Thursday, April 26, 2012

Missouri Education Watchdog: Tough Choices or Wrong Choices

Missouri Education Watchdog: Tough Choices or Wrong Choices:


Tough Choices or Wrong Choices

"The education system is merely a support for the political system we choose." - Vicky Davis

In 2007 the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) produced a report entitled Tough Choices or Tough Times. In it, they outlined a view for the American education system as the supplier of workers for the 21st century in a global economy.  From her blog Channeling Reality, Davis summarizes the the findings of the report below:

Problems in the Current System

  • Teachers are recruited from the lower strata of the intellectual talent pool
  • Waste in the system, allowing students to fail in lower grades and paying for remediation in later years when costs are higher
  • System is inherently inefficient.  “Standards have helped but only moderately relative to cost” over 30 years
  • Growing inequality in family income as a contributing factor in growing disparities in student achievement
  • Failure to motivate students to achieve
  • Teacher compensation rewards longevity rather than performance
  • Testing system measures rote learning and does not