Lowering Standards of American Public Education - Essay Example

?Evaluation on the Validity of the Claim That American Public Education Has Been Consistently Lowering Its Standards and Expectations INTRODUCTION/EVALUATION OF THE ARGUMENT In relation to American public education, the former US President George W. Bush proclaimed that “every single child, regardless of where they live, how they’re raised, the income level of their family, every child receive a first-class education in America” (Forbes “7 Signs That U.S. Education Decline Is Jeopardizing Its National Security”). However, in recent scenario, lowering standard along with expectations of the American public education has confused the parents in the US about their children’s achievements in the respective field as compared to other nations. It is often viewed that high-quality education forms a correlation with national security. In this regard, the US is facing critical challenges pertaining to the education system in the era of competiveness. According to the report provided by the Council of Foreign Relation, based on the US Education Reform and National Security states “Human capital will determine power in the current century, and the failure to produce that capital will undermine America’s security,” (The New York Times “In Public Education, Edge Still Goes to Rich”). THESIS STATEMENT This essay will evaluate the validity of the claim that the public education of America has been consistently lowering its standards along with expectations by taking into concern certain convincing arguments along with relevant evidences. Based on recent facts and figures, the opinion in this thesis is headed towards agreeing that the standards and expectations of the American Public Education have been lowering. The opinion formed in this thesis also emphasises recent measures taken by the government pertaining to the public education in America, which is agreeably ensuring hope for the development and growth of this sector. DEVELOPMENT OF A CONVINCING ARGUMENT WITH RELEVANT EXAMPLES In the year 2001, ‘No Child Left’ Act was established in the US with a view to develop the challenging, comprehensible and the rigorous scholar standards for matching up with global education standard. However, in recent times, it can be apparently observed that the standard of American based public education has lowered. According to the survey conducted by ‘The National Assessment of Educational Progress’ (NAEP), the result known as “Nation’s Report Card,” depicted the positive outcomes of the students belonging to 4th, 8th and 12th grade standard on an international basis. Whereas, in contrast to the reports that presented by NAEP, it can be viewed that the scores of the US were much of lower standard in the worldwide context (Gropman, “Waning Education Standards Threaten U.S. Competitiveness”; Alexander and Leticia 325-327). It has been further argued that the aspect of ‘Downward Mobility’ is haunting the education system of America. The students in the US are avoiding in attending schools and colleges with a fear that their juniors possessing greater education background will be much more educated as compared to them. Further details on the argument for the stand i.e. ‘American Public Education’ is getting consistently lowered in terms of its standards along with expectations have been cited with certain valued observations. For instance, Andreas Schleicher, who is regarded as a special advisor related to education at ‘Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’ (OECD) proclaims that "It's something of great significance because much of today's economic power of the United States rests on a very high degree of adult skills - and that is now at risk," (Coughlan “Downward mobility haunts US education”). This reflects a clear picture about the prevailing education system of America. In support of the argument, the survey report of OECD revealed that the young adults are being more educated than their parents based on the ratio of 1:5. According to the viewpoints of Miles Corak, an economist, the education system of the US is getting exempted of the middle class section. Various crucial factors such as insecurity, inequality and political interferences are posing greatest danger to the existence of American based public education system by a greater extent (Coughlan “Downward mobility haunts US education”). Thus, it can be conveyed that the public education system of America is of mediocre standard as compared to that of the international stand. On the contrary, there are certain views that convey American public education based system have not declined in recent days. There are several governmental policies levied upon the education sector, proving the effectiveness of the American public education system. It is the teachers who play an effective role in determining the development of education system of any nation. It has been apparently observed that rigid rules along with policies usually make the hiring and firing decisions of the teachers in a regulated way. This ensures effective performance of the students in acquiring better education (Ehrenberg “What's Happening to Public Higher Education”). Uniform salary structure for the teachers is basically framed by the government. This ensures equality amidst the administrative department. Furthermore, on contrary to fall in the standards along with the expectations of American public education system, it has been further revealed that the use of internet and smart mobile communication system has opened up various opportunities worldwide. Furthermore, it has been ascertained that as there remains certain loopholes in the US education system, government interference has provided a new vision to the American public education system. Since ethnicity and racial discrimination has created a gap in the education system, supportive efforts and advanced designs have been implemented to develop the competencies of the US students. On contrary to this viewpoint, it can be viewed that the US President Barrack Obama encourages the conduct of various experiments on developing the public education system in aligning with other various nations. In this context, the President further expressed an opinion that “If a teacher is given a chance but still does not improve, there is no excuse for that person to continue teaching," he said. "I reject a system that rewards failure and protects a person from its consequences” (Frankenberg and Lee 13-18; Wilson “Obama Says Public Schools Must Improve”). This reveals about the measures being applied by the government to enhance the American public education system, proving the validity of the claim that the public education of America has been consistently lowering its standards along with expectations. CONCLUSION Based on the above analysis, it will be a fallacy to judge the failure of American Public education system due to the persistence of various dissimilar viewpoints about the concerned subject matter. It is the result of the series of activities and the political interferences that eventually deprived the public education system of America from being flourished. In the study, it has been argued that racial discrimination, depriving the middle-class families, inequality and rise in the education expenditures are few of the reasons that contributed in consistent failure of American public education system in terms of lowering its standards along with expectations. On contrary to the failure of the American public education system, the government is taking initiatives to implement changed rules and policies for improving the same. Furthermore, it has been viewed from the study that public education system of the US greatly affects five vital security fronts that comprise economic growth along with competitiveness, physical safety of the nation, US global awareness and US unity along with cohesion. . Thus, it is necessary for the US government to formulate policies on immediate basis to develop the existing public education system of America. Works Cited Alexander W Astin, and Oseguera, Leticia. “The Declining “Equity” of American Higher Education”. The Review of Higher Education 27.3 (2004). Print. Coughlan Sean. Downward Mobility Haunts US Education. 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. Ehrenberg Ronald G. What's Happening to Public Higher Education? USA: JHU Press, 2006. Print. Frankenberg Erica, and Lee Chungmei. “Race In American Public Schools: Rapidly Resegregating School Districts”. The Civil Rights Project. Print. “7 Signs That U.S. Education Decline Is Jeopardizing Its National Security.” Forbes. 2012. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. Gropman Alan L. Waning Education Standards Threaten U.S. Competitiveness. 2008. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. “In Public Education, Edge Still Goes to Rich.” The New York Times. 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. Wilson Scott. Obama Says Public Schools Must Improve. 2009. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. Read More