K-12 Public Education Reform Research Paper
Examining the Most Pressing Issues in K-12 Public Education Reform
Introduction
The United States is an economic leader in part because of its leadership in education during the 20th century. We were the first country in the world to provide free K-12 public education and for many decades our citizens where the most educated and well prepared to drive national economic growth. In the past few decades, other countries have greatly expanded and improved their education systems, and now we’ve and we’ve lost our leading edge.
Our international rankings continue to slip when comparing key education indicators to our international counterparts. For example, as recently as 1995, the United States was still tied for 1st in the proportion of young adults with a college degree, but by 2000 it had …show more content…
Our grading systems now tells us nothing about whether students have met standards. It will require major changes in thinking and record keeping to do this. But the good news is that people are starting to make those changes.
A progressive reform measure that is gaining momentum in recent years, replaces the traditional letter-grade system with a standards-based grading system.
Conversion from a letter grading system to a standards-based reporting system is challenging. Parents expect letter grades, which often help to determine college admission or to provide motivation for sports and participation in extracurricular activities. However, changing from a traditional grading practice to a standards-based system will provide more reliable information that measures all students fairly on comparable scales. Standards-based reporting more accurately shows parents and students specific areas of proficiency as well as areas needing improvement, but it takes time to
Introduction
The United States is an economic leader in part because of its leadership in education during the 20th century. We were the first country in the world to provide free K-12 public education and for many decades our citizens where the most educated and well prepared to drive national economic growth. In the past few decades, other countries have greatly expanded and improved their education systems, and now we’ve and we’ve lost our leading edge.
Our international rankings continue to slip when comparing key education indicators to our international counterparts. For example, as recently as 1995, the United States was still tied for 1st in the proportion of young adults with a college degree, but by 2000 it had …show more content…
Our grading systems now tells us nothing about whether students have met standards. It will require major changes in thinking and record keeping to do this. But the good news is that people are starting to make those changes.
A progressive reform measure that is gaining momentum in recent years, replaces the traditional letter-grade system with a standards-based grading system.
Conversion from a letter grading system to a standards-based reporting system is challenging. Parents expect letter grades, which often help to determine college admission or to provide motivation for sports and participation in extracurricular activities. However, changing from a traditional grading practice to a standards-based system will provide more reliable information that measures all students fairly on comparable scales. Standards-based reporting more accurately shows parents and students specific areas of proficiency as well as areas needing improvement, but it takes time to