Verified Document

Educational System In America Is Facing Heavy Essay

¶ … educational system in America is facing heavy criticism (Reich, 2010). This criticism centers on the effectiveness of the system and its capacity to educate the nation's children. Critics argue that America's children continue to record poor scores in standardized testing and that graduation rates continue to decline. On one side are those who are arguing that drastic changes are needed while the opposing side argues that the American education system is performing adequately (Strauss, 2006). One of the major criticisms of the American system of education is that it is too bureaucratic in structure (Douglas, 1991). One of the causes that the system has become so bureaucratic is its heavy reliance upon funding from governmental agencies. This reliance results in schools being required to conform to layers and layers of regulation and compliance rules that divert attention from the primary goal which is to educate. Teachers and administrators spend inordinate amount of time addressing issues not related to educating and placing control of the education agenda outside the province of local administrators. The current theory is that decentralization and a decreased reliance on government funding would ease the bureaucratic jungle that has plagued the educational system in recent years but this movement has meant with resistance from the educational establishment that feels that the current system is working.

Standardized testing has become the darling of those who argue that the educational system is not effective. Critics cite the poor performance of students...

Opponents of this view argue that standardized tests do not measure educational achievement, but rather, they measure objective standards that have little or nothing to do with the process of education.
Debate over the education system in the United States has been acrimonious for a number of years and there is little likelihood that this situation will change much in the immediate future. For the past several decades reform has been the popular approach, yet, the debate continues and no specific reform measure has enjoyed popular support. Meanwhile, the fact that reforms continue has caused the public to continue to lose confidence in educators and the entire system.

Where the situation lies is subject to considerable debate and is not likely to be determined to everyone's satisfaction. The issue of educational effectiveness is a highly subjective one and is difficult to measure. The only way that a consensus can ever be reached is through an organized attempt by all concerned to develop a policy that addresses everyone's concerns. Given the history of educational reform in the United States, the development of such a policy may be impossible.

4.

Religion in America is in a state of flux (Newport, 2009). Not only do America's religions continue to become more diversified in terms of…

Sources used in this document:
References

Douglas, J.D. (1991). Only Freedom of Education can solve America Bureaucratic Crisis of Education. Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute.

Knox, N. (2005, August 11). Religion takes a back seat in Western Europe. USA Today .

Newport, F. (2009). Religious Indentity: States Differ Widely. Washington, D.C.: Gallup.

Pew Research Center. (2010). U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey. Washington, D.C.: Pew Research Center.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Educational Crisis Do You Feel
Words: 1202 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Private schools are just as vulnerable to the issues that public schools are facing today. Each one of us carries a responsibility for trying to improve the situation. Parents and familial groups have a huge responsibility to augment educational strategies. In the environment where most school systems employ strategies to make students part of the masses, without individual attention or nurturing, it is important for the family to step up

America the Changing Economic Conditions
Words: 3330 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

The depression in the recent era can affect the productivity of workers along with their entire performance of work. The inability to concentrate on making informed decisions can lead to the accidents that can be unbearable. Moreover, the incident of Benghazi has caused the people of America being an employee to face chronic depression that may require them to take medication (Confer, Easton and Fleischman 112-115). Today, only 56% of

Health Care Systems Management As
Words: 9550 Length: 35 Document Type: Dissertation

The infant mortality rate is of 8.97 deaths per 1,000 live births. This rate places Kuwait on the 160th position on the chart of the CIA. The adult prevalence rate of HIV / AIDS is of 0.1 per cent. In terms of economy, Kuwait is a relatively open, small and wealthy economy. It relies extensively on oil exports -- petroleum exports for instance account for 95 per cent of the

Boys and Girls Club of America
Words: 7471 Length: 25 Document Type: Term Paper

Boys and Girls Clubs of America as a Resource to Aid in the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency Boys and Girls Clubs of America This research describes the tremendous need for nonprofit human services organizations by youth who: use drugs, commit crimes or are victims of crime, drop out of high school, and become pregnant at an early age. There are a variety of nonprofit organizations such as Boys and Girls Clubs

Delimitations Today, Modern Business Systems
Words: 20751 Length: 75 Document Type: Research Proposal

A favorite target for conspiracists today as well as in the past, a group of European intellectuals created the Order of the Illuminati in May 1776, in Bavaria, Germany, under the leadership of Adam Weishaupt (Atkins, 2002). In this regard, Stewart (2002) reports that, "The 'great' conspiracy organized in the last half of the eighteenth century through the efforts of a number of secret societies that were striving for

Desecration of Public Education in Urban Settings
Words: 5238 Length: 11 Document Type: Research Paper

Desecration of Public Education in Urban Settings Desecration of Public Education Attack on Public Education Urban Education Public Education: A Democratic Demand Government's Interest in Charter Schools Why Charter System Needs to be Opposed Division of the Community Failing Public Schools will Loose Funding to the Charter Schools Difference between Public and Charter Schools Innovation Funding Choice Accountability Educational Philosophy No Standard Policies Peer Pressure and Violence Lack of Extracurricular Activities Learning Disabilities Authority and their Rigid System Ignorance about Children's Bad Habits Following measures can be taken to improve public

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now