The
crisis of the American educational system: the necessity
of reforming the entire state education
-------------------------------------
In
spite of the great divergences opposing the two candidates
at the time of the last American presidential elections,
there was, between the democrat Al Gore and the republican
George W Bush a point of convergence: the radical reform
of the whole American educational system. Indeed, although
the " alarm bell " was rang on several occasions, the
whole of the American leading class, has decided to
take concrete measures in order to raise the level of
teaching (a teaching which obeys to an extremely complicated
decentralized structure).
At
the present time, and even if the reforms are part of
the principal concerns of the whole of the population,
there is an obvious opposition between the conservatives
- supporters of a decentralized system, independent
of any management at the official level - and the liberals
for whom, the educational establishments, and consequently
the teachers, must conform to standards set up by the
members of Congress. In concrete terms, these reforms
result in final exams at the end of the year, in order
to control the knowledge obtained by each student, in
accordance with the adopted standard.
These
standards are elaborated by commissions specially trained
for the circumstance, and including teachers, university
professors, businessmen or politicians.
Actually, it is a question of defining standards for
specific subjects (such as English, mathematics, sciences
and the history) and which must be in accordance with
the criteria set up at the State level. Currently these
standards were adopted by the majority of the States,
which set up new control exams, in accordance with new
criteria; but it is still too early to estimate results.
In
the same way, following the adoption in 1994 by the
Congress of the act known as 'Goals 2000: Educate America',
which gives to each State, federal grants intended for
the development of school standards and techniques of
evaluation, some States have set up a system of school
objectives to reach. But once again, the results of
such initiatives are long to appear. At the same time,
it was decided, on the level of each State, to introduce
systems of awards and punishments intended to control
the level of knowledge, with an aim to make teachers
and students aware of their responsabilities.
These
new mechanisms result in practices such as: - the end
of the " social advancement " (which make it possible
for a student to reach the higher class, even if his
level remains insufficient)
However,
this evaluation system is at the present time, at the
center of a great controversy, since - on the one hand,
the lowest ranked schools are located in disadvantaged
areas, and the allocation of resources and funds necessary
to reach the standard is closely related to the obtained
classification. Consequently, the State can act against
these school establishments and can even order the closure
if the results are considered to be too insufficient
(just like in the town of Chicago).
Thus, if the results obtained by a school establishment
are considered below the required threshold, experts
are sent in order to straighten out the situation (in
fact, it is to draw up a list of knowledge which must
be absolutely acquired by the students).
Concerning the evaluation system of knowledge, it is
still a source of controversy opposing the politicians
and the associations of students'parents. Indeed, if
the first ones consider it a " very practical " system
(particularly because of its low cost and its speed
of intervention according to the results), the seconds
ones consider it too severe and too restricting restricting,
and some of them even cast doubt on the quality of such
a teaching.
However,
and in spite of all these reserves, it appears undeniable
that these reforms are more favourable, and in certain
States such as Texas or Maryland, where the reforms
have been set up in a progressive way, one could note
very few reactions on the side of the students, their
parents or the teachers. Thus, in Texas (one of the
first States to have introduced these reforms), school
establishments are classified according to the results
obtained at the time of the exams, receiving federal
subsidies in case of difficulties... making this State
one of the leaders as far as teaching is concerned.
Otherwise,
the introduced reforms raises a problem in relation
to the local management of the state education, which
falls from now on within the competence of the federated
State, which can interfer in the educational system.
This transfer of competences disrupts, without any doubt,
the traditional notion of education, in a country where
this field, is by definition free of charge and has
always fall within the attributions of the local governments.
One of the other part of the reform, relates to the
lack of human resources as regards teaching.
Indeed, there exists in the United States a serious
shortage of teachers, and this, practically since 1999;
it is at the present time a question of recruiting,
forming and motivating a new class of teachers, in accordance
with the new established standards, so that the quality
of teaching, in a general way, can be raised.
With this intention, the States do not hesitate to make
the various candidates pass tests and exams of professional
ability, thus obliging them to continuously train themselves.
But still, it is the law of supply and demand which
applies, and one can note a strong concentration of
the teachers in urban environment.
Although
all these efforts were implemented to raise the level
of education in the United States, it continues to suffer
from a crisis of confidence on behalf of the whole American
population. Indeed, the essential concern relates to
the qualification and the training of a working population
being able to face the stakes of the 21st century.
But to this lack of quality of the educational system,
is added other concerns such as the problem of school
violence or the opposition between private and state
education.
The
political leaders finally became aware of the urgency
of the situation, and it only remains to hope that all
the considered reforms will not depend on elections
results.
