Many people in the United States believe our education system is in crisis (Ryan and Cooper, 440). Drop-out rates at the ninth grade level are at an alarmingly high rate as are levels after ninth grade, and illiteracy among adults has risen to almost twenty-five million people (Ryan and Cooper, 440). Many school districts are in debt, creating instability and lowering standards. Low budgets mean schools do not have the ability, such as metal detectors or surveillance to keep students and teachers safe. Many districts are also behind in keeping up with our ever changing American and global society with out of date textbooks and instructio

Class size is a big issue for teachers. Many reformers have proposed creating smaller schools with-in bigger schools. Large schools would be broken into groups of 100-200 students (Ryan and Cooper, 448). Teachers now have smaller class sizes making it easier to spend more time with each student. Students no longer get lost in the crowd. Studies show that the larger a school gets the greater likelihood of both students and teachers getting “lost.” Students tend to feel they are just a name in a grade book and morale tends to decrease among the teaching staff (Ryan and Cooper, 448).

Technology plays another big role in reform policies. Our advancements in the technological world make it evident that technology will inevitably become a part of our

Our current assessment tool is standardized or achievement testing. Implemented in the 70s and 80s, these multiple-choice tests are used to determine how well a student is learning and how well teachers are teaching. Vital programs have been dropped and teachers penalized because of low scores. In some states these tests are used to determine teacher salaries and school funding. Because of this emphasis teachers have begun teaching to the tests, instead of real learning the students are only learning how to take a test.

Reagan’s advisors received word about a new report that would undermine the President’s views on education. They tried to have it thrown off the congressional agenda but only succeeded in delaying the inevitable.

Some topics in this essay:
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