Are We Fixing the Wrong Things?

Y

4

Educational Policy; Federal Legislation; Educational Change; Standardized Tests; Creativity; Global Approach; Accountability; Required Courses; Foreign Countries; Educational Quality; Educational Innovation; Creative Thinking; Competition; International Education; Poverty; Equal Education

China; Japan; Singapore; South Korea; United States

0013-1784

More than 20 years ago, A Nation At Risk warned that "a rising tide of mediocrity" threatened the U.S. education system and that the United States would be unable to effectively compete with other economies because of a scarcity of graduates in science and technology. In 2001, No Child Left Behind reiterated that message, pushing through new education reforms that require U.S. schools to focus on raising standardized test scores. However, China, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan--all major competitors to the United States--have initiated quite different reforms that aim at fostering creativity and innovative thinking among their citizens. The current or proposed U. S. education reform initiatives--centralized curriculum, standardized testing, accountability, required course of study--could kill creativity, the United States' real competitive edge. The reform initiatives also neglect the two most pressing problems in U.S. education: the lack of a curriculum that focuses on international issues and prepares students to actively engage in global affairs and the lack of opportunities for impoverished children to participate in the globalization discourse.

Author

9

2006

EJ745603