Changes and Reforms in Public Education of United States

Changes and reforms in Public education of United States
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Introduction
There are several changes or reforms in the public education sector of US that have recently
taken place. The changes have resulted in positive and negative impacts among the learners and other
involved stakeholders in the public education sector. The paper discusses the positive and negative
aspects of standardized testing (age of Assessment) reforms and Common Core State Standard (CCSS) in
the United States.
Standardized testing (Age of Assessment) reforms
The standardized testing (age assessment) reform is the most significant reform
experienced in United State’s public education. Standardized testing (Age of Assessment) reform
stresses that “a good education is experienced through good scores on standardized tests of math
and reading” (Meiklejohn et al., 2012). Currently, the reform requires children in public
institutions to be given state assessment in both grade 8 and 3 in order for the government to
assess education quality (Meiklejohn et al., 2012). If the student fails to score impressive scores
in assessment, the school is judged not to offer quality education. Furthermore, if a school fails
to make Adequate Year progress (AYP) based on the test scores of students, the school is
labelled “in need of improvement” and judged not providing quality education and end up facing
sanction and restructuring process.
Positively, the standardized testing (age assessment) reform has made sure that every
child in the United States is receiving an education of high quality and there is No Child Left
Behind. In addition, the provision of quality education has fueled the extend of students
exploring opportunities (high wages) in the job market as well as competition with other students
from other nations. Furthermore, with the reform also expecting high schools students to be
doing “exit exams”, the United States had been able to produce competent, skilled students and
more challenging course work. The reform has also brought accountability and standards to