Education Reform in the United States_141118

Education Reform in the United States

Mark J. JordanRethinking Schools and Organizations

ELC-773

Questions of Inquiry

• What is the purpose of our educational system?

• How has the U.S. responded to the educational needs of its youth?

• Who are the stakeholders in our educational system?

• Where is our educational system heading?• How will our educational system improve?

Spring (2014)

What is the Purpose?

• Improve America’s position in the global system

• Reduce poverty• Prepare youth to enter the workforce or

college (but mostly college)• Instill morality and nationalism

How has the U.S. Responded?

Sears & Hyslop-Margison (2007)

How has the U.S. Responded?

• Crisis 1: Launching of Sputnik by the Soviet Union in 1957– Perception of losing scientific edge– Progressive curricula to blame– Reform education: Essentialism– Focus on mathematics, science, and foreign

language– The National Defense Education Act of 1958

(NDEA)

Kessinger (2011)

How Has the U.S. Responded?

• Crisis 2: High Poverty Rates– Link between education and poverty– War on Poverty declared in 1964– Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

(ESEA)• Categorical aid• Tied federal aid to national concerns• Linked federal aid to educational programs• States responsible for administering funds

Kessinger (2011); Spring (2014)


• Crisis 3: A Nation at Risk (1983)– Losing our shine in certain markets– Loss of moral character– Curriculum, student expectations, instruction

time, and teaching practices were faulted

Kessinger (2011); U.S. Department of Education (1983)


19942001

2009

Who are the stakeholders?

• No Child Left Behind– The Heritage Foundation– AEI– Conservative media

outlets– The Manhattan Institute– The Christian Coalition

• Race to the Top– Boykin Curry Eagle

Capital– inBloom– Pearson– Sylvan

Spring (2014)

How Does the U.S. Measure Up? Reading Scores

Kena et al. (2014), (p.112)

How Does the U.S. Measure Up? Math Scores

Kena et al. (2014), (p.113)

How Does the U.S. Measure Up? Reading Scores by Race

Kena et al. (2014), (p.114)

Kena et al. (2014), (p.115)

How Does the U.S. Measure Up? Math Scores by Race

Graduation Rates

Kena et al. (2014), (p.138)

Kena et al. (2014), (p.117)

How Does the U.S. Measure UP? International Assessments: Math Lit.

Kena et al. (2014), (p.118)

How Does the U.S. Measure Up? International Assessments: Math Lit.

Kena et al. (2014), (p.119)

How Does the U.S. Measure Up? International Assessments: Science Lit.

Kena et al. (2014), (p.120)

How Does the U.S. Measure Up? International Assessment: Science Lit.

How Does the U.S. Measure Up? International Assessment: Reading Lit.

Kena et al. (2014), (p.121)

How Does the U.S. Measure Up? International Assessment: Reading Lit.

Kena et al. (2014), (p.122)

Key Features of Recent Reform

• NCLB– School Choice– Free Market Theory– Accountability

• Race to the Top– Common Core– Charter Schools– Teacher Quality

Spring (2014)

Where Are We Heading?

• Citizenship education?– Sears and Hyslop-Margison (2007) – Canadian

education reform– Laguardia and Pearl (2009) – American education

reform

Citizenship Education?

• Disengagement of citizens– Poses a threat to the stability of democratic

societies– Education must address this crisis


The Crises of Citizenship

• Ignorance of civic knowledge and processes• Alienation from politics and civil society• Agnosticism about the values of democracy

and democratic citizenship


Laguardia & Pearl (2009)

Skills of Citizenship

• Critical thinking• Problem solving• Collective action


• Alienation from politics and civil society– Observed as the rapid decline in voting rates

(Sears & Hyslop-Margison, 2007)– Erosion of democracy (Laguardia & Pearl, 2009)



• Agnosticism about the values of democracy and democratic citizenship– Political and social extremism– Violent/destructive forms of activism– Rejection of values:• Respect for diversity• Open mindedness• Commitment to the common good

Spring (2014)

The Crisis of Agnosticism

• U.S. Republican Agenda– Anti-multiculturalism– Pro-Life– Abstinence– Creationism

Laguardia & Pearl (2009)

Citizenship Education

• Inclusion– Symbolic racism/ “Credential Society”

OECD (2011)

Successful School Systems: Finland

• What lessons can be learned from Finland’s educational reform effort?– Closely intertwined in economic, political, and

cultural factors– Slow and deliberate, over 4 decades!

OECD (2011)

Finland’s Educational History

• 1950 - Access to education was un-equitable– Only 6 years of basic education– Middle education limited access

OECD (2011)

Finland’s Path of Educational Reform

• Cultural change in educational aspirations• Parliament response to public demand• Three reform commissions

OECD (2011)

Finland: 1st Commission

• Launched in 1945• Focus on curriculum• Conducted field studies• Data driven reform policies

OECD (2011)

Finland: 2nd Commission

• Launched in 1946• Proposed a common school serving grades 1-8• Opposition killed the proposal• Resurfaced 10 years later• Government mandated legislation for

common school• Implementation was slow and methodical

OECD (2011)

Finland: A New Educational Movement

• New national core curriculum• Allowed tracking of students• Push for a highly skilled teaching force

OECD (2011)

Finland: 3rd Commision

• Focus on increasing demand for secondary education

• Provided greater choices• Alternative pathways to higher education• Increased emphasis on work-based learning

initiatives

OECD (2011)

Finland’s Educational Structure

OECD (2011)

Lessons Learned from Finland

• Commitment to education and children• Cultural support for universal high achievement• Teacher and principal quality• Accountability• How money is spent• Instructional practice• School organization• Sequencing of reforms to economic development• Cultivating behaviors for the knowledge economy

Mourshed, Chijioke, & Barber (2011)

How Can the U.S. Learn from Others?

• Status quo

Mourshed et al. (2011)


Step 2: Intervention Cluster

• Stage-dependent interventions:– Poor to fair:

• Achievement of literacy and mathematics basics:– Provide scaffolding for lower skilled teachers– Fulfilling all basic student needs– Bring all schools in system to minimum basic quality threshold

– Fair to good:• Consolidating system foundations:

– Production of high quality performance data– Ensuring teacher and school accountability– Creating appropriate financing, organization structure, and

pedagogy models



• Stage-dependent interventions:– Good to great:• Ensuring teaching and school leadership regarded with

high professionalism:– Practices to ensure profession is as clearly defined as those in

medicine and law

– Great to excellent:• Move locus of improvement from center to schools:

– Introduce peer-based learning through school-based and system-wide interaction

– Supporting system-sponsored innovation and experimentation



• Cross-stage interventions:– Revise curriculum and standards– Ensuring appropriate reward and remunerations

structure for teachers and principals– Building technical skills of teachers and principals– Assessing student progress– Establishing data systems– Facilitating improvement through introduction of

policy and legislation


Contextualizing

• Desired pace of change• Is desired change non-negotiable• Degree to which there are winners and losers• Credibility and stability of system

leadership/government and historical and political context


Sustainability

• Internalization of teaching practices– Collaborative practices– Mediation between schools and center of system– Architecting of tomorrow’s leadership

Mourshed el al. (2011)

What Does this Mean for the U.S.?

• Performance stage: good• Reform effort: good to great• Who cares?!


Massachusetts Reform

• Initial performance stage at onset of reform: Fair

• Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS)

• MyBPS data management system

Looking to the future

• Education can’t be just another political party agenda

• Need for common, bipartisan vision• Start with state level reform• Apply action research methodology to

evaluate progress and make evolutionary adjustments towards common vision

ReferencesCommon Core State Standards Initiative (2014). Common core state standards for

English language arts & literacy in history/social studies, science , and technical subjects. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy.

Kena, G., Aud, S., Johnson, F., Wang, X., Zhang, J., Rathbun, A., Wilkinson-Flicker, S., and Kristapovich, P. (2014). The condition of education 2014 (NCES 2014-083). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, D.C. Retrieved 10/24/14 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubresearch.

Kessinger, T. A. (2011). Efforts toward educational reform in the United States since 1958: A review of seven major initiatives. American Educational History Journal, 38(2), 263-276.

Laguardia, A., Pearl, A. (2009). Necessary educational reform for the 21st century: The future of public schools in our democracy. Urban Review, 41, 352-368.

ReferencesMourshed, M., Chijioke, C., Barber, M. (2010). How the world’s most improved schools

keep getting better. McKinsey & Company. Retrieved from http://mckinseyonsociety.com/downloads/reports/Education/How-the-Worlds-Most-Improved-School-Systems-Keep-Getting-Better_Download-version_Final.pdf

OECD (2011), Lessons from PISA for the United States, Strong performers and successful reformers in education. OECD Publishing. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264096660-en.

Sears, A. M. and Hyslop-Margison, E. J. (2007). Crisis as a vehicle for educational reform: The case of citizenship education. The Journal of Educational Thought, 41(1), 43-62.

ReferencesSpring, J. (2014). Political agendas for education: From Race to the Top to saving the

planet (5th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

U.S. Department of Education (1983). A nation at risk: The imperative for educational reform. Retrieved from www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/index.html

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