" (New York Times, Teachers Dig Deeper to Fill Gap in Supplies, 2002).
Control issues
Because the American Constitution does not contain any legislations on education, the U.S. government can not exercise its controlling role over the educational system. However, given the fact that the U.S. As a country financially supports the educational process and most of its institutions, the government can influence the decisions made by universities and colleges. In other words, "the federal government uses the threat of decreased funding to enforce laws pertaining to education." (the U.S. Department of Education, the Federal Role in Education, 2006)
Competitiveness issues
Even if America has produced many valuable science and literary men, the sad fact remains that the overall statistics reveal that "the national results in international comparisons have often been below the average of developed countries. In addition, many business leaders have expressed concerns that the quality of education given in the U.S. system is generally below acceptable standards, and should be adapted in order to conform to the needs of an evolving world." (National Center for Education Statistics, International Outcomes of Learning in Mathematics Literacy and Problem Solving, 2005).
5. Changes in the educational system mixture of the above mentioned issues led to a migration of the educational system from a student based activity to a marketing activity. The curricular dispute is now of public interest and along with funding led to an increased desire to attract more students. These students would pay rather high scholarly taxes and would contribute to the further development of the institutions.
By applying in practice what they used to teach, universities were able to enlarge the number of students and improve their images to their public. However, this process required some sacrifice from the part of the students which mostly revolved around less accent on the tutorial process, taking all forms from exaggerate expectations to insufficient assistance.
Professor Deborah Holdstein analyzed the recent developments in the American educational system in her book Challenging Perspectives: Reading Critically About Ethics and Values. Her general advice to all readers is to open their eyes and minds to all...
Students gain a solid foundation in constructive questioning and
analysis, giving them the confidence to take on complex issues that come up in
reading and in
daily life."(Powells,
Book review)
In a nutshell, while trying to cope with the technological and
social development, the educational system was forced to take numerous courses of action which affected in both good and bad the students. They must not be discouraged by this, but should clearly analyze the process and by analyzing it they would be able to perfect their critical eye as well develop an appreciation for moral rules and values.
Bibliography
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia,
Higher Education, last modified on October 15, 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_education,last accessed on October 18, 2006
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, Universities in the United States, last modified on October 8, 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universities_in_the_United_States,last accessed on October 18, 2006
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, Education in the United States, last modified on October 16, 2006, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_United_States,last accessed on October 18, 2006
Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Astronomy Education in the United States, http://www.astrosociety.org/education/resources/useduc03.html, last accessed on October 18, 2006
Geography About, Geographic Education and
Public Policy
http://geography.about.com/library/misc/bldeblij1.htm, last accessed on October 2006
New York Times, Teachers Dig Deeper to Fill Gap in Supplies, 2002
The U.S. Department of Education, the Federal Role in Education, last modified on April 2, 2006, http://www.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/role.html?src=ln, last accessed on October 18, 2006
National Center for Education Statistics, International Outcomes of Learning in Mathematics Literacy and Problem Solving, 2006
Powells Website, Review on Deborah Holdstein's Challenging Perspectives
http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=65-0618215034-0,last accessed on October 18, 2006
