The Need For Federal Government Involvement In

Education Reform Essay, Research Paper

The Need for Federal Government Involvement in Education Reform

by____________

Political Science 2301

Federal and State Government

OVERVIEW

For centuries, generations of families have congregated in the same community or

in the same general region of the country. Children grew up expecting to earn a

living much like their fathers and mothers or other adults in their community.

Any advanced skills they required beyond the three R’s (Readin’, Ritin’ and

Rithmatik) were determined by the local community and incorporated into the

curriculum of the local schools. These advanced skills were taught to the up-

and-coming generation so they could become a vital part of their community. The

last several decades has greatly expanded the bounds of the “community” to

almost anywhere in the country or anywhere in the world for that matter.

Advances in transportation and communication has made the world a much smaller

place then the world we knew as children. The skills our children need to

realize parents’ perpetual dream of “their children having a better life” are no

longer limited to those seen in the local area. It is becoming more and more

apparent that the education system of yesterday cannot adequately prepare

students for life and work in the 21st Century. These concerns have prompted

people across the country to take a hard look at our education system and to

organize their efforts to chance the education system as we know it.

WHAT’S HAPPENING OUT THERE.

There are two major movements in recent years whose focus is to enhance the

education of future generations. The “Standards” movement focuses on

educational content and raising the standards of traditional teaching and

measurement means and methods. The “Outcome Based Education” (OBE) movement is

exploring new ways of designing education and changing the way we measure the

effectiveness of education by focusing on results or outcomes.

STANDARDS MOVEMENT

In September 1989, President Bush and the nation’s governors called an

Education Summit in Charlottesville, Virginia. At this summit, President Bush

and the nation s governors, including then-governor Bill Clinton, agreed on six

broad goals for education to be reached by the year 2000. Two of those goals (3

and 4) related specifically to academic achievement:

* Goal 3: By the year 2000, American students will leave grades 4, 8, and 12

having demonstrated competency in challenging subject matter including English,

mathematics, science, history, and geography; and every school in America will

ensure that all students learn to use their minds well, so they may be prepared

for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment in our

modern economy.

* Goal 4: By the year 2000, U.S. students will be first in the world in science

and mathematics achievement.

Soon after the summit, two groups were established to implement the new

educational goals: the National Education Goals Panel (NEGP) and the National

Council on Education Standards and Testing (NCEST). Together, these two groups

were charged with addressing unprecedented questions regarding American

education such as: What is the subject matter to be addressed. What types of

assessments should be used. What standards of performance should be set.

The summit and its aftermath engendered a flurry of activity from

national subject matter organizations to establish standards in their respective

areas. Many of these groups looked for guidance from the National Council of

Teachers of Mathematics who publishing the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards

for School Mathematics in 1989. The NCTM standards “redefined the study of math

so that topics and concepts would be introduced at an earlier age, and students

would view math as a relevant problem-solving discipline rather than as a set of

obscure formulas to be memorized.” The National Science Teachers Association

and the American Association for the Advancement of Science quickly launched

independent attempts to identify standards in science. Efforts soon followed in

the fields of civics, dance, theater, music, art, language arts, history, and

social studies, to name a few.

OUTCOME BASED EDUCATION MOVEMENT

The decade of the 80s brought numerous education reforms, but few of

them were a dramatic shift from what has gone on before. Outcome-based

education (OBE) is one of those that is new, even revolutionary, and is now

being promoted as the panacea for America’s educational woes. This reform has

been driven by educators in response to demands for greater accountability by

taxpayers and as a vehicle for breaking with traditional ideas about how we

teach our children. If implemented, this approach to curriculum development

could change our schools more than any other re

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать