Education Reform In The United States

Throughout the United States, state governments have been continuous leaders for education reform beginning in the late eighteenth century, even though most decisions were still acted upon by local communities. As the responsibilities of state governments grew, so did their influence over education, even though the federal government still lacked a significant say in education policy. However, the move towards increasing federal oversight and control over education made significant progress beginning in 1970s following decades of tension between the federal and state governments in regards to who has the power to dictate education decisions. The move for increased federal control spurned out of multiple Supreme Court decisions that recognized …show more content…
In North Carolina, for instance, there has been a gradual shift towards increasing state power regarding education policy and authority. While the General Assembly originally instructed local governments to create certain education bodies, certification processes and curricula, the end of the Civil War marked a significant turning point for North Carolina public schools. States significantly increased financing for schools as well as prescribed courses and textbooks schools were supposed to use in order to boost academic achievement across all countries. In addition, the state began to offer assistance with funding and constructing schools in areas unable to finance the construction of institutions (Mesibov and Johansen, …show more content…
Due to the lack of flexibility, North Carolina biology teachers can often become dissatisfied with the positions they currently hold. To these individuals, standards and administration can be intrusive on how lessons are conducted, and can fail to properly address the needs of students, parents, faculty and the community at large. The lack of feedback and input from teachers hinders the overall improvement of the teaching practice, and fails to promote an effective and positive learning environment (Campany, 2011).
Increased teacher standards fail to boost results. Coupled with its evaluation process, the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards aims to provide students with a skilled and adequate teacher. These tests are slated to provide a measurement of students’ knowledge and skills, and with teaching standards allows administrators to understand areas where teachers are effective or need assistance in addressing. Progress is primarily checked through these exams rather than methods teachers feel would best fit their classes, limiting the amount of academic freedom teachers feel they should have in these environments (Campany,