Running head: RE-INVENTING AMERICA’S SCHOOLS 1

Does America’s Schools Need to be Re-invent?

Name

Institution
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Does America’s Schools Need to be Re-invent?

Introduction

The Western Ontario recent research indicates that over forty percent of the American

students drop out of the higher learning institutions and in particular, the universities make such

decision on the realization of their own learning abilities. The decision to leave school is

primarily based on the grades they are getting after joining the institutions of higher learning. To

the knowledge of majority, every generation has the mantle to educate the future generation. This

responsibility comes with enormous challenges. It is no secret to a American citizens that our

educational system is facing graved challenges that requires immediate attention following the

continuous decline on the global standing.

The American’s dream is widely thought and the American citizens had a valid dream of

having best higher education institutions globally, a dream at some point in time becomes a

realistic reality. Where did the rain started beating us?, is a question that lingers in many peoples

mind. Currently, the education system is facing steady increase in drop-out rate amongst the

university freshmen, university education cost becoming unbearable, increasing derailment of

freshmen once accepted into the university system as well as the overall generation changes-

what Braner (2013), termed as “extended adolescence.”

According to Friedman (2010), there used to be a general notion in this nation that once a

student made good grades, preceded to higher learning institution, specialized in a specific field

and graduated; they would eventually secure a good job and earn a good living out of their effort.

Today all that has changed. The unemployment rate amongst the higher institution graduates

keeps on rising. According to Braner’s (2013) research, the number of young adults feeling

unsatisfied with their current professional choices also keeps on increasing. The question is why
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is all these negativity? Does America’s Schools Need to be Re-invent? The answer is Yes, the

American schools need reinventing. In this paper, we argue and review reasons as to why there is

a general feeling that American’s school needs reinventing. Many literatures have been written

about the need to reinvent our schools.

It Is So Hard To Get a Good School

According to Larry Cuban commencement of a great school is anchored in every individual

values and experiences about what the citizen of America believe are the vital reasons of

pursuing schooling in a democracy, how teaching as well as learning should be conducted, the

kind of knowledge is of most valuable, and what they regard to be school success entails (Cuban,

2003). In his recently published book titled Why Is It So Hard to Get Good School? Larry Cuban

contends powerfully that America’s battle to give “great” schools for its youthful population is a

great extent because of the country’s differed motivations behind tutoring all through history and

the struggle to give sufficient directions to an undeniably assorted students populace (Cuban,

2003). In this context, Larry argues that it is the second time in the past century, that the

business-minded organizations of union leaders as well as corporate, the parents, and the public

officials have recruited education sectors into changing the public schools in such a way that the

schools have drifted from civic engagement as a primary purpose of schooling. Various

stakeholders mandated to manage and run learning institutions suffers economic and political

tensions for instance, parents, business, students, educators, and education policy makers among

others (Cuban, 2003). Through the analysis of various stakeholders, Larry shows us why it is so

hard to define a good school, why we need to reinvent and have good schools, and whom these

good school serves. However, it is unfortunate as Cuban reiterates that “a business-inspired

version of a ‘good’ school has converged with the popular view of what is a good school to
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create an educational orthodoxy of a one-school for all American children” (Cuban, 2003, p. 6).

According to him, this is age-graded school.

The business community has greatly influenced reforms twice in American history in terms

of management, curriculum, and governance in order to prepare learners for industrial skilled

jobs fearing that the foreign competition. They strongly held the believe that education harnessed

to upgrading employees skills that will or strengthen the country’s worldwide market position

(Cuban, 2013). As the country holds the idea of staying competitive in the global industrial

market, the learning institution moved from one-room school to age-grade school which

certainly was promising a more proficient public schooling that will eventually satisfy the need

of industrial-based economy. Even though Cuban argument is not against the changes making

learners manufacturing based economy oriented, there is a concern that the changes narrowed the

objectives for education neglecting the much broader and historic work of the civil engagement

(Finn, 1991). The lingering question is where are the good schools and teaching that used to be

associated with the public schools in the earlier years? There is a general concern that only the

private school still hold the mantle of being good school and this only leads to cost of education

being unbearable to the American public. When schools are civil oriented as opposed to market

structure driven, then we have good schools (Finn, 1991).

A number of different school models represent the ideas of a good school, for instance,

progressive/nontraditional, community-based, conservatives/ traditional and

democratic/progressive schools. The four models are all good schools and many reasons as well

as characteristic have been given to qualify them as good school. However, the education

stakeholders have different views and prefer one model to the other to be a good school.

According Cuban (2013), there is no perfect school model that satisfies in totality; however,
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Cuban notes that different community requires different school models. It is hard to have a

perfect school since the perception of perfectness of a school embeds to the concepts about

democratic and childbearing responsiveness. Additionally, Larry Cuban reiterates, “color-blind

and class-blind reformers, with the best of intentions, either fail to see or ignore how race and

social-class stratification persist outside schools and are amplified in a one-best system for all

children”

High School Students are Burned Out

According to Ravitch (2013) research, one of the reasons why the American’s schools need

reinventing is because of the pressure from both parents and teachers subjecting the students to

perform no matter what regardless of their interest. This is brought about by the system being

nonflexible to accommodate other talents. After being in school for thirteen good years, we

realized that students in the western side of the country where this research was based have been

instilled with learning which is performance based. The drive to accomplish school in the best

grade weighs intensely against the students wants and desires to discover what they are skilled to

do in this world. We have discovered a steady increase in the students opting out of higher

learning institutions especially universities could be directly connected to understudies who take

their lessons while questioning whether whatever courses they are undertaking directly

connected to their ambitions in life. The students ask a common question, "How is this

consistently going to enable me to accomplish my life objectives?" This question usually arises

especially when a learner has conceivably realized what their life objectives are.

The current generation has the world readily available at their fingertips. However, for the

individual students who the environment in which they are operating in tossed them into the

constant pressure to perform in school at tender age when they ought to experiment, test, and
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discover themselves as well as self-interest, they are unable to test, and discover what they need

to “be the point at which they grow up.” The research discovered increasing number of

secondary school learners who simply require a break from the instructional school ritual routine

they are treated to from the tender age so that they can concentrate on what they need to do going

ahead- to concentrate on what they desire to pursue in their life.

Students Experiencing Extended Adolescent Development

It is now over a hundred and ten years ago since the scholar G. Stanley Hall wrote about

adolescence to be a stage of a child transition to adulthood. Hall categorized adolescence stage as

a categorical age bracket in psychology that the American culture has focused on to be a specific

stage of teenage development. However, before his discovery of adolescence stage, Americans

and the world at large lived in a community where all ages were included as the society raises the

child. With the discovery of the term ‘teenager’ an enormous number of programs have ensued

geared towards taking care of the students undergoing the physical pubescent transformation.

Until 1989, the law regarded individuals under the age of eighteen years as children at least

according to the Convection on the Children Right.

What has changed? A lot, eighteen year old in today’s world is very deferent from the

eighteen year old of 110 years ago. There is a new phenomenon that has emerged called

“extended adolescence.” We are seeing a vast statistic of understudies who are proceeding with

youngster like conduct through their mid-twenties, precluding the old route from securing

considering advancement. Thirty years prior, if a kid turned 18, a father would show him out of

the house to be alone. Today, an understudy in their twenties is inhabiting in their parents’ home,

'purporting to spare cash acquire their own places,' and at the same time communicating their

requirement for flexibility, investigation, and weaning from their folks. The fact of the matter is,
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if youth is expanding, simply consider the age at which our understudies are entering the college.

It is getting more youthful and more youthful on the long graph of juvenile advancement while

the education sector and various stakeholders remain adamants to the changes in their students.

We need curriculum and education sector overhaul that will cater adequately for the new

emerging phenomenon – the extended adolescence development in the new student generation.

This discovery conforms to the witnessed increasing drop out of students in the institutions of

higher learning since majority joins colleges less matured mentally.

There is Lack of Experiential and Worldwide Education

According to Friedman (2010), in his book titled The World Is Flat, which talks about a new

error of globalization undertaking over the current available job markets is a reality the education

sector and all stakeholders should incorporates in education. Unfortunately, our American

secondary schools curriculums rooted in the learning routine of lecturing and giving homework

as opposed to preparing the leaners to observe the new world dynamics and see the globe for

what it stand for currently. Currently, a CPA is able to exponentially numerous tax documents by

outsourcing his work to individuals in different parts of the globe. The radiologists are able to

read X-beams all day and all night as he or she utilizes individuals in an alternate nation or an

alternate time zone. There are even organizations who brag the sun does not set as their business

is concerned and this new experience is as a result of various call alternative centers.

We should be geared towards giving learning experiences that prepares our learners, at a

more youthful and tender age how to manage and cope with the way the world operates

currently. It is an unexpected domain in comparison to what our grandparents experienced in

their childhood, and for this to happen, our learning institution framework requires a re-boot.
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A couple of years prior we had an insane plan to present a "hole year" much like whatever is

left of the humanized world. We know learners in Europe do not pass through secondary school

and head directly to institution of higher learning. The Chinese are already embracing this idea

while the Australia secondary graduates actually go through a 'stroll'.

According to research carried out by Shaanan, (2017) in America, indicates that the notion

of taking time off from routine education framework leads to a dreadful hypothesis as parents

and guardians were stressed over their children needing to join the higher learning institutions

subsequent to taking "off time," and which is all well and good. The research indicated that

learners increasing important introduction to whatever they have to learn of the world however

after their chance far from school they were relinquishing their times of higher learning for quick

professional objectives.

Americans Can Learn From PISA Test

American’s schools can learn a thing or two from their counterpart smart schools

participating in PISA from other countries. PISA test like any other test is not perfect. However,

the test is relevant to real life education applications and usually provides progressively nuanced

understanding into education research (Shaanan, 2017). The resent results from PISA test

indicated that the US had flopped. In mathematics, the American teenager’s performances

worsen then their usual on the PISA-test. They scored worse as opposed to nearly dozen

countries. To worsen the situation, the performance was the same for sciences and reading which

is viewed to be below average for the developed country. However, the most intriguing in this

test is what PISA-test reveals about the conditions making the smart countries smarter.

The general overview shows that the smartest countries usually are those that have striven to

make teaching more selective and prestigious (Replay 2016); enrolled majority of their
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children’s in high-quality preschools; channeled more resources to their disadvantaged children;

applied consistent, rigorous standards in all classrooms; and helped the schools establish a

culture of progressive improvement. Out of all these vital conditions necessary for schools

performance and consistence improvement, the American’s schools have applied only one in all

states. All the states have managed to adopt challenging and consistent learning objectives

referred to as Core State Standards for mathematics and reading (Replay, 2016). However, the

standards were in place just for a year when the PISA test was held hence had no bearing on the

outcome. Policy makers and researchers strongly believe that the Common Core Standards will

definitely have a lasting positive effect outcome. From Pisa revelation, it is clear that most of the

reforms the American’s schools have implemented like reducing classroom size and classroom

technology upgrade are not in list of what PISA advocates for. In facts, it is evident that these

policies could affect student learning negatively. Research indicates that mathematics persist to

be the US weakest area despite the fact that mathematics is the subject used to predict the

children’s future earnings at every income level. Up to a third of the American teenagers (15

year) are unable to meet a baseline level of ability. This is the level educationist believe children

ought to reach for them to thrive in adulthood in this modern world.

The Proposed Changes in Public Education Sector

Ravitch in her book title The Reign of Error, she perfectly articulated what ails the American

Education sector (2013). Her ideas describe vividly every distortion of the connections that

involves the students, the teachers, teacher’s educators, and the parents issuing an alarming and

powerful revelation concerning the fate of the public sector education of the US. “This essential

institution, responsible for producing a democratic citizenry and tasked with providing equality

of educational opportunity, is at risk,” she reiterate. In her view, the corporate ‘reformers’ who at
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the current state of education could rather be called corporate ‘Deformers’ bend on making

enormous profits via creating privatized education are denying enormous number of learners of a

rich, full education experience. The very fundamental of American democracy and how we care

for the American child is in jeopardy by us (the Americans) implementing policies resulting in

profit for the few and immense loss of opportunity for many (Ravitch, 2013).

Pervert and racial discrimination is partly to be blamed for education failure in public

schools. Even though the founders of the private schools and the policy makers thinks otherwise,

the truth is a child lucking descent food, health care, housing, and fundamental resources learn in

serious disadvantaged state (Ravitch, 2013). There is enormous agreement for need of change in

American education system as well as the society. Fundamental changes is inevitable in

American’s schools, however, the schools luck the capability to repair the structural issues

resulting from the injustices and inequalities.

Many scholars among them Ravitch have put forward numerous proposals of solutions to aid

in repairing the American’s schools and restore the dignity within the public education sectors.

The commonly proposed solutions which majority finds relatively uncontroversial are school-

based and encompass: ensuring a full, rich curriculum; eliminating high-stakes testing; reducing

the classes sizes; providing vibrant early childhood education; eliminating democratic over

public schools as well as treating the general school administration as professionals. However,

according to numerous researchers Replay, (2016); Shaanan, (2017); Beatty, (1998); and Ravitch

(2013), these changes are not adequate without giving adequate parental care to students, dealing

with poverty and racial discrimination as well as offering wrap-around the social and medical

services. The success of these solutions according to Replay (2016), depends on deeper and a

more honest contribution as to whether the American person actually requires changes in the
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public education sectors to work. Immediate threat to realizing real changes proposed in the view

of Beatty, (1998) and Ravitch (2013), there are many who benefits from American stratified,

inequitable, segregated educational system- they are unlikely to support real social changes that

will bring sanity in American public schools.

Conclusion

Change is inevitable. American’s schools require reinventing to bring changes with lasting

solutions to the education sector. Affluence is no guarantee of good outcomes in learning and in

particular math and sciences, which are the economic drivers’ subjects globally. PISA test has

given us insight of where we are and how we are performing globally. Our most advantaged

student from the private school performed below their counterpart in science and math from

twenty other countries, which included Britain and Canada. This indicates how seriously

American’s schools need reinventing. The country should start thinking on implementing

policies to allow educate virtually all the American children to higher levels of critical thinking

in science, mathematics, and reading- something other countries like Hon Kong, Estonia,

Denmark, and Canada has implemented. As the country drifts towards a continent, where the

good and better jobs will requires an individual to think more critically and continually prove

their abilities before and after getting employment, it is unrealistically hard to imagine a national

pressing problem.
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References

Beatty, Jack (1998), The world according to Peter Drucker. New York: The Free

Braner, A. (2013, September 1). Is It Time to Re-Invent Education Systems? | HuffPost.

Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-braner/college-gap-

year_b_2324636.html

Cuban, Larry (2003), Why is it so hard to get good schools. New York: Teachers College Press.

Class presentations - Please see attached power point on: Do America’s Schools need to

be reinvented?

Finn, Chester (1991), We must take charge: Our schools and our future. New York: Macmillan

Friedman, T. L. (2010, September 11). We are No. 1(1)! - The New York Times. Retrieved from

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/opinion/12friedman.html

Kotter, John (2006), Our iceberg is melting: Changing and succeeding under any conditions.

New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Ravitch, Diane (2013), Reign of error: The hoax of the privatization movement and the dangers

to public schools. New York: Knopf.

Replay, A. (2016, December 6). What America Can Learn From Smart Schools in Other

Countries - The New York Times. Retrieved from

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/06/upshot/what-america-can-learn-about-smart-

schools-in-other-countries.html

Shaanan, J. (2017). Myth 11: A Free Market Nation Does Not Need a Society. America's Free

Market Myths, 203-219. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-50636-4_12

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