Education Is The New Currency For Our Economic Goals And Expectations?

Teachers shape the minds of students to realize what their purpose is in life. Lately, because of certain educational reforms, it has been hard for teachers to say what they need to say. “In 40-plus states, the math and English guidelines determine the knowledge students have to master by the end of each grade, what they’ll be tested on this year, and in many cases, how teachers and principals will be rated at their jobs once those test scores are released” (Strauss). Most educational reforms are adopting standardized testing and should be reconsidered. Statistics even show that since we have taken part in reforms like No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, and Common Core State Standards math and reading are declining. These standards tell teachers what to teach and what the students should know by the end of the school year. The reforms also evaluate teacher performance by how well the students learn the information. Some people believe educational reforms should not be telling teachers how to teach their students, and others believe that the reforms are absolutely fine the way they are. However the truth is educational reforms are yet to be perfected.

The purpose of education is to prepare students for their futures with both knowledge as well as fundamental life skills. I believe students are highly capable beings who have a desire to be productively challenged. To empower students to meet and exceed high expectations set forth by the state, school, or teacher, it is imperative that educators “teach for enduring understanding through partnerships and by drawing on brain-based education, students ' multiple intelligences, and culturally appropriate curriculum innovations” (Laster and Johnson). Beyond guaranteeing students can read, write, and perform basic math functions, we should be producing graduates who are responsible individuals positively contributing to society, reliable workers, and devoted family members. Whether students receive a scholarship to attend college or go to work immediately following graduation, we must train them to conduct themselves with integrity, have an admirable work ethic, and solve challenging problems they may face throughout their lives.

The year is 2012. In the movie Back to the Future II, two years from now, in 2016, Marty McFly travels from the past to save his family’s future. The future is almost upon us, and yet it would seem that our education system has changed little since Back to the Future hit theaters in 1985. “We still have same teachers, in the same parts, in the same schools, with the same level of knowledge, with the same equipment’s, and much the same standard of parental support” (David). Ironically, we have been steadily implementing policy after policy, increasing standards and accountability, promoting oversight and rule… the list goes on, and yet our progress seems minimal, our educators complain of underfunded classrooms, and our legislators complain of underperforming schools. The question of “how to improve our education system” is not getting satisfactorily answered because our system is not broken, merely underdeveloped. The truth is that America has made paces in improving its education technique or system; the problem that remains is for us to entrust our educators with the greater pliability and autonomy that they need to excel.

The new changes No Child Left Behind laws were passed earlier in 2010 stresses the importance of education has to be our main concern to ensure that our children are getting quality education. The legislation is called “Performance Counts,” It reevaluates tenure laws and evaluation. This means that teachers are evaluated and being laid off because of their performance in the classrooms. No matter how long the teacher has been in his/her position that still wouldn’t keep them in their position because of their low performance. Over the next 10 years the focus will be to prepare hundreds of new teachers in STEM science, technology, engineering, and math (Mclatchy, 2010). The program is to encourage students in the STEM field or alternative teacher certification programs to switch their careers if they choose to. For

"Making Sure That Schools Measure Up." Education Week, vol. 36, no. 16, 4 Jan. 2017, pp. 18-20. EBSCOhost. PDF. In this periodical article, Alyson Klein, reporter for Education Week, reflects on Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), an update to the K-12 education law, in the one year since it was passed in 2016. Klein discusses how the ESSA was designed to improve shortcomings of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the previous version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Klein also examines concerns over greater flexibility given to states and districts regarding issues such as standardized test, school choice, marginalized students. The Obama administration wrote how the accountability portion of the law would work, allowing states to pick their own goals, both a long term goal and short term goals. These goals must address students’ proficiency on tests, English-language proficiency, and graduation

The No Child Left Behind act emerged as a result of a massive increase in the costs of schools, while failing to show an improvement in their students performances. (Paterson 32) Since these standardized test have been in effect teachers have been judged off them. The problem is that

Failures in the education system have been blamed on rising poverty levels, teacher quality, tenure policies, and, increasingly, on the pervasive use of standardized

This is putting a lot pressure on teachers and is resulting in “Teaching to the Test”, which means they are spending a great amount of time teaching students only the objectives that they know will be on the test. This is only a small sample of what students should be taught throughout the school year. Another effect of these evaluations is the loss of effective teachers. A survey by NEA Today showed that nearly forty-five percent of teachers have or have contemplated leaving their profession. It is clear to see teachers’ evaluations need less emphasis on their students’ standardized test scores and more on their ability to teach. This would allow teachers to teach a wider range of objectives and be evaluated on their ability to teach and not their students

The past decade has been hard on teachers, especially in 2002, when President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind went into effect. This brought about yearly testing from 3rd grade to 8th grade. If every child was not “proficient” and was “left behind” by the the education system then the school would be subject to sanctions. The worst

Many states across the country are experiencing teacher shortages. Without enough teachers, we can not successfully educate our children. According to Glori Chaika “Forty-two states issue emergency credentials to people who have taken no education courses and have not taught a day in their lives. Many teachers are hired based solely on their experience leading church or camping groups.” (Chaika) Due to the shortages, States are allowing those who are not even qualified to teach. One can not believe that children are being educated as best as they can be, if those teaching them have no experience or training before hand. Another problem is that teachers are not being place in the fields were they can perform at their best, Glori Chaika also states that “One-fourth of new teachers -- if they are licensed -- are not licensed to teach in the field they are teaching.” (Chaika) Many teachers have very little knowledge on the subject they are teaching, “About 55 percent of students taking physics in the United States, for example, are taught by someone who never majored or minored in the subject.” ( Asimov) As a result of the current teacher shortage, the quality of America’s educational system has gone down. People are being hired with no teaching experience and teachers are being forced to teacher subjects that they are not familiar with. Adding to the current teacher shortage is the problem of teacher

In Diana Ravitch’s ‘(2010) article Why I Changed My Mind, she discussed how adapting accountability and choice into the American educational system has failed tremendously. In addition, Ravitch explained how federally ordained policies are continuously contributing to the system’s decline as well. She believes the legislators are so focused on testing and teacher evaluation that they are ignoring the root of educational challenges in the United States. With such strong emphasis on testing and test results, educators have changed their teaching strategies in an attempt to satisfy a broken structure. There is strong attention towards preparing students to pass standardized tests while simultaneously denying teachers the time to focus on content and instilling core academic concepts.

Possibly one of the most critical issues the nation is faced with is public education in the United States. One time declaring the United States as a “Nation at Risk”, the educational commissions started to carry out one reform policy after another. With attempts to improve education, there have been reformers have modified class sizes, graduation requirements have been revised, and standardized testing implemented. Proponents of the policy feel that America’s public education system has improved, children are receiving the best instruction from the most qualified teachers, because of the increase in funding students receive extra help and parents now have a choice in what is best for their students education.

The issue of teacher shortage today is continuing to grow. The effects of the achievement gap are reaching the teachers, not just the students: “...good administrators and teachers, who are doing their best under difficult circumstances, will be driven out of the profession…,” (Boyd-Zaharias 41). The achievement gap is part of the reason teachers feel they are underpaid, which happens to be one of the leading cause in teacher shortage considering, “Teachers were paid two percent less [than comparable workers] in 1994, but by 2015 the wage penalty rose to 17 percent,” (Long). Being a teacher requires passion in order to stay in the field, especially if the money in teaching is decreasing. Money is an important aspect for people when it comes to their careers, therefore, fewer people want to become teachers. This lack of teachers and the lack of college students studying to become a teacher leads to unqualified teachers and larger classroom sizes (Ostroff). Both of these causes are eventually affecting students’ learning environments. I chose this issue in education for my project because I have personally felt these effects, and I know others who have as well. As a future educator, I want to see better wages and better benefits, but this can only happen with qualified, passionate teachers. I plan on being one of them, and I plan on sparking a change. I am a future educator fighting to end teacher shortage.

The authors’ also go on to mention how “American educators need to lead the development of a new, shared vision for our public schools. If they do not create an inclusive vision for our public schools and learn how to raise much more students to mastery levels of learning, the American dream and the quality of life we cherished will be unsustainable in a global economy” (Pg. 6, Introduction). Though this statement is true in theory and concept – I ask the question: “how can ALL students be held accountable for the same mastery levels if ALL students do not learn the same way, have different learning styles, varied disabilities, speak different languages, etc.?” The answer is simple: They Cannot!

A debate on whether education is still the driving factor to success in the 21st century has been blooming for some time now which has many of us asking, “Is education still necessary for one to succeed nowadays?” This issue of whether education still holds that value of being the primary aspect of achieving success is of particular interest because it could mean that it could potentially create depreciation in the demand for education in the future, and money spent on acquiring an education could be used to pursue entrepreneurial ventures.