Technology as a Resource for American Education

Technology as a Resource for American Education

Public education in the United States may be considered by some to be a wicked problem.  Though this is perhaps somewhat harsh, there are many issues with public education that must be addressed.  There are schools deemed failing through achievement and funding shortages, and there are large pupil-to-instructor ratios.  Current salaries for teachers are low.  Though there have been efforts to increase achievement in standardized examinations by establishing national standards, there have been ripple effects.  The problem I would like to focus on is the varying levels of access to resources, such as excelling instructors and course content ranging from history and science to the arts and physical education.

The status of American education has frequently been in discussion- it is known that a well educated society will lead to developments in technology, commerce, science development and other important fields.  This has developed into a discussion on academic standards, following the thought that standards will increase overall educational attainment.  In the 1980’s and 1990’s, concern about the status of academic standards was voiced, and different proposals to sort out the problem were presented.  In 1983, the National Committee on Excellence in Education published A Nation at Risk, linking the declining achievement of American students with the security of the nation, “America’s position in the world may once have been reasonably secure with only a few exceptionally well-trained men and women.  It is no longer…Learning is the indispensable investment required for success in the “information age” we are entering” (National, para. 1-2).  Education requirements were increased and work loads for students became more demanding.  More work to reform education was proposed by the National Governor’s Association (1996), wherein uniform standards were perceived to be high level standards and an emphasis on students working in small groups was emphasized to promote multidimensional growth (McCaslin, 2006, p. 481).  The No Child Left Behind Act was proposed in 2001 as a way to implement uniform standards in reading and mathematics skills that would give the federal government flexibility in oversight through national funding of schools; during the time period the measure was proposed, it was supported by both parties and the President, (Robelen, 2001, p.1).  NCLB is has more philosophical ties to A Nation at Risk than it does the National Governor’s Association, as referenced by the diction in a notice from the U.S. Department of Education, “The U.S. is ninth in the world in high school graduation rates among 25-34 year olds…In 2004, India’s colleges produced 350,000 engineering graduates compared to 70,000 in America.  The elite 10 percent of India’s youngest engineers outnumbers America’s top 50 percent” (Increasing, 2006, para. 3).  Remaining competitive in the market of producers is a priority to Americans, and the necessity to make educational structure more rigorous will allow students to become more disciplined and productive once they have completed their education and are participating in the workplace.  There is a great amount of pressure for the United States to keep its dominant position in the political and economic spectrum of the world, which is the reason that the No Child Left Behind Act was passed with widespread support.

The No Child Left Behind Act has its own focus and limitations.  It is concerned with school meeting set standards, not the overall educational experience.  This is not necessarily negative, but that means it is up to instructors to demonstrate a passion for learning and study along with meeting educational attainment requirements.  The language of the bill itself can lead to limits in how students are given access to information.  For example, if one class fails the standard examination threshold, then the entire school is deemed to be failing.  This leads to strong emphasis in schools to teaching materials that will be tested, sometimes to the detriment of other course areas that are not included in the exam.  In 2007, Arizona Superintendent Tom Horne discussed a story from a middle school teacher in Yuma who discovered that the class of new seventh graders were unaware of who Christopher Columbus was, let alone the impact he had; when the elementary school supervisor was asked about this deficiency, the response was, “we don’t teach history or science in our elementary school because they are not testing it…we (the Arizona education administrators) estimate that almost half of elementary schools are not teaching history or science…” (Horne, 2007, 2:14:40).  Income disparities do have real impacts on the resources available at schools, and so some low income schools across the country have had a difficult time maintaining standards.  There is also a spatial element to be considered- the needs of urban schools differ from rural schools. 

Access to strong resources is extremely important for the overall education of American students.   Creating multiple access points for students would increase the likelihood of encouraging interest and development in the educational process.  Utilizing the resources available through technology would be beneficial for increasing access to both resources and educators.  For instance, a social network for teachers could be established where members can share successful lesson plans, discuss resources, and come up with new ideas.  This would be a tool just for educators to discuss and learn, to be a hub for new ideas.  Online lessons could be developed by teachers to be used by other educators in the country.  The number of times a lecture is used could be tracked and the teacher given a monetary reward.  Some classes could be offered in virtual worlds such as Second Life.  Using technology would help prepare students for work in an information economy and would also bring them into contact with social institutions aimed at public service; libraries, for example, provide computers with internet access for patrons free of charge.  Increasing visual learning, such as science demonstrations or historical reenactments, can assist in making areas of study dynamic.  Increased participation from students and faculty and additional access points to student resources will be beneficial in changing how American students interact and learn.

Sources:

Horne, Tom. (10 January 2007). Report on No Child Left Behind vs. AZ Learns.

            Committee on Education K-12,  Arizona House of Representatives. 2:00:13-

            2:17:46. Retrieved from http://azleg.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=3

National Conference of State Legislatures. (2005). Key Recommendations from the

            NCSL Task Force on No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Final Report. Retrieved from

http://www.ncsl.org/print/statefed/nclb/NCLBRecommendations.pdf

McCaslin, M. (2006). Student Motivational Dynamics in the Era of School Reform,

            Elementary School Journal 106 (5), 479- 490.

Robelen, E. W., Fine, L. (2001). Bush Plan: ‘No Child Will Be Left Behind’.  Education

            Week, 20 (20).

U.S. Department of Education National Commission on Excellence

            in Education. (1983). A Nation At Risk. Retrieved from

            http://www.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html