EDUCATION REFORM FOR THE 21^st CENTURY

ABSTRACT

Espousing a western European 'factory model', the structure of public school education has virtually remained the same since the end of the Civil War when most states began publicly funding schools. Early into the 21^st century, the government, public, and educators are all trying to improve the system. The Department of Education has sponsored the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) Program designed to identify and track successful whole-school reform initiatives. The public, through its demands for 'choice' and the increased uptake in alternative education modes such as vouchers, charter schools, and home-schooling programs, has brought about change in local public school districts. Educators have continued searching for ways to achieve higher standards. Although all parties have been working towards attaining a solution, reforms have not yet succeeded in establishing a viable 21^st century education paradigm. The Government's efforts tend to focus on Title 1 schools and the long-term effects of reform. The public, on the other hand, wants immediate fixes for their children are in the system right now. Although many of the problems have been discussed since the 1930s when Dewey first espoused the 'set apart' nature of the educational system and suggested that community and families should be brought into the system to help form a more life-like learning experience (Lines, 2000), many reforms are implemented in a 'bits and pieces' fashion. The daily experience faced by many teachers has been compared to a 'war zone' (Allen, 1992, p. 96) where discipline problems and alienation are the norm. Arguably, most school reforms initiatives have focused on curricular issues and few have delved into more critical issues. Pertinent issues such as: the purpose of education, the need for a centralized body in charge and the conflict between the individual vs. communal mindset of educators have not been adequately addressed. National-wide reform that does not address these issues is little more than a continuation of the band-aid approach that has characterized public school reform over the past 50 years.