’s working and what’s not. We work to reduce the fragmentation, inefficiencies, and missteps that often result when educational improvement strategies are pursued in isolation and without an understanding of the contexts in which they are implemented. Through grants and other activities, we build the capacity of people working in educational organizations to change how they work by emphasizing systems and design thinking, iteration, and knowledge sharing within and across organizations.

Two recent surveys by Carnegie Corporation of New York and Gallup offer insights into how our education system can better help all Americans navigate job and career choices

Join Us in This Ambitious Endeavor

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LaVerne Evans Srinivasan is the vice president of Carnegie Corporation of New York’s National Program and the program director for Education.

TOP: Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, a lower-school substitute teacher works from her home in Arlington, Virginia, on April 1, 2020. Her role in the school changed significantly due to the pandemic. Whereas she previously worked part-time to support teachers when they needed to be absent from the classroom, amid COVID-19 she now helps teachers to build skills with new digital platforms so they can continue to teach in the best way for their students and their families. (Credit: Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

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How can education systems improve? A systematic literature review

Published: 07 April 2022
Volume 24 , pages 479–499, ( 2023 )

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Ignacio Barrenechea ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4673-3862 1 ,
Jason Beech 2 &
Axel Rivas 1

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Understanding what contributes to improving a system will help us tackle the problems in education systems that usually fail disproportionately in providing quality education for all, especially for the most disadvantage sectors of the population. This paper presents the results of a qualitative systematic literature review aimed at providing a comprehensive overview of what education research can say about the factors that promote education systems’ improvement. This literature is emerging as a topic of empirical research that merges comparative education and school effectiveness studies as standardized assessments make it possible to compare results across systems and time. To examine and synthesize the papers included in this review we followed a thematic analysis approach. We identify, analyze, and report patterns in the papers included in this systematic review. From the coding process, four drivers for system improvement emerged: (1) system-wide approaches; (2) human capital; (3) governance and macro–micro level bridges; and (4) availability of resources.

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Background, Aims, and Theories of the Comparative Large-Scale Studies in Education

Background, Aims and Theories of the Comparative Large-Scale Studies in Education

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Barrenechea, I., Beech, J. & Rivas, A. How can education systems improve? A systematic literature review. J Educ Change 24 , 479–499 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-022-09453-7

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American Education System Essay Examples

American Education System - Free Essay Examples and Topic Ideas

During the 17th century, prior to the American Revolution, public education didn’t exist in the original thirteen colonies. Primarily, during the Colonial period, only the upper-class children in received a proper education of reading and writing, prayers, basic math and poems. Lessons were memorized since paper and books were scarce. The most common book read was the Bible.

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First American Schools

The first Colonial public school was established on April 23, 1635 in Massachusetts. Today, the Boston Latin School remains the oldest standing school in the U.S. The school’s existence derived from the vision and determination of Reverend John Cotton. He was driven to construct a school teaching Latin and Greek that paralleled to the Free Grammar School of Boston, England. Later, the Mather School, the first free taxpayer-supported public was established in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1639. To follow, in 1647 a progressive law was enacted in Massachusetts that required a teacher to be hired in towns having more than fifty families and for towns with a hundred or more families, they must build a grammar school. (1.)

During the 18th Century, there was an emphasis on literacy by the Puritan’s which helped increase the literacy rate. Education was influenced on your social and family status. As a result, a child’s education, mostly boy’s, were given by the family.

The rural South didn’t have many schools. Private tutor’s education wealthy children, whereas middle-class children could only learn to read or write if their literate parents taught them. The poor, middle-class white, and black children weren’t formally taught in schools. Most people worked farming. As a result, literacy rates were drastically lower in the South than the North; this remained true until the late nineteenth century. The only exception during this time was the Ursuline Academy in New Orleans, founded in 1727 by the Catholic sisters of the Order of Saint Ursula. Today, it remains in operation and recorded as the oldest Catholic all-girl school and convent in the U.S. It also has graduates with the America’s first woman titles. Such as the first female pharmacist, the first woman to receive a book of literary merit, first to have classes for women of color, and Native Americans all free of charges. This part of history really amazed me when I did my French Louisiana genealogy. There were no schools or churches until the 1800’s. I noticed and expected that most spoke French but didn’t realize the prevalence of illiteracy until after the 1900’s according to the censuses. My grandmother once told me that they were shamed and punished, made to kneel on rice in the corner if she spoke French. They were forced to only speak English. The Boys would go to school to learn to read then quit to work on the farm. The girls would only stay in school long enough to read the Bible. My great-grandmother was the last of that generation, she only had a fourth-grade education. She was born in 1904 and the oldest of seven children. The last two siblings, one a brother and the other a sister graduated high school and went to college. The opportunities definitely improved as time went on. However, a huge part of our French culture was destroyed by preventing the language to be spoken. There are only a few towns that still speak the Cajun dialect, one being where I am from, Evangeline Parish where the most French speakers in America reside. Today, schools are teaching French again, but it will never be prevalent in the homes again. In the same respect, all other immigrants go through the same hardship even today.

Education in 1700s

To follow into the 1700s, education in America was modernized and motivated to meet broad, nonsectarian needs. One of our Founding Fathers and future president of the U.S, Thomas Jefferson aspired to reach past educating only a small privileged class or only giving religion teachings. He upheld the idea that education should vastly be offered to white children from every background regardless of money or status. Next, in 1749, another future president and Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin came up with a new form of secondary school, replacing the unpopular Latin grammar school, the academy. He presented this idea in the Proposals Relating to the Youth of Pennsylvania. Even after many years have gone by, both Jefferson and Franklin’s ideas became American educational practices, but the desire for modernization to education was taking place. (Sadker, David M., Page 214.)

An important person in education history was Anthony Benozet, he was a Huguenot immigrant that became a Quaker. He wrote a book putting an importance of a well-versed education. In 1750, he taught classes in his home to black people. Then later in 1754 he began the first Philadelphia secondary school for girls. To follow, in order for a deaf and mute girl that was attending the school to participate, he created a special program for her. He wrote against slavery and spoke of equality. His other accomplishment came in 1770 when he persuaded Quakers to construct the first free school for African Americans. Later, when he died in 1784, he willed his entire estate to support the education of the Native American and African American people.

Thenceforward, were the prints from Benjamin Harris, his reading textbook, The New England Primer was extensively used for the next century. Another significant book we actually use today, the Webster Dictionary was written by Noah Webster in 1783. It was consisted of three-volumes and called, A Grammatical Institute of the English Language.

Another significant law passed for education was in 1785 by Congress requesting the Northwest Territory to be surveyed, part of which today is Ohio. This was to pursue ‘townships,’ which also reserved land for a local school. Resulting into ‘land grants’ and becoming the U.S. system of ‘land grant universities,’ which today we know as our public state universities.

Another pivotal date in American history was 1791, when Congress ratified the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave control of education to all individual states. ‘The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Education in 1800s

Pre-technology, my memories of learning as a child heavily consist of reading and writing down what my teacher wrote on the chalkboard. This method of teaching lessons and writing in schools was the result of James Pillans’ discovery in 1801 when using chalk on a blackboard teaching geography. It was a math instructor at West Point Military Academy that first used it in America. Then, in 1805, a wealthy businessman established a “Lancastrian” modeled school to educate poor children in New York. It had one “master” that taught hundreds of students in a room. Thereby, the older students receive a rote lesson by the master, which whom would then teach the younger students. These school’s main emphasis was strict discipline and obedience since these are the prime qualities that factory owners desired in their employees.

Sadly, throughout history women were not given the same educational opportunities as men up until this point. If they were fortunate, they went to grade school long enough to learn to read the Bible. That is, not until 1831, where a coeducation Mississippi College granted a degree to two woman, Alice Robinson and Catherine Hall. Soon after that, Oberlin College becomes the first U.S. College to admit both women and men in 1833. Horace Mann, the foremost supporter for the creation of a freely open common school. Today, it’s called the public elementary school. Horace Mann is considered to be an outstanding advocate of education for the common person (the Common School Movement), nick-named “the father of the public school.”

Congress passed a law making it illegal for Native Americans teaching native languages in schools. Children starting at four years old were sent to off-reservation boarding schools, Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Development through 90s

In the late 1800’s, education began to grow and become more organized. Hence, the first Department of Education was formed in 1867. The Pledge of Allegiance was first used in public schools on Columbus Day in 1892 and remains in most schools today. Going into the 1900’s, laws were being passed. The U.S. Supreme Court requires public education to the children of Chinese immigrant California residents in 1905. Then, the minimum wage was enacted and prohibiting children under the age of 12 to be employed. In 1918 it became mandatory that students attend school in every state which increased literacy rates. The following year, every state had passed a law to provide public funding for students to have school transportation. As a result, in 1939, Frank W. Cyr lead a conference on student transportation and the national standardization of school buses to later become the Father of Yellow School Bus. A great program since I’m sure everyone that attended public school rode on a yellow school bus at some time or another.

Prior to the mid-1950’s, public schools were segregated, the white children did not inter-mix with black children or ethnic groups such as Hispanics and Native Americans. White schools received most of the education funding, which lead to better school conditions and textbooks. Finally, in 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court passed the law that made segregated schools illegal with the case Brown v. Board of Education. There was still a long road ahead to provide an equal opportunity to all students to receive an education since a follow up plan wasn’t in place, only to desegregate not integrate. Slowly, a decade later, Jule Sugarman founded the Head Start Program in 1965 that provided an educational program for low-income preschool children. Today there are debates whether the program is effective and worth the Congressional funding.

As a result of the 1983 Reagan Administration’s report, “A Nation at Risk,” the nation’s confidence in the school system was crushed, igniting a new education reform that started vouchers and charter schools to privatization. Following that reform was another attempt to improve the education system with President G.W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act, implementing student testing, in return holding the schools and educators accountable for the student’s achievement. There are arguments on the unfairness of penalizing schools for the students attending, resulting in teachers not wanting to work in those schools. On the other hand, some civil rights groups feel this is an important method to uphold high standards and recognize schools in need.

Regardless of the past and present-day education reforms and programs, a struggle for equality, diversity still exists today. However, slowly we have progressed forward in the school system that was paved for us by many past American’s and their vision for an open and free education. Present day educators also possess a common goal of meeting the tough new academic standards in education. Today, the debate continues: do any of the present-day strategies for diversity and equality challenge the Founding Fathers’ philosophies of an open and free common school, or are they the only a remedy in a multifaceted society?

‘History of Boston Latin School—oldest public school in America’. BLS Web Site. Archived from the original on 2007-05-02. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
‘Education Law.’ American Law Yearbook 2007. . Encyclopedia.com. 24 Sep. 2018
Cooper, Forrest Lamar (2011). Looking Back Mississippi: Towns and Places. University Press of Mississippi. p. 23. ISBN 9781617031489.
Irimia R, Gottschling M (2016) Taxonomic revision of Rochefortia Sw. (Ehretiaceae, Boraginales). Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e7720. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.4.e7720
Guinier, L. (n.d). From Racial Liberalism to Racial Literacy: Brown v. Board of Education and the Interest-Divergence Dilemma (Publication).
Lyndsey Layton, ‘Obama signs new K–12 education law that ends No Child Left Behind’ Washington Post Dec 11, 2015
Curti, M. E. The social ideas of American educators, with new chapter on the last twenty-five years. (1959)
Sadker, David M.. Teachers Schools and Society (Page 215). McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Kindle Edition.

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Role of Education in The United States

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Introduction

Failure of public education in america, institutional problems facing public schools, works cited.

The United States of America is the nation that controls the economy of the world. Consequently, the USA is the founder of equality. Despite its efforts however, the nation is currently facing problems in its education system. Ironically, the US government comes up with a new idea almost every decade that are parenthetical good but they are not as effective in practice.

The main question that comes up as a result is, who it to blame for this? In the United States of America, the government controls the education system. Due to this fact, I believe that due to its institutional inefficiencies, the American government has failed to successfully manage the education system in America.

As a result, there is a huge disparity between the education that is offered in public schools and the one offered in private school. In practice, private school education in the United States of America is of a higher quality as compared to the education offered in public schools. With regards to these factors, this paper will thus focus on the role played by the United States government in the declining quality of education that is offered in public schools.

In the United States of America, many people believe that the lack of results in the main problem that the public education in the USA is facing. This allegation is true since the standards of education in public schools are relatively lower as compared to private schools.

Therefore, many people do not place high expectations on students who attend public schools in the United States. As Chubb (1990) asserted, setting up rules and regulations in the United States is considered a bigger priority as compared to the analysis of results and coming up with measures that would ultimately improve the quality of education in public schools (6).

Thus, from this argument, it is evident that public education in the United States has failed not due to the poor performance of students but as a result of the policies that have been put in place to ensure that public schools in the United States operate in an effective and efficient manner. In the United States, the government determines the policies that will be implemented either directly or indirectly (Chubb 8). Therefore, the government is to blame for the poor performance by the students in public schools and not the students themselves.

Since the end of the Second World War, the US government has put extensive efforts in reforming the education system of the nation. Through school reform programs, the US government aimed at developing an education system that will carter for the needs of its citizens ensure its sustainability in the short run and in the long run.

However, most of the policies and measures that have been developed and implemented have failed to meet these needs. The approach that the policy makers used to develop and implement these measures has always been poor.

Measures such as school centralization, progressive education, and incorporation of ICT in education by introducing computers in the classroom were brilliant ideas. However, they were proposed and implemented with proper analysis of the educational needs of the country and the impacts that they might have on education. As a result, these and many other measures have failed to meet the needs and requirements that they had been implemented to achieve.

Despite realizing its mistakes and coming up with effective measures, the government is still utilizing the same rudimentary techniques in the school reformation process up to the present moment (Hood 7). Thus, policy development and implementation in public schools in the USA is characterized by misdiagnosis of the needs of public education and blame shifting during the times of failure.

More importantly, the government has failed to address the cultural and social trends within the classroom that have greatly deteriorated since the beginning of the 1960s. These trends have greatly affected the relationship that students have with their teachers and the relationship between the parents and the teachers.

In the contemporary world, students do not respect their teachers as they did several decades ago. Consequently, parents always blame the teachers for the poor performance by the students without the realization of the limited resources that they have to work with in the process of teaching.

The operation of public schools is usually characterized by external influences from various agencies and government bodies. As a result, the rules and regulations in public schools are rigid from external forces such as supervisors are responsible for their development and implementation. This trend reduces the power that the internal management of a school has.

Therefore, it is difficult for public schools to hire or fire teachers or any other employee as a measure of improving their performance. According to Smith (1995), it is difficult for principals to achieve high standards of performance when their staff comprise of individuals who are not fit for the job and they do not have the power nor the mandate to fire them or hire new ones (122). In most cases, such institutions will be characterized by conflicts between institution heads and their staff and among staff members.

This greatly reduces the effectiveness and efficiency of operations resulting in poor performance that is a characteristic of public schools in the USA. The government should therefore decentralize the management of public schools to give institutional heads and managers more power to run their institutions. This will greatly increase the efficiency of public education since institutional heads will have the opportunity to select a workforce that works to meet the vision, mission, goals, and objectives of public education in the USA.

The civil service system also plays a significant role in the poor performance of public schools in the United States of America. Since the beginning of the 20 th century, most of the employees in public schools are unionized individuals who are employed by the government.

Due to the guarantee of tenure that such individuals have, it is difficult for them to increase their performance to meet the needs of public education. Furthermore, lack of accountability is another factor that has greatly reduced employee performance in public schools. To overcome this problem, private firms should provide employment in public education to meet their specific needs and requirements.

These firms should strive to achieve efficiency and accountability from their employees. As a result, teachers and other personnel in the public sector will improve their performance and output to meet the needs and requirements of their employers as well as the requirements of public education.

Monotony is another problem that public education is facing in the United States. Like other employees, teachers in public schools will be motivated with incentives and rewards (Hood 12). However, the government has failed to realize this need. Thus, due to lack of incentives, teachers are not motivated to work harder to improve the performance of students in public schools that has been deteriorating with time.

Thus, the government should come up with measures and systems that reward hard working teachers and public schools. This move will increase the engagement of teachers in public education and competition among public schools while striving for excellence. In the long run, this strategy will greatly improve the quality of public education.

Finally, the presence of centralized decision-making mechanism has greatly hindered the efficiency of operations in public schools. As it has been discussed, the government is the main decision maker with regards to the policies, rules, and regulations that affect public schools. Through its personnel and auxiliary bodies, the government develops rules and regulations that are to be implemented at the school level by institutional heads and their staff.

However, since they were not involved in the decision making process, school heads, and their staff are always reluctant in implementing these rules and regulations to the latter. Thus, the decision making process should be decentralized to ensure that these individuals are involved in the making of measures, rules, and policies that they are to implement. This will greatly improve the efficiency of operations in public schools hence increasing their overall performance.

The quality of public education has greatly declined over the last several decades. Despite the fact that many people believe that it is the students who have failed to improve their performance, this paper has identified that indeed it is the government that has failed to put in place measures that are effective in meeting the educational needs of the public.

Thus, the government needs to address issues that relate to the management of public schools to improve the quality of education hence meeting the educational needs of the greatest nation in the world.

Chubb, John. Politics, Markets and America’s Schools. New Jersey: Brookings Institution Press, 1990. Print.

Hood, John 1993, The Failure of American Public Education . Web.

Smith, Kevin. The Case against School Choice: Politics, Markets, and Fools . New York: M.E Sharpe, 1995. Print.

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Dyslexia Canada celebrates progress and calls for further action in Ontario's education system following Right to Read Update Report

September 5, 2024

TORONTO – Dyslexia Canada thanks the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) for its continued commitment to protecting the rights of students within education, as noted in the Right to Read Inquiry Two-Year Anniversary Report . While applauding the significant progress made, Dyslexia Canada urges the Province to take immediate action on the key areas the Commission found to be unaddressed.

“The changes resulting from the 2022 Right to Read Inquiry Report (Inquiry) have been transformative, shifting the province toward an evidence-based, proactive approach to preventing reading difficulties”, says Alicia Smith, Executive Director of Dyslexia Canada. “However, there is still a lot of work to do, particularly in meeting the needs of older students with dyslexia who were failed by the previous approach. Properly identifying and supporting these students requires urgent and immediate action.”

Dyslexia Canada appreciates the Province of Ontario’s quick action in delivering new Language and Français curricula, which are aligned with current scientific research. This brings Ontario into the forefront of educational innovation, serving as a model for all of Canada. Dyslexia Canada is grateful for the productive partnership with the Ministry of Education in creating ONlit.org, a central hub to support educators in implementing the new approach. Another significant accomplishment begins this September, with the implementation of universal early screening for risk of reading difficulties and dyslexia.

While these major steps are already helping our youngest students get off to a good start with reading, significant gaps remain. Many older students continue to struggle with literacy, yet do not have access to effective intervention programs. Despite being one of the major issues highlighted in the Inquiry, the Province has made no changes to the process for identifying students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. Most disappointingly, the root cause of the issues identified in the Inquiry – the failure of the faculties of education to move beyond outdated reading instruction methods – has not been addressed. Teachers continue to leave university without the skills necessary to teach reading effectively, putting an unnecessary burden on school boards to fill in the gaps caused by this ineffective pre-service training.

“The commitment of the Province, school boards, educators, teachers’ unions, the Ontario College of Teachers, and faculties of education is paramount in ensuring that every student realizes their fundamental right to read,” says Patricia DeGuire, Chief Commissioner, Human Rights Commission, in the Status Report.

Dyslexia Canada echoes the OHRC’s call to all stakeholders in the education system to work together to ensure all students receive access to a fair and equitable education.

About Dyslexia Canada

Dyslexia Canada is a national charity whose mission is to ensure that there is a national voice and forum to advocate for all Canadian children with dyslexia. Dyslexia is the most common cause of reading difficulties, affecting 10%-20% of children. Partnering with professional organizations, experts, and advocates, Dyslexia Canada strives to drive systemic change by engaging and educating the public and updating policies and practices to ensure that students with dyslexia are properly identified and supported.

Media contact:

Alicia Smith – Executive Director

Dyslexia Canada

(705) 427-9544

[email protected]

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Education System in the United States

​General Structure of the Education System in the United States

​Subjects Taught at Various School Levels

​The private education system in the United States

​A Summary of Some of the Benefits of Private School System

​Some observed discrepancies to the generalizations regarding private school superiority

​American Education in Public Schools: A Brief History

​Disadvantages of Public Schools

​Of Co-Educational Schools versus Single-Sex Schools

​Controversies in the Adoption of Coeducation

​Current Trends of Education in the United States

​The Role of Universities in the United States Education System

​Conclusion

Reference List

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Background, Aims, and Theories of the Comparative Large-Scale Studies in Education

Background, Aims and Theories of the Comparative Large-Scale Studies in Education

General Structure of the Education System in the United States

Subjects Taught at Various School Levels

The private education system in the United States

A Summary of Some of the Benefits of Private School System

Some observed discrepancies to the generalizations regarding private school superiority

American Education in Public Schools: A Brief History

Disadvantages of Public Schools

Of Co-Educational Schools versus Single-Sex Schools

Controversies in the Adoption of Coeducation

Current Trends of Education in the United States

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Conclusion