Impact of Recent Reforms on Public Education in the US

This paper examines the significant changes and reforms in the public education sector of the United States, focusing on the impacts of standardized testing (Age of Assessment) and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The author discusses the positive aspects, such as improved quality of education and increased student opportunities, and the negative aspects, including a lack of focus on high schools, the emphasis on "teaching to the test," and the "one-size-fits-all" approach of CCSS, which can lead to inequities. The paper highlights the importance of comprehensive assessment at all stages of education and recommends alternative methods for evaluating teacher performance, such as surveys and appraisals. The conclusion emphasizes the need for reforms to ensure that students acquire the necessary skills before advancing to the next grade and that teachers are assessed based on broader criteria, rather than solely on student test scores.

Changes and reforms in Public education of United States
Student name
Institution
Date

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

public education by aligning the academic goals of students and performances in accordance
with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) (Song, 2019).
Negatively, the current reform does not focus on high schools and therefore the low
quality of educations is being experienced in high schools. Furthermore, the public educations
do not test sciences at least once from grades 10 and 12 and therefore there is low of education in
laboratories. In addition, the public education linking the effectiveness of teacher to achieve best
scores has resulted to teachers teaching for the “test” instead of “education for life” where
varieties of skills are developed during the school as Robinson (2018) termed it as “surface
learning” rather than “deep learning.
Common core state standards
The Common Core State Standard was initiated in 2010 although the majority of states in the
United States adopted the standards in consequent months (Darling-Hammond, 2010). The CCSS was
initiated by a group of educators and academic in the United States with the intention of reforming public
education. Furthermore, CCSS entails what k-12 students around the United States should know in
reading (English language), mathematics and arts at the end of each grade.
Positively, recent reforms concerning “the common core state standards” have ensured that
students are prepared effectively when graduating from high schools to enter either in a workforce or two
to four years in a college program and credit-bearing courses. The common core state standards have
facilitated collaboration in public education as teachers from diverse states of the United States can
develop engaging integrated technology, creativity and unite together to share resources vie e-tools and
technologies.
Negatively, the common core state standards reforms have been criticized for homogenizing
public education with critics stressing that the reform has contributed to a “one-size-fits-all” learning
approach (Moores, 2013). The “one-size-fits-all” approach has led to incompetence’s among the
graduates as students learn in different ways and the standard has not fit the needs of all students. In

addition, the common core standards reform has discriminated the students in low social-economic states
of the United States. With the United States being associated with inequality when it comes to minority
groups like immigrants, the egalitarian education scheme has not been successful meaning some category
of students have lacked access to the equal learning resources, quality of teaching and equal standard-
based learning experiences as compared to children from rich states.
Conclusion and recommendations
Currently, the CCSS need thorough reforms of ensuring the assessment test are being conducted
in each stage rather than the current grade 3 and 8 in order to ensure students have attained the necessary
skills before being promoted to another grade. Furthermore, I also suggest minimum evaluation to be
considered on the accountability of teachers on student performance as it will solve the contemporary
problem of teachers teaching for “assessments” instead of focusing on “core skills”. The best strategy of
solving this problem is by the government assessing teacher’s performance with other methods like
surveys and appraisals rather than performances of students.

References
Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). Evaluating teacher effectiveness: How teacher performance
assessments can measure and improve teaching. Center for American Progress.
Meiklejohn, J., Phillips, C., Freedman, M. L., Griffin, M. L., Biegel, G., Roach, A., ... & Isberg,
R. (2012). Integrating mindfulness training into K-12 education: Fostering the resilience
of teachers and students. Mindfulness, 3(4), 291-307.
Moores, D. F. (2013). One size does not fit all: Individualized instruction in a standardized
educational system. American Annals of the Deaf, 158(1), 98-103.
Robinson, P. M. (2018). Affective underpinnings of surface approaches to learning and their
relationship with sensation seeking. Issues in Educational Research, 28(2), 453-469.
Song, T. (2019). Putting Educational Reform Into Practice: The Impact of the No Child Left
Behind Act-On Students, Teachers, and Schools.