United States No Longer the World Leader in Education of Secondary Teen Students – Graduate Rankings have Fallen
Posted on | June 23, 2010 | No Comments
The United States is no longer the world’s leader in secondary educational rankings. Just two decades ago a CBS news study ranked the United States first in high school achievement and secondary graduation rates when compared to other industrialized nations. Recently however, we have fallen from that high ranking and were ranked 21st when compared to 27 other industrialized countries. The Obama administration has taken note of this discrepancy and is pushing education reform. Obama’s Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is leading the way and under his leadership and guidance the administration is revising No Child Left Behind. The revised document will be know as the Secondary and Elementary Education Act. One reason the administration sees such a need to reform education is not just that the United States was ranked 21 out of 27 but that the United States was ranked 21 but was near the top in dollars spent on education. This is not a fiscally responsible statistic. Components of the Secondary and Elementary Education Act include implementing a non seniority evaluation system and merit pay and contract terminology that states that veteran teacher can be fired for poor performance. Could it be that we are focusing on the symptoms and not the major cause however. Debate is raging regarding education reform and will continue until positive results are achieved consistently.
Author: Stephen Johnson