Obama Administration Accomplishments List
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- Accomplishment: "Created the Race to the Top Fund ($4.35 billion) to reward States that create comprehensive education reform plans." (ref)
- What is it?
Funding to recruit teachers where they are needed, guidelines for building systems for better measurement of success(ref), and revising compensation to reward teacher effectiveness (ref). - Why does it matter?
The United States has fallen to average and below average in education: out of a scale of 1000, America received scores of "487 in math, 500 in reading and 502 in science." (ref) This places us number 17 down on the list, below all other English speaking nations (ref). Our children aren't graduating high school with the knowledge they need to enter college, or to be competitive in the world market.
Our current testing methods aren't doing the job -- as I personally can attest, some of us have learned how to take standardized tests instead of taking in the knowledge. I had one history class that used multiple choice standardized tests. In the beginning of the class I studied very hard, then had one week when I was very sick and didn't read any of the book. I took the test, expecting to fail, and got a B+. From then on, I almost never read the work. I used my time to focus on classes that evaluated me in a manner that actually mattered. I only started reading again when I made friends with students who were studying very hard but failing the quizzes: I read the material in order to help to quiz them, and found they knew it far better than I did.
Obviously, the testing mechanism did not test actual knowledge. Will our new testing method succeed where previous standardized tests failed? I know at the very least that increasing funding will help. I also believe that sharing knowledge is a key component in improving education. With more funds invested toward much-needed education reform, and "statewide longitudinal data system," our schools in different states can work collaboratively for mutual improvement. (ref) As with any form of testing, it seems to me that the only way this will work is if there is a lot of feedback from teachers, administrators, and students as to what works and what doesn't work. As more states participate and implement the Common Core State Standards (ref), we should see our standings begin to rise.
