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Why I Change My Mind Analysis

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In Diana Ravitch’s ‘(2010) article Why I Changed My Mind, she discussed how abiding by an educational system using accountability and choice has failed tremendously in America. In addition, Ravitch explained how the federally ordained policies are continuously contributing to the system’s decline as well. She believes the legislators are so focused on testing and teacher evaluation that they are ignoring the root of educational problems faced in the United States. With such strong emphasis on testing and test results, educators have changed their teaching strategies in an attempt to satisfy this broken structure. There is strong attention to preparing students to pass standardized tests while simultaneously denying teachers the time to focus …show more content…

Texas particularly has one of the highest rates of poor education quality due especially to deprived resources. Serious strategies ought to be in place and actively improve this negative connotation; the education funding system certainly needs to change quickly (p.13-14). Unscrupulous funding practices are one of the main problems contributing to academic dysfunction. Though some provision for funding gaps are made, the reality remains that poor neighborhoods receive a lower value of education primarily due to a lack of revenue. In fact, Bruce J. Biddle and David C. Berliner (2002) stated in A Research Synthesis / Unequal School Funding in the United States that “students from disadvantaged families will suffer the most from the U.S. system of unequal school funding because these students are more likely to attend poorly funded public schools” (www.ascd.org). The system for allocating money is completely unfair and it has completely turned a blind eye to the inflated price tag for managing functional schools. Simply put, while the total operational cost for schools are tremendously expensive the funding amount is not accountable for the

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Demonstrated by the Texas Supreme Court case Edgewood ISD v. Kirby, the role of the people is to notice an issue in the Texas government and take action to make a change. In 1989, the state of Texas funded public school districts throughout Texas with a system of property taxes from surrounding neighborhoods. This was the cause of the Mexican Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) going to court against William Kirby, the commissioner of education (Acosta, 2010).

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The author admits that some of these school changes lead to a better education for citizens. All in all the process of states paying for education is a complex one that involves many factors for each state to preserve the money that they has been provided by

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San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez case. Texas public primary and secondary schools rely on local property taxes for supplemental income. These schools are designed to establish a minimum education threshold at each school. The San Antonio District in the representation of families residing in poor districts challenged this funding scheme by arguing that students were disadvantaged because their schools lacked the property used by other districts, and academic programs receiving government funding should favor all students equally. Having already talked the facts of the San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, I would like to discuss how this has been another topic of much attention within the Department of Education of different districts.

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These results should not be surprising. When the goal is to reduce property taxes, there is a good chance politicians will decrease taxes and school funding overall as adding offsetting taxes would seem at cross-purposes with the reduction in property taxes. However, when the goal is to increase equality and help all students succeed, politicians will seek out additional funds to support schools currently near the bottom. At the least, they won’t reduce overall funding in support of equality. Moreover, almost 25 years after reform, Michigan schools are still funded unequally (and won’t be equal for another 20 years at the current rate).

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1610 Words | 7 Pages

In some schools spending per student exceeds $10000 per year but the graduation rate is below 50 percent for example in Detroit. Detroit spends about 11100 per year on each student but only 25 percent of their student’s graduate high school. Policymakers should focus on reforming policies and resource allocations to improve student achievement. According to the National Center for Education Statistics 52 percent of public Education expenditures are spent on instruct and this percentage keeps decreasing overtime. Children who benefit from the school choice program usually have higher test scores than their peers.

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188 Words | 1 Pages

n “The Failure of American Public Education” (February 01 1993), John Hood explains the sundry perspectives on the American education system. Hood tactfully uses cause and effect to demonstrate the viewpoints of a myriad of individuals regarding American schools and their approaches to effectively educating students; he explains how “free-market thinkers believe that applying market competition to the public schools will solve many of America’s educational problems” (Hood) ; “critics believe that public education reforms fail because they are compromised or sabotaged by the education lobbies—teacher associations, administrators, and the legislators in their pockets” (Hood) and “many conservatives believe that American public education is in

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By doing so, we can rely on assessments that allow students to practice and apply material in order to foster retention and mastery (Ravitch 261). Ravitch discusses Finland and how they completely reformed their educational system into a structure that has students take zero standardized tests until they reach the college application process, a method that was enacted to promote teacher accountability and place a stronger emphasis on the noncognitive aspects of individual development. A component of the basis for the argument, Ravitch states, is that while standardized testing may be effective when it is administered fairly, it often impairs students’ abilities to critically analyze information and leaves them practicing how to guess the “right answer.” Addressing this issue is a responsibility that falls on administrators and policymakers; they must be held accountable and required to make changes that best meet the constantly evolving needs of the students. In this case, completely modifying the concept of standardized testing is a necessity.

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The current form of teacher accountability, is well known, but has little support. The system we have adapted to, judges our teachers and views them as simple minded. Tucker points out in the report, Fixing Our National Accountability Problems, that having standardized tests judging our teachers is not giving students a better education. Nocera uses Tucker’s quote: “There is no

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190 Words | 1 Pages

In Chapter 2, a specific reform that was discussed in American education were both accountability and choice, how the standards movement turned into the testing movement. This reform was introduced through President George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind program and a Nation At Risk report. My thoughts on this reform are much similar to the author of the book, Diane Ravitch. She states her opinion throughout the chapter as well as the whole book. I agree with her that there should be a curriculum taught not just test taking.

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1587 Words | 7 Pages

Texas, since its admittance into the United States, has attempted to make public education a priority, but has often struggled for centuries to find an adequate solution to the issues that surround public education. The Texas constitution that was created in 1876, established that public education was a priority, but has often struggled due to the hinderance of factors such as limited financial resources, racial and socioeconomic divisions, and political resistance to progressive reforms.[1] There have been several reforms put into play such as the Robin Hood plan and the Edgewood litigation, however none have been successful. In recent times, Texas has explored the option of tax credits and vouchers to allow for a better education for the

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1212 Words | 5 Pages

Proponents see standardized testing as a way of making testing more efficient and effective by minimizing cost and increasing people’s accountability for their performance in the system. Opponents on the other hand argue that the systems has limitations based on its very nature on what can be tested and as a result of these standards needing to be met sacrifice some very important aspects of students education experience as well as force onto students and teachers a one size fits all model that has failed to deliver on its promises. After having reviewed all the evidence in detail it becomes clear to me that standardized testing is not an effective system for educating students and does more bad than good

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1597 Words | 7 Pages

The state of Texas has been in a constant struggle within itself over just how to evaluate education, and standardized testing in Texas has been a major influencer in terms of the state’s standards for over thirty years. Though these methods of testing have been utilized for decades, resentment to the tests have been continuously rising among educators, parents, and students, but not everyone agrees. Despite government officials trying to quell these protests with changes to administration, and the way the test itself is formatted and formulated, there seems to have been little to no improvement made and those opposing the tests have started calling for an end to all standardized testing. For one to truly understand this ongoing struggle, one must first look at standardized testing’s beginning, then how government today is trying to fix the broken system, and finally consider the opinions of notable figures in the testing world.

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1166 Words | 5 Pages

problem lies in the fact that most public schools have fixed costs from heating costs to teaching staff that cannot easily be adjusted or downscaled when a few students leave in a given year. The result equates to “squeezed funding at traditional public schools” (Daniel Simmons Ritchie). School choice is not necessary.

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1905 Words | 8 Pages

Basing school funding on property tax leads to unequal opportunities and environments for students, even though the government may claim it is not up to them, there needs to be a drastic change. Currently, taxes collected from the surrounding communities fund public school districts. Public schools get financed mainly by the property tax of the surrounding houses. “Resources available to school districts relied heavily on local property wealth, and property wealth per pupil varied greatly, as it continues today”

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1438 Words | 6 Pages

School funding is also based on the school population size. Why should newer schools with high income students get to have a lot more resources then the other schools with low income students. Why is it that lower income schools aren’t given the same resources to help the students? These students with low income do have the same opportunity as the higher income new schools. A lot of those students don’t have access to internet or even have a ride for transportation.

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