Why The U.S. Public School Education System Needs Education Reform

        Education reform or educational reform is the process of improving and enhancing the public education system in a particular country including the United States. There is no denying the hard fact that the American public education system should be reformed and improved because of the numerous challenges and problems that it is facing. If you are a public school teacher or a student in a public school, you should be aware of the various reasons for the importance and urgency of carrying out educational reform in the public schools of the U.S.

        An extensive and comprehensive education reform programme should be carried out in the public school system for both the primary and secondary school levels because reform is needed to enable the U.S., to compete in a global economy that focuses on disciplines such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Today, various research studies have been published in stating that a significant majority of American students from various public primary and secondary school districts are lagging behind in examination scores for science and mathematics compared to public school students from other developed countries. Many educators and other experts have said that an American secondary school graduate should have completed a comprehensive basic education that emphasizes academic, intellectual and practical skills that would make him economically competitive if he enters the labour force, or well-prepared when he continues his education to a university or college.

        An important aspect of carrying out an education reform programme in the public school system would be addressing the issues affecting the quality of the teaching staff in various public school districts. A comprehensive educational reform programme should address and solve the issues affecting the quality of the public school teachers such as upgrading and training of their skills, and setting standards for the academic and professional credentials and other qualifications of the teachers.

Career Options for Education Reform in The United States

        It is a well-known fact that education reform or educational reform in the public school system in the United States today is badly needed to reverse the current trend of students from public primary and secondary schools in the U.S., lagging behind with their counterparts in other developed countries. A major factor that would affect or influence the government and private sectors in carrying out educational reforms would be the availability of educators and other professionals who would be employed in carrying out the activities and programmes for educational reform.

        A job position involved in education reform today holds many opportunities for job growth and career advancement. That is because of the cooperation between government agencies, the private sector, and non-government organisations in making policies and carrying out the activities and programmes that would make educational reform a reality in American public schools. So whether you are a recent university graduate, a teacher, or an administrator involved in education, there are several approaches you could take to pursue in pursuing a career in educational reform.

        Working for non-government or non-profit organisations involved in education reform for public schools are a great way to start and gain teaching experience and make a difference at the same time especially if you are a recent university graduate. An example is Teach for America – a non-profit organisation that recruits recent college graduates and professionals in teaching jobs for two or more years in urban and rural low-income communities throughout the U.S.

       Working in job positions involved in education research and policy are another career approach in educational reform. Among the primary roles of an education researcher is conducting research studies that produce findings or results on how to formulate and carry out policies for educational reform in public schools. As an educational researcher, you could work in government agencies, non-government organisations, and in educational institutions.

Pedagogical Tools and Teaching Strategies in Education Reform Issue

         Education reform has been a recurring issue in recent years. There are points which people from inside and outside the academe raise from time to time which relate reforming the education or academic system. Some people argue that the measuring tools used by some schools in rating student academic performance produce results which are not conclusive or representative of the true knowledge and learning the students indeed have. Others assert that some teaching strategies used by specific schools or the education sector in general are not effective.

• Measuring Tools – In the issue of education reform, the tools used by teachers or professors in schools can be one of the most important factor to consider. To be able to make a decision whether there is a problem with the education system and reforming it is truly called for, one should measure the product or output of education or the schools. These products or outputs are the students and measuring them means measuring their academic performance. In doing so, we use measuring tools which are called pedagogical tools or assessment, evaluation, rating or grading tools. Further, we should examine whether these tools truly yield results representative of the what is indeed achieved by the students. 

• Teaching Strategies – Aside from the pedagogical tools, teaching strategies are also essential elements when we debate about education reform. Discussing teaching strategies require the account of the different aspects of teaching, training and instruction. Teaching strategies are tackled in the aspects of efficiency, effectiveness and overall benefits to the learners or students. We should research what studies have been done about teaching strategies and what are their findings and recommendations. Then, we should also check what are the studies which contradict or oppose one another in one or more aspects. Doing this, we can make our own educated opinion whether to agree or disagree to reform the present education system.

A Discussion on Education Reform

Education is a broad definition referring to any act or experience which has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of a person. In a technical sense, education reform can be construed to mean the process by which society transmits and develops its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from generation to generation. Throughout the course of history, the meaning of education and its preferred methods have changed as a result of debates happening over what kind of content or experiences produce an educated individual or an educated society. Educational reforms can be implemented by individual educators, a school organisation or it may also happen through curriculum changes resulting from performance evaluations.

The modern notion of education reform began with the spread of compulsory education or organized schooling, which is a period of educational attendance required of everyone and is provided by the government. Education is mandatory between certain ages and/or up to a specified level. In the current world, the unprecedented growth of the economy as well as the democratization of nations have made governments realize the importance of making sure that everyone has equal access to high quality and effective education. Modern education reforms have been increasingly driven from a growing understanding of what techniques or process work in education and how best to go about successfully improving teaching methods and the ability of children to learn in schools. Below are some of the current issues tied to education reform which are still a source of debate:

• The length of the school day or school year
• Whether to engage in after-school tutoring and to what extent
• Charter schools, choice of schools, or school vouchers
• Class sizes
• Improving teacher quality
• Access to educational technology for schools
• Tracking and reducing drop-out rate
• Tracking and reducing absenteeism

Problems to be Addressed by Education Reform

        Reforming education or education reform is a plan, process, or movement that has a primary purpose of starting and carrying out positive changes in the education system within a specific location such as a country, state, province, or community. We had a research paper about the issues or concerns facing the state supported or public funded education system in the United States and one of the issues or concerns that I selected as the topic for my research paper is on the topic of reforming the public education system in the U.S.

        Since I only had a week to finish and complete my research paper, I decided that the theme of my topic should be the specific problems of the public school education system in the U.S., and the solutions that could be provided by an education reform plan. I also performed extensive research on my topic. As a senior student in a public funded secondary school, I am exposed to the problems facing our school that has also become typical for many public secondary schools in the country. Our school suffers from problems in some of the facilities, lack of qualified and good teachers, a curriculum that promotes poor academic performance, and other problems that affect the teachers, students and parents.

        I read and studied several websites of organisations that are dedicated for starting, planning and pursuing programmes in reforming the education of the public school system, and in lobbying government agencies that are involved in policies for public schools. I found out that the major public school problems that should be addressed by education reform involves curricula emphasizing academic skills while leaving out non-academic practical skills, heavy federal and state regulation that restricts local school boards and administrators in carrying out needed reform, and staunch opposition from teachers' unions and other groups with special interests in the education sector.