The Nature of the American Educational System

Introduction
All significant approaches to educational development are always multi-faceted endeavors with several aspects, decisions, dimensions, and alternatives that have to be considered. Since education is a sector that brings many people in society together, any alternatives arrived at should be agreed upon by the majority and common ground reached. Also, because education has different levels in society, the alternatives chosen must be consistent with and align with other alternatives at different levels. While the Federal government has a significant influence on education, education as far as policy and implementation is concerned is highly decentralized in the United States (Barnhardt, 1981). The United States Constitution’s 10th amendment provides that all powers that are not explicitly delegated by the constitution to the United States or those that are not prohibited by the constitution to the states shall be reserved to the people and the states. Education, being one of these matters, allows the states to wield a lot of power on schooling and educational systems in the United States of America. The federal government does not provide a national framework for education and neither does it have a general authority on the creation and execution of educational policy at the state level. It does not provide licenses to schools and neither does it establish schools. Nonetheless, the federal government still plays an important role in education in other key areas (Spellings, 2005).
The decentralization of the United States education system can be explained by America’s history. The United States was founded from separate colonies that were begun by various European settlers. These colonies tended to have different systems of governance that also covered different ways of administering education. The original United States was founded from 13 former British colonies. Depending on the colony in question, either the local community or the colonial government was responsible for educating its children and adults. Since communities and colonial governments had different priorities, needs, and values, the education systems they used to teach their children and adults were structurally and systematically different from those used in other places. Education was highly localized. Such a history of the localization of education helps explain how states still maintain a lot of control over education policy and the establishment of educational systems in the United States (Spellings, 2005).
Creation of the American Education System
America’s public education system was founded around 1840. The image shared of the American populace before then was that of a dirty and illiterate people. It is not clear whether or not this image is true or false. Nonetheless, it appears that there can rarely be a vacuum in society as far as education is concerned. One way or another, society will find a way to impart knowledge upon its people. This is true of the American population before 1840 too. Before 1840, American communities used decentralized informal education systems. Children were educated in charity schools that were run by benevolent groups, churches, and town councils. Besides the charity schools, there were also dame schools that were run out of homes by women, female seminaries, grammar schools, independent day schools and academics (Lattier, 2016).
For most of human history, learning was done at home. Children were taught by their parents and grandparents. For wealthier families, experienced tutors with specialized knowledge would be brought in to teach the children. This was true in the Americas as well. In America, Puritans were the first people to put forward the idea of having some form of public education. Public schools were then created and the lessons they taught extended beyond the required basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Also taught were important ideas that helped children form core values. Following the American Revolution, Thomas Jefferson put forward the argument that America should have a structured educational system and he suggested using tax to fund such a system. His ideas would not be executed on immediately and it would take almost a century before a system would be put in place. By around 1840, there were countable public schools that had been put up in various communities in the nation. Only the communities that could afford the public schools put them up. Nonetheless, even these schools were inadequate for various persistent crusaders of formal education such as Henry Barnard of Connecticut and Horace Mann of Massachusetts. These crusaders began pushing for the establishment of free and compulsory schools for America’s children all over the nation (Watson, 2019).
In 1852, Massachusetts would become the first jurisdiction to pass the first law that would make school compulsory. It only took a year before New York followed in their lead and made school compulsory. By 1918, all children in America were required to have at least some elementary school education. This period of dramatic change would be followed by another revolutionary period that would campaign for all American children to have equal schooling regardless of their race. At the dawn of the 20th century, Southern states still had segregated schools. Plessy v. Ferguson 1896 Supreme Court ruling upheld that segregation in public schools was legal. This would be later overturned by the same Supreme Court in 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education. The ruling ended segregation in public schools and made them open to all children no matter their race (Watson, 2019). Formal education refers to the learning of academic concepts and facts through a well-defined formal curriculum. Formal education has been in existence since the age of ancient Greece when Greek thinkers examined various topics through formal learning channels. Just three centuries ago, a very small percentage of the population knew how to read and write. Education was not available for all people. It was mainly available to the higher classes who had the means and free time to pursue education. The establishment of a capitalist system would see significant changes in society’s economic and social dynamics and therefore make education more of a necessity for the population. As education became more of a necessity, more and more families gave their children an education. Capitalism also made education more accessible and affordable for the general population. Canada and the United States were the first two countries to achieve an educational environment that was closest to the ideal of universal education. This happened around 1900 and most of the world had not yet embraced the idea of universal education. Universal education is therefore still very young the world over. In fact, some parts of the world have not yet achieved universal education (Little, 2014).
No Child Left Behind: The Beginning of a New Era
One of the most significant landmark legislations in the United States as far as education is concerned is the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The aim of the legislation was to drastically improve student achievement and markedly alter America’s school culture. It was a bipartisan effort that was supported by both the Democrat and the Republican Party. It was signed into law on January 8, 2002 by President George W. Bush. An important action of the law was the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). ESEA is the main federal law that oversees the education of children from kindergarten years through high school. The amendment to the ESEA overhauled various federal efforts in support of secondary and elementary education in the US. It required states to put in place accountability systems that made sure that resources used in the improvement of education in every state were accessible to every child in the state. This was a basic requirement for a state to receive federal aid for their educational efforts (Spellings, 2005).
Importance of No Child Left Behind Law
The federal government has allocated and spent about $300 billion towards the education of children, particularly disadvantaged children, since 1965 when the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was first passed. In spite of such a significant investment, the country’s education system is still lagging behind in some key areas. For instance, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in reading reports that about two-thirds of fourth-graders in the United States can read at advanced or proficient levels. There has been significant progress in some areas, though. Long-term trend data on achievement gaps between minority and white students have been narrowing. Nonetheless, even though the gaps are narrowing, the existence of the gaps is still unacceptable. With the implementation of No Child Left Behind, schools in towns and cities all over the nation are achieving great academic results for all students under their care including those students from socioeconomic groups that have recorded historically low academic performance. Since some schools have been able to make such tremendous strides, there is no reason why other schools cannot follow suit and get similar results. The purpose of No Child Left Behind is to ensure that such great results are seen across the board in all states. The law is grounded on four key pillars: emphasis on implementing things that deliver results based on scientific research, accountability for school and student results, an expansion of the options parents have, and an increase in flexibility and control at the local level (Spellings, 2005).
Expansion of the American Educational System
American society and its education system have undergone an extensive evolution over the past few decades. Private schools and public schools have always been a mainstay of America’s education system. There have been very charged conversations about certain aspects of private schools in the past, especially concerning the once-divisive parochial schools. The schools not only existed with the support of many members of the community, but they also drew financial support for students and various programs. It was argued that privatization carried with it the currency of free choice and that free choice was an important aspect of the private sector. This gave the schools a strong basis to bargain with various bodies in society. The question of equality surpassed the question of religion as the dominant issue as far as America’s educational discussions and debates were concerned. The conditions under question were different by state and varied significantly throughout the nation. Discussions on equal opportunity grew to become very complex and would include several variables including race, wealth, physical disability, ethnic origin, religion, and sex. It morphed to a discussion about these variables rather than a conversation to simply allow access. As the conversation matured in the 1950s, more constructive action was taken to make schools more accessible to all students. One of the major shifts that took place was the shift towards “opportunity” to “affirmative action.” These actions led to significant improvement to access to education by various minority groups in the nation. There were notable improvements in performance in standardized assessment scores and school completion rates at various levels by various minority groups from the 1970s onwards (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2019).
Given the complex needs of various minority students, state departments faced significant challenges in working towards equal access. State departments utilized inter-district incentives and equalization formulas to help reach the areas in their jurisdictions that were very disadvantaged economically. Nonetheless, conditions remained poor in certain areas particularly in some inner cities where most of the students were minorities. City schools, given the mix of communities they served, represented the two extremes of access and quality in single jurisdictions. Some of the challenges city schools had to deal with in disadvantaged communities included unwanted pregnancy, suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, and other vices such as students getting lured into drug dealing while young. It is a challenge for any state department to meet the needs of a highly ethnically and racially diverse student population. Nonetheless, the cities that made tremendous progress adopted an assimilation mindset that would lead to them understanding the problems of minorities better and so allowing the departments to come up with solutions that were better tailored to the issues in question. States put together multicultural courses for teachers. Districts launched bilingual instruction in certain cases and made English the second language of instruction where such a decision was necessary. Revisions were done to books to better tailor them to the diverse reality of the student population in the states. Women’s status was given more attention by increasing their access to higher education. These actions bore fruit as women are now a majority in United States colleges.
An idea that has been embraced by most of America is that everyone should have a fair chance no matter their condition. This philosophy underlies the creation of tax-supported education at the elementary and high school levels. As various educational fields saw rapid growth, especially science, there were consistent efforts to bridge the gap that existed between the rich and the poor. These efforts were also extended to those with mental and physical handicaps. While it was financially expensive to undertake the programs, many states put in place programs to make it easy for people who are mentally or physically handicapped to have equal access to education as their peers who did not suffer from any mental or physical handicaps. In 1958, the United States Congress appropriated $1 million towards the preparation of teaching of children who are mentally challenged. From then on, federal government funding for similar programs grew steadily. The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 together with corresponding laws in communities and states around the country laid the framework that would aid the education of handicapped children in a big way. The laws covered aspects surrounding program development, teaching facilities, employment of teachers, and teacher preparation. The resulting changes and addition would lead to more positive changes than had been seen at any given point in America’s education history as far as the education of the physically and mentally handicapped were concerned. The act was revised in 1990 and was renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). IDEA was again updated in 2004 to account for various changes that have taken places over the years including efforts to ‘mainstream’ the education of handicapped children whenever possible (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2019).
American Education System Central to Social and Cultural Life
While America has a very diverse population with different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, there are certain American cultural experiences that influence all people in the United States regardless of their cultural background. Below are some of these cultural influences:
Protestant ideology: America’s core values are based fundamentally on the concepts of Protestantism, republicanism, and capitalism. Protestant ideology has had a big impact on American culture. Its influence on American culture has a history spanning several decades beginning in the 19th century. Its influence is evident in almost all facets of life in America including America’s school systems and activities. For instance, many American schools incorporated prayer and Bible reading into their school traditions. Schools have been for the most part the center of Americanization. They provided the vehicle through which immigrants could be assimilated into America’s culture. They have been used to guide attitudes and morals and to pass knowledge about American culture to young children including immigrant children. The beliefs that have been passed over the ages have always been primarily the beliefs of Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs).
Diversity has been a central element of the way of life of Americans. Diversity is used to refer to the differences that exist in a population in terms of sexual orientation, age, gender, ethnicity, religion, and race. America’s constitution, by design, protects the rights of all citizens. The rights granted by the constitution grants all citizens minimum and maximum freedom they can have within the law. The rights ensure that the rights of one do not lead to them denying another their right. It is true, however, that part of America’s history is the reality that certain groups have had to fight and wage social campaigns in order to enjoy all the rights granted by the constitution. Even today, there are groups that are still fighting for equal treatment under the law.
Personal freedom and individuality: The idea of personal freedom stems from the idea that one needs to be free of constraints imposed by the government. Personal freedom is a very important concept in democracy. It encompasses one’s right to live a dignified life and to seek fulfillment. It also encompasses the idea that people should have the freedom to think for themselves and autonomously make decisions based on their own creativity and individualism. Personal freedom also extends to various public rights that entail personal choice such as the right to vote. American culture deeply values the idea of personal freedom even though personal decisions are still influenced by various social factors such as social class, access to wealth and education, sex, and race. Nonetheless, it is important to appreciate the conflict that people seeking to assimilate into American culture face. While they may have some level of autonomy, to fully integrate and enjoy a way of life that is uniquely American, they have to make decisions in line with what other Americans deem acceptable and right even when their personal belief systems may not be congruent with those lines of thinking. In school, for instance, students tend to conform to the norms that are dominant in the population. These norms are rarely those of minority groups.
Political and social equality: Social equality is a good ideal but it has been very hard to attain. There are inequities that have persisted between various groups in the United States for centuries such as performance gaps in schools between different ethnic, racial, and gender groups. Laws have been put in place to correct some of these inequities. Women have made tremendous progress as a result of such actions. Conversations around political and social equality are becoming stronger and more constructive actions are now likely at both the federal and state level. In America, a person’s inability to rise above their circumstances even when they are facing crumbling hardship has always been attributed to the individual. Lately, as the conversation about political and social equality gathers momentum, people are more willing to appreciate the fact that people who have been disadvantaged for generations may need a helping hand to rise above their stations (Lynch, 2018).
Public and/or private good: Americans view education as both a public and private good. When a person is educated well and he or she becomes a productive member of society, the benefits accrued to the individual spillover to the rest of society. This reality necessitates the intervention of government in education since the education of citizens is a public good. While the government is involved in education, there has always been resistance to public monopolies as far as the delivery of education is concerned. Schooling, therefore, remains a function of the state government and the communities they serve. The argument is that monopolizing education will limit chances for experimentations that can result in more effective education methods and practices (Anomaly, 2018).
Conclusion
Education reform in the United States over the years has always been informed by the fact that besides being a private good, education is a formidable public good. The United States benefits a great deal from having a well-educated population. Governments have also been appreciative of the fact that while education is good when it is funded publicly, its provision should be local and private. This has resulted in increased efficiencies at various levels in the education sector. Without monopolizing the delivery of education, the federal government has been able to competitively provide certain types of education to special minorities in need (Tooley, 2014).





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