Problems in K-12 Education - Case Study Example

Problems in K- 12 Education al affiliation: Introduction In the recent decades, control of the federal government on the K-12 education system has had a dramatic increase. There has been an increase in funding of schools by congress while at the same time, rules and regulations on schools in local districts have been imposed. There has been a $60.5 billion increase in expenditure to the K-12 education system from 1960 to 2008. There are roughly around 150 aid programs being funded by the Education Department which usually comes with a variety of regulations and rules to help extend the control of the federal government over education policies in the states (Burke, 2011). In as much as local and state governments have happily taken the funding, there has been resentment towards the mandates that are required by the federal government. For example, the Act of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) of 2001 has aroused a lot of resentment from the different states due to student testing and state academic standard rules which are all regulated by the government. These federal rules that are ever increasing have brought about a decline in creativity, innovation and diversity in the education system and at the same time bringing about bureaucracies which are ever growing for administrators of schools. National performance in academics has also been declining despite the huge allocation of funds from the 60’s. Reading scores and mathematics have been flat, rates of graduation are at a stagnant level and a lot of research done has identified various shortcomings with the K-12 education system (Moreno, 2009). The various challenges affecting the education system due to interference from the federal government include: Mandatory Application of a Single System by the Federal Government This is arguably the biggest factor ailing the K-12 education system. There has been a preoccupation with the application of a specific model of education in all schools and everything has been arranged to ensure that this system is efficient and scalable. Every student, teacher, parent and administrator has to adjust to the requirements of this system. This system is always moving forward with an increase in cost and efficiency that is declining along the way, making students, parents and teachers lose enthusiasm (Mays, 2013). The fact that application of this system does not work in any workplace means that there should be no surprise that it does not work in education either. As it is, the education system is already in trouble. This causes the federal government think that providing stronger, better or tougher management in the form of rules and regulations to the education system will provide the solution. To the government, it means tighter controls and more top down management approach while providing incentives for the places implemented. Teachers who are perceived as not performing are ruthlessly weeded out. This is seen in the NCLB act and Race to the top (DeBoer, 2011). Race to the Top is a billion dollar contest organized by the Education Department in the United States in order to spur renovations in the K-12 education system and innovation. There are usually points awarded to states if they satisfy certain policies of education such as standards based on performance for principals and teachers, compliance with common core standards, lowest performing schools being turned around and the building of systems for data. The Act of No Child Left Behind generally aims to hold schools accountable to higher standards. It provides the parents with more choices for schools and emphasizes on reading in schools. It requires that all children, including children of poverty, to reach some set standards in reading and mathematics by the year 2014 (DeBoer, 2011). These methods dispirit the students and teachers alike often limiting their creativity and imagination. This plan has been criticized for being ineffective for children of poverty. It is said to create school environments that are hostile which leads to undermining of the relations between teachers and students and thus inflicting harm on the student with the greatest need – the child of poverty (Duncan & Murnane, 2011). I can argue that when the problems of a place have been brought about by the practices of the management, using stricter rules and regulations with the same type of management will only make things worse. Changes in the technology have aggravated the inapplicability of these methods. Some time back, it was possible to predict what careers and jobs would be available for students after entering the job market. Today, a student learns a few core skills such as writing, reading, thinking, math, creating and imaging but there is not the slightest clue as to what skills and knowledge will be needed when the child grow up. In order for this country to achieve the reform that is fundamental, there should be more sensitive and broader instruments of learning developed that we currently do not have. This will help in payment of schooling practices that are not measurable which include wit, responsibility and humanity in addition to math and verbal development. This will allow us to have another concept of accountability. Outcomes in Education Have Not Improved From the 1960’s there has been a large increase in intervention from the federal government in addition to increase in funding. However, there have been little improvements in the achievements of the K-12 educational achievements. Spending in the K-12 educational system by the federal government from departments such as the Education Department has increased at a very rapid rate. There has been more than a fivefold increase in spending from slightly over $12 billion in 1965 to more than $72 billion in 2008. This funding is mostly for the grant programs for the various states from the Education Department (Burke, 2011). There has however not been any improvement in education that is substantial despite this increase in resources. There have been poor achievements and no real improvement in course work. For instance, the student percentage of those who completed high school after four years of entering the ninth grade was, just like in the mid 70s, 75 percent (Coulson, 2012). The effects of the No child Left Behind Act cannot be isolated since there has been many other changes that have affected the results in schools. However, recent data does not paint a picture that is positive. On tests in different subjects, there have been little gains in mathematics of fourth grade. The average score rose from 234 to 240 between 2002 and 2007. It is interesting to note that the score in the test increased faster before the Act from 220 to 234 between 1999 and 2002. The average score in reading recorded a slight decline from 263 in 2003 to 262 in 2007(Coulson, 2012). This is not to mean that there were no improvements. There were great improvements between 2000 and 2009 in mathematics for 9 year olds where their scores rose from 231 to 242. For that age, reading scores also rose from 211 to 219. For 13 year olds, there was also an improvement in the mathematic scores from 277 to 282. In contrast, reading for this group rose by only a point. For students aged 17 years, both mathematics and reading scores dropped by two points (Coulson, 2012). Overall scores are not the only things to consider. Poor results are also shown when there is an examination of other programs by the federal government. There is a subsidy program that is a core program by the federal government known as Title I. According to research carried out, this program has not showed how it has helped in the decrease of disparities in achievement or an improvement in the performance of those it is meant to be benefiting. Another program is the Office of Improvement and Innovation by the Education Department. This office usually has $1 billion budget. However, from experience, this program has not been very innovative. In as much as they always try to lookout for the latest innovation, there has not been a single program the department has funded that has made any contribution that was lasting to help in advancing education (Duncan & Murnane, 2011). Children of poverty are usually at risk, that is, they are likely to fail in their studies or even in life due to their circumstances. Combined with the problems of the K-12 education system, the risk is higher. They are usually unable to focus and thus lag behind their peers. They also tend to be unwilling to interact with their schoolmates. This usually negatively impacts not only their learning, but those of other children (Bailey & Danziger, 2013). I believe a simple solution that is a bit general that would help in improving the K-12 education system is an increase in educational technology. There is a huge potential market and very many nonprofit organizations and businesses that are ready to provide the technology. However this technology is a really tiny fraction of the expenditure of the K-12 schools. Educational technology should however be viewed as assistants to the teachers. This is because they help in personalization of learning and can engage students which would help free the teacher to help students who have particular needs such as children of poverty. This would enhance the success of both the teacher and the students. Teachers’ Rejection of Technology Numerous teachers are unwilling to realign, renovate and rethink their mentality on conveying of instructions. In the early 90’s and 2000’s, a lot of money was wasted by the federal government on technology and projects that never helped in furthering the foundations of technical aptitude of the students and teachers in any way. Teachers were literally forced to adopt these technologies by administrators in as much the process was not logical for the betterment of students. This issue pretty much exists today. Very many teachers are too scared to try and utilize technologies of this new age such as Chromebooks and Google Apps. A number of these problems arise from the above problem, but most of them are due to the reluctance to change what they are used to. It is usually easier to keep moving on the path one is used to than deviating to start something new. Students have generally been moving towards a culture that is online driven and enriched by devices while the teachers at large are stuck in the mindset of papers and textbooks. Despite the fact that technology changes very rapidly, most of the technology that some teachers adopted well, such as online research and Microsoft word, are unchanged from how they first learnt them in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. This has led to there being a technological and generational gap with students outpacing the teachers. Many teachers are usually left undecided on whether to try and keep up or give up all together on technology. An instance that would improve learning and collaboration among students is Google Docs. It allows students to share spreadsheets and notes to their fellow students in real time while Google Docs automatically auto saves the work in the cloud. Its adoption has been really down because many teachers would rather grade the traditional way using pen and paper. A lot of educational technology out there never sees the light of day despite the numerous benefits it would offer because numerous teachers are too scared to leave their comfort zones. There has however been some progress from the federal government by introduction of programs such as 1:1 programs but this has not kept up to the expectations of children who are exposed to the latest gadgets everyday in their homes. Teachers’ refusal to adapt to technology has had a very negative impact on children of poverty. The fact that these children are most likely not exposed to these technology gadgets at home means that they lag behind the other students which further compounds their problem (Bailey & Danziger, 2013). The government should make sure that access to technology is easier for the teachers. This can be done by offering several incentives. For example, teachers can be asked to keep and maintain the information of students on special software that they have already been trained on. Once the teacher is able to see the advantage this has he or she may be more willing to embrace technology. Conclusion America is very strong in innovating and applying these innovations to the K-12 sector can turn it around. This would have a positive social, economic and cultural impact on all Americans who go through the system. There are several solutions to the problems outlined above. Education in the United States should abandon the current methods of accountability which use plans that are detailed, processes, reports and rules which usually specify goals and ways to reach these goals. The greatest criticism of the current K-12 education system is that all these plans force teachers to teach for the test and lower their overall educational goals. In my opinion, the administrators and teachers do not have to be the judges of scores all the time. There are areas where both teachers and students can try and understand themselves and how they are doing in real time leading to improvements for both parties. The meddling of the Federal government should also be reduced and eventually phased out and control returned to the numerous states and finally to the American people. References Bailey, M. J., & Danziger, S. (2013).Legacies of the War on Poverty. New York: Russell sage Foundation. Burke, L. M. (2011). Reducing the Federal Footprint on Education and Empowering State and Local Leaders. Backgrounder No. 2565. Heritage Foundation. Coulson, A. J. (2012). The Impact of Federal Involvement in Americas Classrooms. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DeBoer, G. E. (2011). The role of public policy in K-12 science education. Charlotte, N.C: Information Age Pub. Duncan, G. J., & Murnane, R. J. (2011). Whither opportunity?: Rising inequality, schools, and childrens life chances. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Mays, M. (2013). K-12 education: No more teaching to the test; with no child left behind exemption, w.va. educators to use growth model. Sunday Gazette - Mail, A.1. Moreno, N. P. (2009). K-12 science education reform—a primer for scientists. BioScience, 49(7), 569-576. Read More