Educational Reform : A Nation At Risk Essay

Since prior to the 1980’s, the American education system has rapidly declined in all areas. The article, “A Nation at Risk,” written by President Ronald Reagan, depicts the many issues in the U.S. school systems regarding the content, standard and expectations, time, teaching, and leadership and fiscal support. This piece, apparently, has led the country into an extreme educational reform to improve all aspects of our school system. Based on my experiences in high school, student test scores, and current school conditions, I believe that while all issues raised by the commission in the report are not necessarily a problem anymore, issues with student growth.

Summary: The 1983 report, A Nation at Risk, issued by the National Commission on Excellence in Education and the Goals 2000 report of 1991 by the National Governors Association created calls for education reform in the United States. They resulted in stricter standards for teaching certification, changes in standardized testing, and a raise in teachers salaries especially in the South. President Bush passed the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 to also try to boost education performance especially for racial minorities and urban centers. NCLB required schools to give mandatory tests to determine student aptitude in core subject courses. Schools are rated according to the Adequate Yearly Progress scale which determines how much a school's testing

The A Nation at Risk report for many improvements to achieve in order to save American education. First, the school curriculum needed more “rigor” to encourage students. If classes became more challenging, then students would have an incentive try harder in school in order to do better and graduate to a higher level. Higher standards need to be met in order for a student to prove they are ready for that next step instead of working the minimum to upgrade. In fact, social promotion took place and allowed students to move up a grade without them having the skills in order to boost their self-esteem amongst their peers. The Nation at Risk report that new, rigorous standards were needed to be met before students are able

The American education system needs to change techniques in order to successfully prepare students for success in today’s world. American students are reportedly averaging some of the lowest test scores on the PISA test. This is mentioned in Amanda Ripley’s book the Smartest Kids in the World when it’s stated “Failure in American schools was demoralizing…American kids could not handle routine failure” (pg.72 par.4). This statement is a clear sign that the techniques used in the American education system to promote academic success in students need amending. There is definitely a change that needs to happen within the American educational system this is the only way to ensure that American students will be equipped with the tools they require

For the past decade, our country’s education system has reached a flat line in results. Studies show that the United States is the number one country in education spending in order to improve our results, but standardized test scores have plateaued. During President George W. Bush’s term, he initiated a program titled “No Child Left Behind.” No offense to President Bush, however his educational initiative is the most ironic title due to its produced results. So far, no state in our country has reached one hundred percent proficiency in mathematics and language arts and the system has gotten deficient and is failing the millennial generations. Education is a key component to success in our fast-paced society and our system needs to change, for

Nation at Risk gave rise to two major education reform movements; accountability and school choice. Federal government started thinking about testing, and standardization, which resulted in No Child Left Behind (NCLB), and Race to the Top. McGuinn’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB), describes the politics of accountability as setting a standard for teachers, testing students to see if the schools meet the set standards, and then holding the schools and teachers accountable for not achieving those standards by creating consequences. George W. Bush, a Republican made NCBL a nationwide issue. Unions and districts opposed accountability because testing could be grounds for firing teachers and using data to rank schools made schools look bad and

There are numerous issues that plague the public education system. Several of the concerning challenges that it faces today are: The lack of familial support or guidance some students receive, the increase in the population of individuals that seem to undervalue the benefit of an education, and the test-centered curriculum structure that is applied in a majority of schools, within the system. There desperately needs to be an engagement of ideas to mend the problems that the education system faces. Not only would it allow students a better chance at exercising their full potential, but society as a whole, will reap the benefits of a well-rounded education for all.

Since the release of the annual report by Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in December of 2010, many in the government and community are searching for ways to reform the American education system to give American students a greater opportunity to succeed. According to the report, one cannot ignore the fact that American students are not testing as high academically as other nations in the world (Duncan, 2010). There are many contributing elements that have brought America to her knees in the education system, however, the obsession with standardized testing is found to be more of a stumbling block than a stepping stone in the education system. To understand how to rectify the problem, we must look at all the facts

Educational needs change overtime to fit the ever evolving world and the knowledge required to successfully maneuver through it. Because of these inevitable changes, public school systems today are in need of educational reform. Evidence collected over the the topic of education reform has shown that overall the education system needs reform. However, there are two section in particular that studies have shown to be neglected in most school environments and that have beneficial repercussions for students learning abilities and the skills they learn for real life applications. These two areas of learning include arts programs and sexual education, although they are not the sole area in need of change the do offer valid reform.

The last century in American history has yielded educational reforms, federal legislations, school improvement plans and interventions, which consistently influence best practices in school systems. After the report, A Nation at Risk (1983), the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 was reauthorized in 2001 as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act (U.S. Department of Education, 2001). This reauthorization was a call to attain educational equality for all American students and to lessen the achievement gaps between and among ethnicity groups, children of poverty, and disabled populations (U.S. Department of Education, 2001). Additionally, because of this increased scrutiny of student performance, other classification categories emerged such as gender.

Education in America started with the Pilgrims in the early 1600’s. The first public school was opened in 1635 in Boston Massachusetts. In 1642, Massachusetts started an education reform that stated “Any child not properly educated would apprentice to a trade”. This education reform was created because they believed it was important for children and citizens to be able to read the laws of the land. This was the first law that required children to be education. If they were not properly educated they would be moved from their home to a better fit environment where they would be able to learn. Virginia then followed with a similar law in 1646. In 1647 Massachusetts founded an act called “Old Deluder Satan Act”. This act required towns of more than fifty families to hire a teacher for reading and writing. Towns of more than a hundred families had to establish a grammar school which served as college preparation. Dame schools taught reading and writing to females because this was all they were expected to learn so that they would not have the same intellect as men. Their classes were held in the teacher’s kitchen who continued her chores while the students did their lessons. At the beginning of the 20th century, parents and public schools began demanding more practical and useful curriculums.

In 1635, the first American public school was founded (historyeducationinfo.com). Located in Boston Massachusetts, and soon to spread all over, our American Right, to a free and public education still exist today. Unfortunately recent studies suggest that the American Education system might be broken. In the 2013 PISA Education Ratings of international developed countries, America ranked 28th out of 34. These results were mind blowing as America at the same time, also ranked fifth, in most amount of money spent on education. These uneasy numbers led to change in congress and in 2001, under President Bush, the “No Child Left Behind” bill was passed.

Public education in the United States is perhaps one of the most critical issues we face as a nation. Once pronouncing the United States as a “nation at risk”, the educational institution began to implement one reform strategy after another. In efforts to improve schooling for K-12 students, education reform has fiddled with class size, revised graduation requirements, and created standardized testing just to name a few. Unfortunately, traditional public schools are still failing to provide students with a quality education. This is disheartening as we learn that the United States lags behind in math and science compared to our international counterparts. It is safe to say that educational reform has spent billions of dollars over the

Effective school leadership today must combine the traditional school leadership duties such as teacher evaluation, budgeting, scheduling, and facilities maintenance with a deep involvement with specific aspects of teaching and learning. Effective instructional leaders are intensely involved in curricular and instructional issues that directly affect student achievement (Cotton, 2003). The writer of this paper acknowledges that school principals should play the role of instructional leaders, not just a school manager. The reality is that are many demands on a principals time and management skills making it difficult for most of them to spend time in classrooms, when performing teacher evaluation. Principals often make sure that teachers

Education reform is a topic that every student, parent and teacher should be interested in because it effects everyone in the community. Many different approaches to education reform have been tried, and even though they seem to work for the time being, there are always more improvements that need to be made. One of the best ideas that has been discussed in the most recent years is getting the parents and students more involved in the actual reform process. Many school administrators see a problem with involving students, even though they are the ones most affected by the changes within schools. Student’s opinions should be taken into consideration because they are the ones who see what happens inside the school and within the classroom, and are the most affected by it. Involving parents and students in the reform of their schools will improve the quality of education, improve parent and teacher relationships and reduce parent and student complaints.