Summary Of Why We Need To Reform Education Now

521 Words3 Pages

Sir Ken Robinson ’s article in the May 2013 issue of the Huffington Post “Why We Need to Reform Education Now” examines how America’s education system has changed from 1970 to 2013. He includes quantitative data to support his position about America’s disastrous high school graduation and dropout rates. Robinson reports less than 50% of students graduate in some communities. From a global perspective, the number of graduates from 28 countries were surveyed, the United States of America ranked 23rd. After reading all of the statistics mentioned in the article, I felt compelled to explore a current source regarding today’s graduation and dropout rates. According to Organization Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) America’s global graduation …show more content…

Unfortunately, “the results have been unimpressive (Robinson, 2013 p. 2)”. Robinson(2014) suggested the decline of America’s dropout and graduation rates are the results of misdiagnosed problems and the dehumanization of the educational system. In addition, he proposed that current educational policies are based on a culture of testing and standardization that disregards academic content and quantify the value of teachers and students through unrealistic standards. Furthermore, Robinson (2013) stated “They treat education as an industrial process rather than as human one”. Having been a classroom teacher for 16 years I concur with Robinson views on dehumanized educational reform. I remember when I first started teaching, the first two weeks of school was designated for getting to know your students. This was a great initiative because it helped me to plan activities and form groups based on my students interest and needs. Sadly, things are so different now. Everyday my fellow teachers and I are given unrealistic tasks that are not personalized to student achievement or social growth. These non-student centered tasks often involve spreadsheets, targeted numbers and future testing goals. As an educator it