U.S. Education Today and Tomorrow - Essay Example

U.S. Education Today and Tomorrow U.S. EDUCATION TODAY AND TOMORROW Introduction This paper seeks to identify four current trends in the American education system and discuss the impacts of the trends on the future of the United States education system. The world is now an ever-changing place with constant evolutions and changes, which affect all aspects of our lives. The education system is not immune from these changes with trends like increased choice and privatization of schools, high school reform, increased reliance of technology in the classroom, and increased globalization affecting its future.

The way The United States deals with these changes and adapts to them will have a great impact on future academic success, as well as America’s place on the global scene. Increased Choice and Privatization of Education Market based education reforms such as charter schools are not going to aid in the improvement of education for students in the United States. Promises of de-regularized governance structures in schools have not achieved their stated objectives. Nationally, charter schools do not perform better than charter public schools.

Additionally, implementation of these market-based school reforms, i.e. charter schools and school choice show a higher level of inequity in the academic achievements of the students. Market based education reforms are not going to affect the American education system in a satisfactory manner. The best policy for the improvement of public schools would be to invest directly in proven reforms that focus on the implementation of practices that can improve the school’s curriculum, rather than focusing on the business side of schools (Wraga, 2010).

High School Reform Another education trend that aims at effecting change in the U.S. education system is a high school reforms. Recent education reform in Idaho, known as Students Come First, adopted advanced academic standards for its students. This project involves giving the teachers tools that they require to engage today’s learners and individualize teaching. These reforms will have the effect of expanding digital learning for students so that they have access to educational opportunities wherever they reside.

Via building connections with post-secondary education and career opportunities, the project aims at giving all high school students an opportunity of taking college entry exams, as well as college credits while still students in high school. It is expected that, by making the education curriculum in high schools more relevant and rigorous, the students, may actually elect to stay in school rather than dropping out, which cannot be achieved by the present strategy that forces students to stay in school till they are eighteen (Luna, 2012).

Increased Reliance of Technology in the Classroom Increased reliance on technology in the classroom will also positively impact the future of American education. A project in Pennsylvania has put laptops on students’ desks in social studies, science, math, and English classes. Rather than being a technology initiative, this trend will see a transformation in classroom instruction (Zahorchak, 2009). By focusing heavily on the improvement of instruction, this trend will bring results. Evaluation of this trend has shown that the teachers spend less time teaching via lecture method and spend that time dealing with smaller groups of students, which gives the student a hands-on, real world experience in the classroom.

Since the students are part of the technology generation, it is vital that they are tutored in ways that they find to be comfortable. The use of technology for classroom instructions will increase the achievements of students in the future. Increased Globalization Finally, the trend towards globalization of education will have a two-pronged effect on the future of American education. On one side, foreign graduates that stay on in the U.S. will contribute greatly to the American culture of innovation.

However, with the establishment of overseas campuses, the overhead costs could prove a disadvantage. Money that is used on overseas colleges could be invested in the U.S. Since the main reason of higher education is to impart education to the undergraduates of the United States, it seems that they will become an afterthought with all the money to be made from overseas colleges and foreign students. This can only act as a strain on the future of the American undergraduate who will be taken for granted (Dreifus & Andrew, 2010).

Conclusion As seen, not all of these trends are going to have a positive effect on the future of education in the US. Market based education reforms such as charter schools are not going to aid in the improvement of education for students in the United States. In fact, on top of results from public schools and charter schools being similar, this trend will also breed inequality. However, high school reform and increased reliance of technology in the classroom will have positive effects on the learning of students.

The effect of globalization will be a two edged sword. While improving innovation, it will lead to marginalization of native students. ReferencesDreifus, Claudia. & Andrew, Hacker. (2010). The trouble with going global. Accessed from,www.ic.galegroup.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ic/ovic/MagazinesDetailsPage On 8 November 2012Luna, Tom. (2012). 18 is not the answer. Accessed from,www.ic.galegroup.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ic/ovic/NewsDetailsPageOn 8 November 2012Wraga, William. (2010). Charter Schools Are No Better than Public Schools.

Accessed from,www.ic.galegroup.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPageOn 8 November 2012Zahorchak, Gerald. (2009). Classrooms for the Future. Accessed from, www.ic.galegroup.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ic/ovic/AcademicJournalsDetails PageOn 8 November 2012