Having had recent ground-level experience within the Arizona, Connecticut, and Massachusetts public education realm, it has been apparent that every state has their own foci, challenges, ideas for reform, and agendas. Current policy initiatives seem to be tailored for each state’s own struggles but with little oversight and success. Additionally, two federal policies and education initiatives that have influenced states across the nation have been the No Child Left Behind Act (enacted in 2002) and the more recent Race To The Top Fund (announced in 2009).
Current policy initiatives and education reformers seem to be coming to the realization that a one-size-fits-all solution does not exist in education. What enables teachers and students in …show more content…
For example, all across the Southwestern United States, the issue of race, discrimination, and inequalities have been mostly focused around the Mexican-American and Native American populations that have been historically oppressed, marginalized, segregated and forced to Americanize (San Miguel & Valencia, 1998; Tamura, 1994, p. 52). The state of Arizona’s solutions to break up these historically oppressive structures have been to open up all districts to become “open enrollment”. This allows students to choose any school they would like to attend within their home-district boundary. Further, the state of Arizona felt their own board of education could create an accountability and testing system that was more accurate than any national test or curriculum that was out there, such as the Common Core.
In 1989, the state of Connecticut had to acknowledge their oppressive schooling structures through the Sheff v. O’Neill civil rights lawsuit (Sheff v. O’Neill, 1989). In a similar reaction/solution to their deeply rooted injustices as Arizona, the state of Connecticut created a magnet school program that would allow students to apply and attend various schools throughout the city and region. Additionally, “themed” schools to bring outside students into historically underperforming areas were
Current policy initiatives and education reformers seem to be coming to the realization that a one-size-fits-all solution does not exist in education. What enables teachers and students in …show more content…
For example, all across the Southwestern United States, the issue of race, discrimination, and inequalities have been mostly focused around the Mexican-American and Native American populations that have been historically oppressed, marginalized, segregated and forced to Americanize (San Miguel & Valencia, 1998; Tamura, 1994, p. 52). The state of Arizona’s solutions to break up these historically oppressive structures have been to open up all districts to become “open enrollment”. This allows students to choose any school they would like to attend within their home-district boundary. Further, the state of Arizona felt their own board of education could create an accountability and testing system that was more accurate than any national test or curriculum that was out there, such as the Common Core.
In 1989, the state of Connecticut had to acknowledge their oppressive schooling structures through the Sheff v. O’Neill civil rights lawsuit (Sheff v. O’Neill, 1989). In a similar reaction/solution to their deeply rooted injustices as Arizona, the state of Connecticut created a magnet school program that would allow students to apply and attend various schools throughout the city and region. Additionally, “themed” schools to bring outside students into historically underperforming areas were