Reforming education in America

March 31, 11:16 AMProgressive Politics ExaminerJay McDonough

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According to a 2005 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) study, the United States is tied for first place with Switzerland when it comes to annual spending per student in public schooling.   Each of the two countries spends more than $11,000 per student per year, while the average spending in developed countries at $7343.  The United States spends 7% of it's GDP on education, second in the world.

Sadly, that doesn't mean U.S. students are roughly 50% better educated than the students in these other countries.  In fact, (given the topic it seems appropriate to award it with a grade) American education would most likely earn a sold "C".

The 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) showed U.S. student's science and mathematics scores in the middle of the pack:

But there are a couple troubling aspects in the results.  There are many very poor nations included in the report.  When the U.S. test scores are compared to similarly rich countries, the U.S. performance scores drop to the middle of the pack. 

Another cause for concern is the stagnation of the U.S. scores, particularly in science.  The top tier nations, excluding the U.S. are showing incremental improvements in math and science test scores since testing began in 1995. (Link)

A 2008 Associated Press poll looked at both students parents and the general publics perceptions of public education in America and found both groups share similiar views on the performance of our K-12 public school system.  In most cases, both groups thought the quality of U.S. education was fair to good, but both groups acknowledged that the caliper of U.S. education has declined and is now inferior to the rest of the developed world.

President Obama spoke on education reform just a couple weeks ago, vowing to reform our educational system "from the cradle up through a career."

"The relative decline of American education is untenable for our economy, unsustainable for our democracy and unacceptable for our children, and we cannot afford to let it continue," he said. (Link)

The president then outlined a five-tier reform plan, starting with increased investments in early childhood initiatives, fair and tough standards by which to assess effectiveness, a focus on teacher training, recruitment and quality, promotion of innovation and excellence and, lastly, working on college affordability and availability.

The Center for American Progress recently published an interesting article, and provided five proposals of their own to reform American public schools.  They are:

1.  Redesign the school day and/or calendar.  American children, for example, spend a month less time per year in a classroom setting than South Korean children.

2.  Rethink teacher compensation systems.  The U.S. ranks 6th out of 30 on teacher salaries, with an average teacher salary of $43,000/year.

3.  Make the tenure process more meaningful.  Districts could make the tenure process more meaningful by improving the quality and rigor of their evaluation systems and linking them to tenure decisions.

4.  Adopt early college high schools and fast track programs.  Fast track programs such as early college high schools can help students stay on the track to high school graduation, while also exposing them to the rigors of college coursework and allowing them to earn free college credit.

5. Set and meet rigorous, common standards.  President Obama challenged states to adopt “world-class” standards and highlighted efforts of “forward-thinking” states that are working together to improve standards.  Comparing a states performance to another state may not be a valuable as comparing it to another nation.

I've written quite a bit on U.S. health care and now, education.  I can't help but think the U.S. has allowed quite a bit to slide - once number one in the world, we find ourselves in the middle or the bottom of the pack. 

I have my own theories on how that happened.  What are yours?