Response to Ahlam
I agree with your opinion that numerous challenges confront education reform processes. Therefore, policymakers need to adopt diverse strategies while teachers and communities must also play a crucial part in the reform processes to address some of the challenges in the education sector. Primarily, the reforms should be teacher friendly, and their ideas and reservations ought to be taken into consideration. Moreover, the community also plays an important role in the implementation of changes in the education system. Therefore, attempting reforms without incorporating ideas from the affected communities is impractical (Mcbeath, Reyes, and Ehrlander, 2008).
Moreover, with the increase in the number of immigrants into the U.S., the educational reforms should be designed to incorporate the needs to students from diverse backgrounds. Besides, the instructional approaches should be guided by the unique needs of different students, based on their cultures, religions, and economic status. For the reforms to succeeded, school managements should introduce the in a gradual manner for both the students and teachers to absorb and understand them fully. Introducing large-scale reforms can overload the teachers and diminish their efforts to embrace and incorporate them in their day-to-day strategies (Mcbeath, Reyes, and Ehrlander, 2008). I also support your assertion that all stakeholders, including students, educational bodies, the government, teachers, parents, and the political elite, should be actively involved in the reform process.
Response to Emily
The issue of education reform has attracted intense debate in the American society. Some individuals believe that the current education system is unable to meet the need to an ever-evolving U.S. population. As a result, states and government have designed and implemented educational reform strategies, but some people feel that they have been ineffective (Mcbeath, Reyes, and Ehrlander, 2008).
I agree with your assertion that schools have changed significantly over the years. New ideas have been introduced while existing ones, such as the mandatory Carnegie Unit, have persisted and has weathered concerted attempts to change it. I believe that it is a noble idea that should not be scraped off; however, it needs some adjustments or improvements to align it with the contemporary educational demands. I also agree with your statement that the Dalton plan was a noble idea that has the potential of improving instructional strategies in school across the United States. Nevertheless, minor adjustments should be made to the plan to ensure that is tailor-made to accommodate the subcultures as well as the principles that govern schools that adopt it (Mcbeath, Reyes, and Ehrlander, 2008).
Furthermore, I support your argument that standardization has made things relatively difficult for teachers. Ideally, teachers should be given the freedom and autonomy to choose their teaching techniques.
References
Mcbeath, J., Reyes, M., and Ehrlander, M. (2008). Education reform in the American States. New York: Information Age Publishing
