The Connected Curriculum - Challenge #14

Education and Curriculum Reform in the United States

According to a recent USA Today article, the “United States spends more per student on average, than other countries”. The report states that countries like Estonia and Poland achieve at about the same level as the United States, while spending less than half the amount per student. The commentary goes on to affirm that the United States has now put themselves in a spot where they have to “invest in reform, not in the status quo”. Statistic given state that out of 34 countries, the U.S. ranked 14th in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math. Although those scores are all higher than those from 2003 and 2006, they are far behind the top scoring countries including South Korea, Finland, China and Canada.  The article quotes U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan  as stating "This is an absolute wake-up call for America - The results are extraordinarily challenging to us and we have to deal with the brutal truth. We have to get much more serious about investing in education. We live in a globally competitive knowledge based economy, and our children today are at a competitive disadvantage with children from other countries," Duncan said. "That is absolutely unfair to our children and that puts our country's long term economic prosperity absolutely at risk." Schools have watered down their academic mission by emphasizing the social encounter: sports, proms and clubs.  Yes, these activities form qualities such as creativity and teamwork but they do not increase knowledge of mathematics or literature, so there is a price to pay.  When you do the statistical examination of what countries are growing rapidly now, they have a tendency to be the countries that have an education system that’s focused on academic skills.

I recently came across a video that was an eye-opener to me on the educational and moral crisis that the United States is currently facing.  The 3 1/2 minute clip impacted my thought process immensely so I decided to pursue my research in the direction the video pointed.  There is some offensive language in it, but I would urge you to look past that and listen to the message and points that are delivered. It is the most honest 3 ½ minutes that I have ever viewed in television.  To say that this video has gone viral is an understatement as it has had over seven million views in the last 7 months alone.

The Most Honest Three and a Half Minutes of Television, EVER (language alert) is from the beginning scene of the new HBO series The Newsroom explaining why America's not the greatest country any longer….but it can be. In the clip Jeff Bridges states educational statistics similar to those included in this report as well as making several points on morality, poverty, and focused his speech on what America use to do right.  “We stood up for what was right. We waged wars on poverty not poor people.  We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest.  We made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured disease, cultivate the world’s greatest artists AND the world’s greatest economy.  We reached for the stars, acted like men, aspired to intelligence – we didn’t belittle it, it didn’t make us feel inferior”. The information stated in this video clip intrigued me so that I set out to see if the facts stated were true. Sadly they are……

Many countries offer numerous paths to a high school diploma, including career and technical programs.  We have a very colossal conception of high school, which is a comprehensive high school with one particular diploma that everyone gets. The U.S. has placed less importance on vocational education because in years past, educators have been criticized for routing children into certain careers - - especially low income, immigrant and minority students.  Many experts say the United States should rethink its education method to model itself after countries that offer rigorous, difficult coursework in their vocational schools. For example, if you want to go to work in a bank in Switzerland, you can either go to a college or combine your high school course work with professional experience.  The best students in the United States can complete with anyone in the world.  The problem is the appalling inequality within the school systems. In the American education structure, the fact that the best 10 percent surpass Singapore and the worst 10 percent of schools with high rates of poverty are down there with countries like the standard level for Indonesia.  That’s an extraordinary distribution of inequality in a very rich country.

We know from the statistics in the United States that today’s education inequalities and dropout statistics will be tomorrow’s social inequalities.  We need to close our education divisions or the social divisions will inevitably widen over time. The biggest weakness that our educational system has compared to other educational systems around the globe is that we don’t have benchmark tests along the way that students MUST pass in order to move on to the next instructive level. What tests we do have we make incredibly easy (compared to other countries)…and when students don’t even pass those, we promote them anyway.  Almost all European and Asian countries have compulsory tests that students have to pass…and they are absolutely brutal in enforcing that.   They don’t have tests every year like we do, but most students take the exams at about the Jr. High level…and then again after High School. If you fail, then that’s it. One miss and you’re out…go be taught a trade. Some countries do permit failing students to take a test again, but only after taking restricted remedial courses (at their own expense) and some countries do not. In the United States, if a student doesn’t pass the benchmark test…they are given other opportunities and their parents have the alternative of signing a waiver that lets their kids advance no matter what. The benchmark tests are for information only, not an unconditional requirement that must be passed in order to advance on to higher grades. This is where I become very frustrated as a middle school teacher.  Time and time again I see 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th graders fail their academic classes and yet they are allowed to be promoted to the next grade.  In my opinion, we are doing them a huge disservice. I believe the requirement of passing mandatory testing to move on could be a huge factor in turning our educational system around.

In American Education Reform: 10 Lessons the U.S. Can Learn From Other Countries it is stated that “while the amount of students advancing to higher education has risen by 48 percent since the 1990s, 70 percent of eighth graders in America aren’t ready at a proficient level”. The education reform movement in the United States is moving slowly moving forward, but perhaps we can learn a thing or two from countries leading the charge in K-12 education.

China is ranked number one in the world of education.  China recognizes the importance of education in its country and allocates 20 percent of its national budget on it.  While the United States excels in particular aspects of education, such as high literacy rates and incorporating technology in classrooms, education as a total is funded by only 2 percent of the national budget.  Because of the amount allocated for education in Singapore, teachers are paid higher than attorneys and engineers.

Schools in New Zealand are separated into four terms and have two-week breaks in between, in addition to a six-week summer vacation.  By separating the breaks throughout the year, rather than having a mass three months off, students can take pleasure in recreational activities, retain more knowledge, and have time to relax and recover throughout the school year.

As Jeff Bridges states in the afore mentioned video clip, “The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one.”  Clearly, there is a problem with our educational system and it needs to be recognized and dealt with.  Changes such a passing of mandatory tests, uniform national standards, and increased national budget allocation will make strides in turning things around.  The American education reform movement needs to take a few pages out of the more successful countries play books by doing things differently before the next generation is lost in the competitive global market our world has become.

Until tomorrow...

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