American Schools Today

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews the American system of standardized evaluation in a country that is somewhat culturally diverse. The paper discusses how the primary goal of the education system is to allow students to reach their full potential. Culture is central to learning as not only does culture shape the thinking process, it also defines modes of communication and receiving information and therefore has a huge influence on the fulfillment of this goal. This paper shows that unfortunately, culture is not always a consideration when formulating a system and standard of evaluation.

From the Paper:

"There are a number of significant changes sweeping across the American landscape that are having profound implications for educators. In spite of some recent improvements, many members of racial and ethnic minorities continue to experience higher rates of unemployment and are more likely to be underemployed than their whites counterparts; as with older adults, this demographic group is also continuing to grow in terms of their percentage of the population (Doverspike, Mckay, Shultz, Taylor, 2000). According to a report from the National Center for Education Statistics (2000, cited in Growe et al., 2002), minority students now comprise more than 37 percent of the total American public school population in 1998, an increase of 15 percent since 1972. Clearly, the continuing rise of minority students means that the educational system must be prepared to meet the learning needs of a culturally diverse population (Growe, Henry, Perry & Schmersahl, 2002).
The same processes that are taking place in the United States, though, are at play all over the world. For example, in his book, Beyond the National Curriculum: Curricular Centralism and Cultural Diversity in Europe and the USA, David Coulby (2000) reports that there is an enormous change taking place in the global economy; at once, it is becoming more internationalized and more centered on knowledge, a shift that has been characterized by one observer as: "At the end of the twentieth century, we are living through one of these rare intervals in history. "

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