Introduction
The education system of a given country should meet the demands of all learners and equip them with appropriate skills to complete complex tasks. The government has a role to provide the relevant support and resources to transform the field continuously. Stakeholders and partners in this sector should also collaborate to identify emerging gaps and propose new strategies to improve the experiences of more students. Unfortunately, the standard of the American education system has fallen significantly, thereby affecting the outcomes and competencies of the targeted individuals. A detailed understanding of this problem can guide different stakeholders and policymakers to provide evidence-based solutions. When more people receive high-quality education, chances of supporting the society and engaging in charity would increase significantly. The United States’ education standard has declined due to the current closure of schools, overcrowding, and the failure to educate more teachers in the field of innovation.
Causes of Falling Standard of Education
Closure of Schools
The American education system has received criticisms for its ineffectiveness and the subsequent decision to close schools in the past few months. Sawchuk believes that the model has been bureaucratic and inequitable, thereby being unable to meet the demands of many learners. A good structure needs to remain functional and capable of equipping students with the required skills. During times of pandemics and uncertainties, stakeholders should be in a position to implement new ways to overcome and ensure that the learning process is never disoriented. Following the outbreak of coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19), both federal and state governments have decided to close all schools to support the country’s effort to deal with this disease (Sawchuk). This development has exposed the weaknesses and gaps that continue to affect the quality of American education (Sawchuk). The possible outcome is that more learners will be unable to achieve their goals in a timely manner. The malpractice echoes the manner in which the absence of adequate instruction has disoriented the sector within the past three decades.
The current closure of schools amounts to an ineffective strategy in education that can affect the outcomes of many children in need of diverse skills and ideas. In different societies, the possible outcomes of such a problem tend to be varied and arise from diverse sources (Piper). For instance, educators, theorists, and managers in the sector have failed to analyze or present new ways to change the existing problem and meet the demands of more learners who are currently at home (Barrington). Consequently, many people have assumed that the entire system cannot function during this time of COVID-19 and fulfil the expectations of the beneficiaries. Without the desire to identify and address the possible risks, it will remain impossible for more learners to get the necessary educational support (Sawchuk). Such a closure decision has the potential to affect more individuals by making it impossible for receive timely ideas and instructions in accordance with their needs and disorient the integrity of the entire sector.
Overcrowding
The problem of overcrowding is the second possible cause for the diminishing quality of education in the United States. Banisakher and McCauley indicate that enrolments of over 25 percent were recorded in majority of the large schools in the country (p. 69). Different neighbourhoods associated with minority racial groups were affected the most (Banisakher and McCauley, p. 71). The affected regions in the country included the West and Midwest. The level of overcrowding in Northeast was observed to be low at around 4 percent (Banisakher and McCauley, p. 72). With this malpractice, it became quite clear that majority of the students were unable to record additional achievements or skills. The teachers were unable to provide personalized instructions to the targeted learners. Some of the individuals were not fully engaged or involved in the learning process. The affected regions were also observed to face additional problems that worsened the field, such as low income, homelessness, and increased access to illicit drugs. All these issues have worked synergistically to disorient the quality of education available to the students.
When schools remain crowded, teachers will not deliver high-quality guidelines depending on the unique needs of every learner. The educator might become exhausted and fail to perform optimally. The governments in place have ignored the problem by failing to offer additional resources to address the situation (Sargrad et al.). Without the relevant support, the learners record negative outcomes in every grade. The chances of transitioning to the next stage of academic progression will reduce significantly (Sargrad et al.). This causal factor explains why all stakeholders need to improve the American education system. The issues of inequality and unjust social systems have worsened the situation since most of the affected regions and neighbourhoods record increased cases of overcrowding in both private and public learning institutions. Due to the nature of this issue, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) revealed that students between 13 and 15 years of age where languishing “in the middle of the pack internationally in math and science achievement” (Sargrad et al.). The systematic problem of structural and systemic imbalances continues to affect the gains and experiences of more children in the United States.
Lack of Education in Innovation for Teachers
Another potential casual factor for the current decline in education quality is the absence of evidence-based measures to equip learners with additional competencies in the field of innovation. Within the past two decades, new technologies have emerged that have the potential to transform the manner in which educators and tutors provide instructions to their learners. Such innovations can minimize the time taken to solve problems and provide personalized support to individuals with diverse educational needs (Barrington). These young ones are technologically-savvy since they have been born in the era of technology. Their teachers, on the other hand, schooled during the old days and lack adequate skills in the field of innovation (Jack). Such professionals might be unable to understand the unique expectations and demands of the modern day learner. The government has ignored this reality by failing to provide additional training in this field. Consequently, such teachers will not deliver the right content to their respective learners (Piper). The relevant agencies have also failed to deliver additional resources that can empower or encourage tutors to engage in continuous learning and improve their philosophies of education.
Similarly, these professionals lack adequate ideas that can guide them to take the issue of research to the next level. With adequate studies, educationists can identify the trends recorded in the sector and identify the best tools and resources to deliver the intended quality to the learners. The conducted researches can present additional models or procedures for delivering the right instructions in a better manner (Jack). The experts can also identify the major gaps that might have been affecting the education system. However, the federal government has failed to consider the relevance of innovation and how it can address some of the existing challenges and mismatches between the learners’ expectations and the established teaching methods (Jack). Consequently, the targeted beneficiaries are usually unable to record positive gains in their respective institutions. The challenge has worsened the effectiveness and role of the country’s educational system within the past three decades. More learners have, therefore, become unmotivated and unwilling to pursue their career objectives. These issues explain why the federal government should partner with different researchers and scholars to understand the nature of this problem and present evidence-based solutions.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is evident that the American educational system has failed in a number of areas due to the ineffectiveness of the measures that different agencies have put in place. The decision to close schools is a wrong move that will have long-term implications on the experiences and outcomes of more students. The problem of overcrowding remains pervasive in most of the large secondary schools in the country. This challenge is attributable to the government’s failure to introduce additional schools and resources to meet the demands of these learners. Similarly, the government’s failure to train more teachers in the field of innovation is a gap that affects the quality of education available to American students. All relevant stakeholders need to analyze these issues from an informed perspective and address them accordingly to improve the standard of this country’s education system.
Works Cited
Banisakher, Mubarak, and Pamela McCauley. “The Effect of Overcrowding in the US School System, a Simulation Approach.” Journal of Education and Learning, vol. 11, no. 1, 2017, pp. 67-74.
Barrington, Kate. “The 15 Biggest Failures of the American Public Education System.” Public School Review, 2019. Web.
Jack, Andrew. “Lack of Clear Targets Hinders Impact Investing in Education.” Financial Times, 2018.
Piper, Everett. “American Education and Intellectually Bankrupt Schools.” The Washington Times, 2019.
Sargrad, Scott, et al. “A Quality Education for Every Child: A New Agenda for Education Policy.” Center for American Progress, 2019.
Sawchuk, Stephen. “When Schools Shut Down, We All Lose.” Education Week, 2020.