Last month in the Atlantic, there was an article by Marc Tucker that discussed how current educational strategies in the US are not going to put us back on track with countries who are outperforming our students. According to Tucker:
“You would think that being far behind our competitors,
we would be looking hard at how they are managing to
out perform us. But many policymakers, business leaders,
educators and advocates are not interested…Insisting that
America is so different from these other nations that we
are better off embracing unique, unproven solutions that
our foreign competitors find bizarre[i]”
The strategies Tucker is talking about are charter schools, school vouchers, merit pay, and reduction of collective bargaining; strategies that are not being considered in other countries. While we claim we want to compete with other countries, other countries are investing in a world-class curriculum, academic standards and teaching. Instead of focusing on solutions that will make meaningful change, the current solutions being considered are not going to make us catch up and overtake our competitors.
The failure to take bold action and match or exceed what our competitors are doing educationally demonstrates a lack of leadership at the federal and state level. It is also a refusal to acknowledge a significant overhaul of our educational philosophy is needed in order to develop a competitive educational system. It is time for our country to step up and make a bold move!
One bold move would be to finally concede the belief that the US does not need a national curriculum and teaching standards. Having a national curriculum would allow for colleges and universities gain a clear perspective on the academic accomplishments of applicants. Employers would also be able to better evaluate and match the skills of potential employees because a diploma would have nationally recognized standards.
Another bold move would be to develop a quality teacher education program that boosts the quality of the teaching force. The development of a national curriculum will need a teacher education program that meets the new demands of a national curriculum. According to Tucker, top performing nations have raised entry standards for teacher education programs. Teachers in other countries now must have in-depth knowledge of the subjects they will teach. These raised standards have led to increased teacher salaries and higher student performance, the US is nowhere near this[ii].
Our lack of competition with other countries has exposed the deficits of our educational system. This has been a recurring theme over the past two years however nothing tangible has been done to address this problem. How much longer can our country continue to remain inactive and allow other countries to extend their educational advantage over the US.
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