Reforming Nation’s Education System to Improve Standards and Accessibility

REBECCA ZENG
Staff Writer

Other countries’ educational standards are often compared to the U.S.’ educational standards. The U.S. is unlikely to match the educational standards of other countries because every country has different economies, demographics and government types; however, the nation should focus on reforming education by keeping standards consistent while making education more accessible to all students.

The Horace Mann League and the National Superintendents Roundtable, organizations that strive to improve the U.S. public education system, recently co-published a study comparing various countries’ education systems. Though the U.S. had the most educated workforce and substantial school completion rates in this study, its scores for social inequity, support for families and social stress were poor. Obama’s free community college proposal attempts to remedy social inequity. Anti-bullying assemblies and campaigns on campus have attempted to lessen social stress in schools. Though these could appear effective on a larger scale, the anti-bullying campaigns fail to aid individual students with their struggles. In addition, according to the study, family-oriented problems included inadequate spending on social support for families, child abuse and lack of access to preschools. This suggests that teachers and school boards should work more closely with students and their families in order to pinpoint the needs of students and find solutions to specific problems.

The U.S. education system has its pros and cons; the nation has a lot of potential, but this potential needs to be harnessed in order to effectively provide for the educational community.