Standardization Vs American Education System

The idea of standardization is a fairly new concept in American education. What was first an attempt to keep curricula uniform across states, is now, thanks to the America 2000 plan that was implemented in 1991 (Doppen, Yeager, 1998), a system based solely on standards and test scores. Therefore, mimicry, as well as a ‘one size fits all’ set of standards, have become the basis of a system used solely for economic gains. The students best interests have fallen aside in favor of corporate America with the mentality of ‘keeping America on top’. The school board would do well to heed new research that makes clear the facts that, 1) the current method is not working to increase student learning, 2) student learning styles vary and are dependent

Their educational practices are different in a lot of crucial ways in respect to American education. The biggest difference is the use of standards. While Finnish schools have a national framework and local requirements they must abide by, it is up to each school to develop its own curriculum, giving more autonomy and freedom to direct education to serve each student. Testing in Finland is also extremely different than American testing. There is only one standardized test given to students, which is used to determined the direction of future education and it is not given until they are 16 years old. Finland also uses less resources for education, which proves that a system without standards does not cost more to implement, which has been an argument on the side that supports the Common Core State Standards. According to the Ministry of Education and Culture, the budget for the administrative branch of this ministry was 6.8 billion in 2017. This branch comprises 13 agencies that deal with all issues related to education. On the other hand, the United States Department of Education, as of 2011, has a budget of 70 billion. Unfortunately, even with one of the biggest budgets for education, the U.S. still consistently ranks lower in education. Cooperation is the rule in Finnish schools, and competition is non existent (Fritz, p. 8). This country shows us that an educational system can thrive when students and

Howard Gardner is a Ph.D Professor of education at Harvard University. His work in psychology, cognition, and human potential lead him to create the first of 6 intelligences, which were the basis of his theory we now call the Multiple Intelligence Theory. Currently there are 9 intelligences to this theory and Howard Gardner states that individuals contain each to a certain degree. He holds the opinion that if a person is unintelligent in one category, that does not mean he is unintelligent in other areas, which is the opposite idea of the theory of general intelligence. Many in the teaching profession agree in one aspect or another that individuals learn and are knowledgeable in their own unique way. Despite this fact, we are still testing student’s knowledge on the basis of general intelligence. This theory urges the school board to rethink the narrow mindedness of our current standards of teaching and testing. If the Common Core Standards were replaced with less strict guidelines that facilitate learning styles other than the linguistic and logical intelligences that are currently being catered to, students would have an easier time developing their unique intelligence, which would increase motivation and success in their