Reform
March 18, 2008
C&I 212-6
Group 6: Emily Tweedt, Michael Macfarlane, Tracy Pezzuto Each and every child is more than a student. He or she is a possibility. Education shapes those children, helping them reach their fullest potential. We cannot let such a resource receive mediocre schooling. Therefore, we must always assess and adjust education, making it suit an ever changing population's needs. For as long as there has been education, there has been a need for reform. Everyone wants education to be better, but there is no one answer. People feel passionately about this subject, resulting in power struggles- from the federal government down to each and every parent. There have been many ideas about what is right, and in the past, this has lead to different styles of reform.
Constructivism is an older, yet still popular theory. Instead of sitting in the typical lecture structured setting with notes, worksheets, and tests following, teachers are being encouraged to engage students in more active learning. By actually participating, students learn the material at hand, instead of simply learning to regurgitate the information on a test.
Another common theory of the past is the "Multiple Intelligence Theory." This style of reform focuses on the question: “What makes a person intelligent?” Instead of reinforcing the idea that intelligence is being able to think logically and analytically, Howard Gardner invented the concept of different types of intelligences. He created eight intelligences, including musical, kinesthetic, logical, linguistic, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic. Gardner is trying to show each student will have a different sense of intelligence and taking these into consideration will assist in dividing him or her into different academic levels.
"Site-Based Management" is yet another type of education reform which has been experimented with. SBM takes issues from the state and district levels into the hands of administrators, teachers, parents, and students of the school. Instead of having a national reprimand, individual schools decide the best course of action. A different management system is the "Education Maintenance Organization." With this idea, a private company works with school districts to improve the education of schools, without increasing costs.
Charter schools are also an option for communities to break away from the government standards and create their own requirements, although each charter school must present their management and expectations in order to be approved. Only after that can the school move on with their own regulations. Parents also have the option of placing their children into different schools of their choice. If parents still feel like there is not a school suiting the needs of their children, home schooling is an option (Styles of Education Reform).
These are just a few of the styles of reform experimented with in the past. While these specific types of reform, as well as many others, have been used, there continues to be much disagreement in the field of education reform. Ideas of the past must be changed in order to meet the needs of a growing and ever changing world. Those ideas, too, must change in order to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population of students. What may have worked in the past is no longer feasible. As future educators, we must learn from the past- what has worked and what has failed us and most importantly, our students. If we do not learn from history, we will be doomed to repeat it, as the saying goes. While no one answer will fix the myriad of problems facing education, there are some trends in education reform garnering interest. Funding is at the root of almost all education reform, but other aspects of reform include technology and community involvement.
They say love makes the world go ‘round, but what really makes the world go ‘round is money. Just the mention of funding elicits passionate feelings in people on all sides of reform. We all want change, but how will we fund it? One type of funding on the rise comes from philanthropists. One of the most prominent examples as of late is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The foundation is endowed with more than $20 billion and is the nation’s leading donor to K-12 schooling (Hess 131). While this may seem like an insane amount of money, and it is, it is nothing compared to the amount of money spent on education from taxpayers. That amount, for instance, was around $500 billion dollars during the 2004-2005 school year. The difference is, however, the majority of the money from taxpayers goes to things like teachers’ salaries and benefits. This leaves little funding for the trial and error of reform. Philanthropic gifts may be helpful in finding new ways to fund reform.
Education reform will stall without the proper funding and one trend requiring a large amount of funding is the integration of technology. Technology drives all aspects of the world and it is essential for our students to have access to technology and be taught to use it responsibly. According to “The Progress of Education,” some goals in the field of technology include integrating computers into students’ activities in order to customize lessons and closing the “digital divide” between students who have access to technology and those who don’t (Sates 1). Both of these aspects will help students be prepared to live in a technology driven world.
Funding and technology are two aspects of reform driven by money, but one type of reform involving far less funding involves the community. Parental and teacher involvement have always been essential to student success, but now communities are getting involved as well. This is especially important in low income districts which have a myriad of problems and poor funding. Community groups challenge the traditional political powers which imposed these standards in the first place. This type of reform relies not on money, but on the human and social capital (Merdiratta 198). This reconfigures power, taking it from “power over” to “power to” the people (Meridatta 198). Community involvement is so promising because it is a way to exhibit power without spending a lot money, and in this day and age, power without money is difficult to come by.
Again, all of these ideas of the past and present have some valid and beneficial aspects, but education still needs to change- if not by will, then by necessity. Studies show today only eighteen out of every one hundred ninth graders go on to college and graduate with a minimum of a associate’s degree. This is just enough to stay competitive in the world of tomorrow (Donohue 15). Who can say what education will look like 20 years from now, but there are many ideas for future change. Many factors will contribute to the future of education reform- new inventions, new political leaders, and the possibility of a completely different economic structure could lead to drastic changes in education. Most agree the future of schools lies in technology and computer assisted learning.
Computer assisted learning, specifically called "Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning" or "CSCL," is one way in which students could use computers to their advantage. CSCL is an assisted learning program that could be the basis for assisted learning in the future (Resta, Laferriere 68). Over time, students will collaborate more and more over the internet. The future of assisted learning programs should support collaboration and enhance a student's learning.
It has been said that rather than reform the future of education, we actually need to reinvent it. Reinvention is not solely based on the new technologies we did not posses during previous reforms. The future could hold a new way of assessing a set of complicated and important skills, helping prepare students for higher education and a future in the workplace. Many of the students who did not graduate from college were failed by the system. In future reforms, we could move away from the current system, which sorts and purposefully fails some students, and move into a system focusing on bringing out creativity in students, where a large number of students would succeed (Donohue 16).
These ideas are just possibilities of what future holds. We appear to heading towards a new and more creative style of education, incorporating more and more technology. By taking advantage of programs and technologies, while still keeping in mind styles of reform that have previously proven beneficial, we can begin a new page in the education of the world. In order to turn this page, however, changes must be embraced by everyone involved. Only then can the system succeed, helping every "possibility" reach his or her fullest potential.
Works Cited
Hess, Frederick M. "Inside the Gift Horse's Mouth: Philanthropy and Schoolm Reform." Phi Delta Kappan (2005): 131-137. EBSCO. Milner, Normal. 25 Feb. 2008. Keyword: trends in education reform.
Mediratta, Kavitha. "Outside in: Communities in Action for Education Reform." Theory IntoPractice 46 (2006): 194-204. EBSCO. Milner, Normal. 25 Feb. 2008. Keyword: trends ineducation reform.
Nicholas, Donohue C. "Reinvention, Not Reforms." New England Journal of Higher Education 22 (2007): 15-16. Academic Search Premier. 6 Mar. 2008.
Resta, Paul, and Therese Laferriere. "Technology in Support of Collaberative Learning." Educational Psychology Review 19 (2007): 68. Academic Search Premier. Mar. 2008.
Education
Reform
March 18, 2008
C&I 212-6
Group 6: Emily Tweedt, Michael Macfarlane, Tracy Pezzuto
Each and every child is more than a student. He or she is a possibility. Education shapes those children, helping them reach their fullest potential. We cannot let such a resource receive mediocre schooling. Therefore, we must always assess and adjust education, making it suit an ever changing population's needs. For as long as there has been education, there has been a need for reform. Everyone wants education to be better, but there is no one answer. People feel passionately about this subject, resulting in power struggles- from the federal government down to each and every parent. There have been many ideas about what is right, and in the past, this has lead to different styles of reform.
Constructivism is an older, yet still popular theory. Instead of sitting in the typical lecture structured setting with notes, worksheets, and tests following, teachers are being encouraged to engage students in more active learning. By actually participating, students learn the material at hand, instead of simply learning to regurgitate the information on a test.
Another common theory of the past is the "Multiple Intelligence Theory." This style of reform focuses on the question: “What makes a person intelligent?” Instead of reinforcing the idea that intelligence is being able to think logically and analytically, Howard Gardner invented the concept of different types of intelligences. He created eight intelligences, including musical, kinesthetic, logical, linguistic, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic. Gardner is trying to show each student will have a different sense of intelligence and taking these into consideration will assist in dividing him or her into different academic levels.
"Site-Based Management" is yet another type of education reform which has been experimented with. SBM takes issues from the state and district levels into the hands of administrators, teachers, parents, and students of the school. Instead of having a national reprimand, individual schools decide the best course of action. A different management system is the "Education Maintenance Organization." With this idea, a private company works with school districts to improve the education of schools, without increasing costs.
Charter schools are also an option for communities to break away from the government standards and create their own requirements, although each charter school must present their management and expectations in order to be approved. Only after that can the school move on with their own regulations. Parents also have the option of placing their children into different schools of their choice. If parents still feel like there is not a school suiting the needs of their children, home schooling is an option (Styles of Education Reform).
These are just a few of the styles of reform experimented with in the past. While these specific types of reform, as well as many others, have been used, there continues to be much disagreement in the field of education reform. Ideas of the past must be changed in order to meet the needs of a growing and ever changing world. Those ideas, too, must change in order to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population of students. What may have worked in the past is no longer feasible. As future educators, we must learn from the past- what has worked and what has failed us and most importantly, our students. If we do not learn from history, we will be doomed to repeat it, as the saying goes. While no one answer will fix the myriad of problems facing education, there are some trends in education reform garnering interest. Funding is at the root of almost all education reform, but other aspects of reform include technology and community involvement.
They say love makes the world go ‘round, but what really makes the world go ‘round is money. Just the mention of funding elicits passionate feelings in people on all sides of reform. We all want change, but how will we fund it? One type of funding on the rise comes from philanthropists. One of the most prominent examples as of late is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The foundation is endowed with more than $20 billion and is the nation’s leading donor to K-12 schooling (Hess 131). While this may seem like an insane amount of money, and it is, it is nothing compared to the amount of money spent on education from taxpayers. That amount, for instance, was around $500 billion dollars during the 2004-2005 school year. The difference is, however, the majority of the money from taxpayers goes to things like teachers’ salaries and benefits. This leaves little funding for the trial and error of reform. Philanthropic gifts may be helpful in finding new ways to fund reform.
Education reform will stall without the proper funding and one trend requiring a large amount of funding is the integration of technology. Technology drives all aspects of the world and it is essential for our students to have access to technology and be taught to use it responsibly. According to “The Progress of Education,” some goals in the field of technology include integrating computers into students’ activities in order to customize lessons and closing the “digital divide” between students who have access to technology and those who don’t (Sates 1). Both of these aspects will help students be prepared to live in a technology driven world.
Funding and technology are two aspects of reform driven by money, but one type of reform involving far less funding involves the community. Parental and teacher involvement have always been essential to student success, but now communities are getting involved as well. This is especially important in low income districts which have a myriad of problems and poor funding. Community groups challenge the traditional political powers which imposed these standards in the first place. This type of reform relies not on money, but on the human and social capital (Merdiratta 198). This reconfigures power, taking it from “power over” to “power to” the people (Meridatta 198). Community involvement is so promising because it is a way to exhibit power without spending a lot money, and in this day and age, power without money is difficult to come by.
Again, all of these ideas of the past and present have some valid and beneficial aspects, but education still needs to change- if not by will, then by necessity. Studies show today only eighteen out of every one hundred ninth graders go on to college and graduate with a minimum of a associate’s degree. This is just enough to stay competitive in the world of tomorrow (Donohue 15). Who can say what education will look like 20 years from now, but there are many ideas for future change. Many factors will contribute to the future of education reform- new inventions, new political leaders, and the possibility of a completely different economic structure could lead to drastic changes in education. Most agree the future of schools lies in technology and computer assisted learning.
Computer assisted learning, specifically called "Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning" or "CSCL," is one way in which students could use computers to their advantage. CSCL is an assisted learning program that could be the basis for assisted learning in the future (Resta, Laferriere 68). Over time, students will collaborate more and more over the internet. The future of assisted learning programs should support collaboration and enhance a student's learning.
It has been said that rather than reform the future of education, we actually need to reinvent it. Reinvention is not solely based on the new technologies we did not posses during previous reforms. The future could hold a new way of assessing a set of complicated and important skills, helping prepare students for higher education and a future in the workplace. Many of the students who did not graduate from college were failed by the system. In future reforms, we could move away from the current system, which sorts and purposefully fails some students, and move into a system focusing on bringing out creativity in students, where a large number of students would succeed (Donohue 16).
These ideas are just possibilities of what future holds. We appear to heading towards a new and more creative style of education, incorporating more and more technology. By taking advantage of programs and technologies, while still keeping in mind styles of reform that have previously proven beneficial, we can begin a new page in the education of the world. In order to turn this page, however, changes must be embraced by everyone involved. Only then can the system succeed, helping every "possibility" reach his or her fullest potential.
Works Cited
Hess, Frederick M. "Inside the Gift Horse's Mouth: Philanthropy and Schoolm Reform." Phi Delta Kappan (2005): 131-137. EBSCO. Milner, Normal. 25 Feb. 2008. Keyword: trends in education reform.
Mediratta, Kavitha. "Outside in: Communities in Action for Education Reform." Theory Into Practice 46 (2006): 194-204. EBSCO. Milner, Normal. 25 Feb. 2008. Keyword: trends in education reform.
Nicholas, Donohue C. "Reinvention, Not Reforms." New England Journal of Higher Education 22 (2007): 15-16. Academic Search Premier. 6 Mar. 2008.
Resta, Paul, and Therese Laferriere. "Technology in Support of Collaberative Learning." Educational Psychology Review 19 (2007): 68. Academic Search Premier. Mar. 2008.
Styles of Education Reform. Ed Web. 4 March 2008 <http://www.edwebproject.org/edref.sys.types.html>.