The American K-12 Education System - Essay Example

The American K-12 Education System: A Failing Quality of Education? I. Introduction A high-quality education establishes the groundwork for a prosperous society: productive individuals, highly aware and involved general public, well-built cultural institutions and a civil society, essential economic development, and financial stability (Sternberg 2004). However, multitudes of children in the United States enter primary schools not ready to learn, and available data confirm that the public education system of the nation is performing poorly when compared to other developed nations (Splitt 2009). The objective of this paper is to discuss the weakening quality of education in the United States, primarily in its K-12 education system. Moreover, the paper will compare the performance of the American K-12 education system to other industrialized nations, namely, Canada, Japan and New Zealand, in terms of high school graduation rates, literacy rates and overall quality of education. Then the paper will attempt to evaluate the validity of these educational components in measuring quality of education. II. The Performance of the K-12 Educational System of US: A Comparative View As reported by the most recent National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), high school students in the United States have not acquired any substantial skills and knowledge in math or reading for almost four decades. Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education, referred to the continuing tendencies for high school students as obviously distressing. The executive of public policy at the Business Roundtable, Susan Traiman, referred to the NAEP scores of high school students “unacceptable and really reinforce the fact that high-school reform is long overdue” (Splitt 2009, 2). The findings of the NAEP is yet the most current marker that the education system of the United States is deteriorating, arising at a period when universities and employers are protesting that substantial number of students earn qualifications without gaining the skills and knowledge required for tertiary education or the workplace. Basically saying, the education system of the American society is not capable of providing top-notch K-12 education for its populace (Splitt 2009). If a thriving future definitely belongs to the society that excellently educates its populace, then unless counteractive steps are taken, America is destined to an unwelcoming prospect with an inefficient and incompetent workforce, and collapse of its leading position in the global arena. Meanwhile, due to the physical closeness of Canada to the United States, several of the educational developments and patterns are alike. However, there are a number of cultural and linguistic factors which make the education system in Canada distinct from that in the United States (Davies & Hammack 2005). On the other hand, Japanese education at the aftermath of the Second World War was intended to facilitate a drastically transforming society. The education system was structured to allow teachers to convey vast quantities of skills and knowledge to learners in whole-class conditions, and unlike the United States, they are evidently efficient and successful in their attempt (Ellington 2001). Likewise, New Zealand has become an international provider of quality education. Its education system is progressive with considerable quantities of technologically advanced facilities (King et al. 2003). High School Graduation Rates As reported by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, roughly 69 percent of the overall student population in the United States finishes high school with an average qualification in four years. Furthermore, there is a consistently identified earnings discrepancy between high school dropouts and graduates, which is an annual discrepancy of almost $10,000. Also, there is a mounting challenge for people holding only a high school qualification to find secure, stable and reasonably-compensated jobs (Alliance for Excellent Education 2009, para 5). The consequences of dropping out are endured not only by individuals, but by the larger society in which they live. The possible economic advantage of enhancing the academic performance of students should be a reminder of the essence of restructuring primary and secondary schools in America. On the contrary, high-school dropout rates in Canada have been improving gradually over the recent decade. However, among particular groups, such as Aboriginal and rural students, the rates are worsening (Canadian Council on Learning 2005). In terms of high school graduation rate Canada is ranked second to that of the United States (The Conference Board of Canada 2009). Therefore, data reveal that improving dropout rates means improving graduation rates. Reports verify that the United States is performing better in terms of high school graduation rates than that of Canada. However, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) the high school graduation rate in the United States stands at 76 percent which is below the average set by OECD, and significantly below the graduation rate in Japan, which is currently at 90 percent, and in New Zealand (Student Lending Analytics Blog 2009, para 4; Wash Park Prophet 2005). Literacy Rates The highly awaited national test scores of the Education Department for students of 4th and 8th grades reveal slight progress in math and even scores in reading. Several educationalists remarked that the 2007 findings would demonstrate if the No Child Left Behind policy in making an impact. Moreover, the test results reveal that since 2005, students have showed larger improvement in math than in reading (Sanchez 2007). On the contrary, the Council of Ministers of Education on its Pan-Canadian Assessment Program reported that 88 percent of the overall student population scored in reading at the projected level of performance, which surpassed that of the United States. The results were obtained from a written test administered to 30,000 students all over the country in 2007 (Canwest News Service 2008, para 2). Again, in contrary to the test scores in the United States, current figures in Japan show that roughly 95 percent of its students are highly literate which is quite remarkable due to the fact that the language of the country is considered as one of the most complicated languages to read and write. In addition to that, Japanese students are internationally recognized in their proficient mathematical skills (Ellington 2001, para 2). New Zealand, just like Japan, has attained international popularity for its quality literacy education (King et al. 2003, para 1). Three extensive reports are released by the National Education Monitoring Project (NEMP) annually, and according to the reports the levels of literacy are remarkably improving. For instance, there were significant improvements from 1996-2000 in the reading literacy of 4th graders. Equally, 8th graders performed in the reading test well above the anticipated level. These results are striking and indicate that the Literacy and Numeracy Strategy and several other implemented programs are having a positive impact (King et al. 2003, para 34-35). Overall Quality of Education In the United States, there is an existing unequal access to education based on socioeconomic status, racial or ethnic affiliations, or other individual backgrounds. Scholarly investigations that attempt to evaluate the conditional meritocracy of access to education in the United States have generated diverse findings. Nonetheless, recently the Innocenti Center’s Report Card 7 ranks the educational welfare of U.S. youth below the average of the member countries of OECD. Students in U.S. have failed to score as well in mathematics, reading and science as their OECD peers. The United States was also reported to have the highest rate of school dropouts in the industrialized world (Splitt 2009). Alternatively, with no SATs equivalent, early admissions, or college portfolios, high school students in Canada have minor reasons to take on techniques comparable to those used by American students. The tradition of stratifying colleges, which is instituted in the United States, is fairly new to Canada. Moreover, the secondary systems of Canada are significantly less differentiated. There are only 10 charter schools all over the country. Magnet schools are nonexistent, and there are no voucher initiatives (Davies & Hammack 2005, 90). In Japan, quite dissimilar to the U.S. education system, the nationally planned curricula introduces learners to balanced, general education, and obligatory education is recognized for its fair educational handling of students and for its reasonably evenhanded allocation of financial resources among schools. Educational facilities are state of the art. Nonetheless, the demands exerted by the standardized curricula and paradigm take out a price in inflexibility, involving expected conventionality of behavior. Little attempt is initiated to deal with the special needs and interests of the children (Country Studies 2009). Correspondingly, in designing and implementing their curricula, educators in New Zealand should consider the standards of The New Zealand Curriculum Framework. The standards provide direction to New Zealand’s curriculum. They are founded on the principles that the individual learner is at the heart of teaching and learning thus the curriculum should be designed in the highest quality. The education system of the country is outcome-oriented, in the sense that it communicates achievement goals for all students in New Zealand (3rd APEC Education Ministerial Meeting 2004, 6). Validity of the Measures of Quality Education Substantial efforts have been given in attempting to measure quality of education. Standardized achievement tests, evaluations of educational programs and literacy tests for students are all believed to present helpful information to facilitate in the making of decisions about the impacts of educational programs on students. However, making a decision about American education and evaluating its effectiveness in relation to other developed countries necessitate different information. Primarily, the general characteristics of schools and curricula should be identified as bases for judgments. Moreover, when investigating a national education system, it is important to consider its particular objectives, its kinds of students, and other unique backgrounds. Validity of measures of quality education has several components. One crucial component concerns the subject matter to be tested. Second, measures should remain valid even when individual and group differences are taken into account. Lastly, even if student performance is validly measure, the manner such results are interpreted is crucial (Wainer & Braun 1988). III. Conclusion The performance of the K-12 education system of the United States, in terms of high school graduation rates, literacy rates, dropout rates and access to education, is deteriorating compared to the other three industrialized nations, Canada, Japan and New Zealand. Nevertheless, the validity of the measures used to determine the quality of education in the United States should be designed to facilitate diverse or flexible means to show success for various students. References "A BHAG for High School Graduation Rates." Student Lending Analytics Blog (2009). http://studentlendinganalytics.typepad.com/student_lending_analytics/2009/02/a-bhag-for-high-school-graduation-rates.html Davies, Scott & Floyd Hammack. "The Channeling of Student Competition in Higher Education: Comparing Canada and the U.S. ." Journal of Higher Education (2005): 89+. "Education and Skills Overview." The Conference Board of Canada (2009). http://sso.conferenceboard.ca/HCP/overview/Educationskills.aspx Ellington, Lucien. "Japanese Education in Grades K-12 ." ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies (2001). http://www.ericdigests.org/2002-2/japanese.htm "Good News: Canadas High School Dropout Rates are Falling." Canadian Council on Learning (2005). http://www.ccl-cca.ca/CCL/Reports/LessonsInLearning/LiL-16Dec2005.htm "High School Graduation Rates." Wash Park Prophet (2005). http://washparkprophet.blogspot.com/2005/07/high-school-graduation-rates.html King, Caryn M. et al. "Glimpses of Literacy Education in New Zealand." Reading Online (2003). http://www.readingonline.org/international/inter_index.asp?HREF=/international/king/ "Literacy rate high for Canadian students but girls have the edge: Study." Canwest News Service (2008). http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=320fde42-56eb-47db-8802-958ecd000b66&k=45039. 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