“Our children, and our country, need and deserve the best.” Secretary Arne Duncan comments after the release of the Program for International Student Assessment 2009 results, which compare and contrast average 15 year old students around the world in achievement.
American students are average to below average in reading, science, and math compared to other nations. The answer it seems is more school reform with more rigorous academic standards, higher performance standards for teachers, and turning around low performing schools. This is all part of Obama’s existing Race to the Top Assessment Program, which invites those in education to the challenge of producing an array of students that graduate college and enter into the global economy.
States are individually responsible for the outcome of all of the areas that politicians seek reform. How can we do this? Dunan’s response is a challenge to local governments to change areas that will increase performance rates and negate the schools that have been under review for more than a few years with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2000.
Change is imperative in the education system within the United States. It might seem daunting to think more change is coming, especially for teachers and administrators who face existing challenges with their students, or parents who have struggling learners in their home, this change is coming.
The first step that has initiated this progress is with The Recovery Act, which has about 100 billion dollars aligned for education reform, in addition to schools being invited to apply for other government funds available that will help reform and change for today’s youth. Can money help change this growing problem? Let’s hope so.
Mr. Duncan comments, “The United States has a long way to go before it lives up to the American dream and the promise of education as the great equalizer.”
Education is essential for our country to grow. Can we achieve this reform with success?
