The Changing Model of Education

Since the mid-1980s, there has been a cry heard from businessmen, politicians and those who rule the American society that our schools are failing.  People have blamed it on a lot of things, bad teachers, poor curricula, poverty, etc., but whatever its cause, this cry has resulted in one thing.  Students in our schools have become some of the most tested in the world, and this year a new test is being rolled out in dozens of states across the Union.  Whether it is called the PARCC or the SBAC, this test will tell our kids and our families just what they are designed to tell them - that our kids are not getting a decent education and that we need to support new initiatives in education, such as the corporate education movement.

Unfortunately, this is a lie of the worst kind.  Since the 1980s, and especially since No Child Left Behind, our leaders have focused on getting all students up to the same level of proficiency.  Once a child is there, they are no longer cared about.  Creativity, which will be the savior of America, is not promoted in these tests.  Students are told to solve a problem using this method or that, they are being taught non-fiction in Language Arts class.  No longer are the days of reading fiction for enjoyment.  No longer are they days of solving a problem in a unique and new way praised by others.  We have become a nation like those seen in The Hunger Games or Divergent, where everyone needs to fit in and no one can be different.  Those that are become shunned and put out, or, to use a term from Divergent, they become factionless and shunned by all.

Unfortunately, with the movement of more menial jobs out of America, where labor is cheaper since cost of living is cheaper, gone are the days of learning a basic trade that requires conformity with the same standards day in and day out.  Today, as well as in the future, our economy will be based on creative ways of solving problems.  Yet, our schools, due to this culture of incessant testing, has not focused on promoting creativity and different ways of thinking and problem solving, but instead concentrated on getting all students to pass the same test based on the same methods promoted from the same standards.  Our schools, through our politician-dominated boards of education and our politically-minded administrators, have promoted a one-size-fits-all approach to educating out kids.  Shove them all into the same mold and they will all come out the same.  Don't allow them to go beyond the standards, and they will never approach problems creatively.

Maybe we need to rethink our idea of education.  Instead of trying to fit in with the rest of the world and educating our kids like other countries do, maybe, just maybe, we need to teach our kids differently.  Maybe we need to be unique, take away the standardized tests from our kids and let them be creative in their learning.  Maybe every student needs an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), not just those with special needs.  We need to fix education for the better and take the politicians and businessmen out of the educational system.  Until we do, our kids will always be caught in a failing system.