United States school reform model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

United States school reform model - Essay Example Public schools in the US are long overdue for reform. The pedagogy, governance, and organization are archaic, as are the methods of teaching and day to day operations. Yet it is no small task to overhaul a system that has been in place for well over one hundred years. There have been several attempts to change the way schools were run, yet each one has failed, or has affected change on only a few schools. Few would argue that America's public schools are no longer meeting the needs of the families they serve, much less reaching their potential as ideal environments for children to grow and learn in. Schools are essential to society, but they must grow and change to meet the needs of the people that reside within that society. To change schools, it is necessary to look at change to the way schools are run, both at a micro and a macro level or organization. It is necessary to look at how the school should interact within the community, and how it should create its' own community. And f inally, it is necessary to look at the pedagogy, and how it works and is assessed within the schools.Current school government is convoluted, and is micro-managed at far too many levels. Each school has government, then each district, then each county, each state, each region, and finally, on a country-wide level. This overabundance of government comes also with very little organization. Tyack looks at governance as a definite place of difficulty in education. Citing the New York City schools as an example, he points out that when control is de-centralized, people demand centralized governance; yet when the governance is centralized, the people want governance back at the local level. When it returns, the cycle repeats itself (Tyack 76-77). It is clear that governance of schools needs to be clear about hierarchy of power, and also with regard to who is in charge of what areas of education. Because American's are an ever changing population characterized by the constant shifting and movement of groups from one area to another, it stands to reason that public schools should be run on a country wide level, and not on a state run level. Goodlad, author of A Place Called School, recommends similar changes, only at a state level. He explains "State officials, including the governor, should be held accountable for articulating a comprehensive, consistent set of educational goals for schools (Goodlad 275). He suggests that it is not reasonable, nor logical to place the blame for not following educational mandates upon schools; that it is the responsibility of the state to pass on these new mandates, and to ensure that the schools are funded for the changes (Goodlad 274). His recommendations are reasonable, although they do not account for the need to maintain standards country-wide, which would be better served by one organization rather than several. By limiting governance to one major organization, all schools would be subject to the same rules and tests, allowing c hildren to move from school to school with regular uniformity. Health codes and nutrition could also be met at a federal level, ensuring the health of America's children over the long term. Clearly, in addition to federal level government there needs to be local organization also, to provide support and to ensure all schools are accounted for. This can be met by having state level governance, removing the need for district level altogether. With-in schools, current governance allows for the handling of discipline and day to day operations. The principal of each school should have power over the daily operations of the school, but should also be a part of the staffing decisions and possibly a member of a state advisory board, that would help suggest curriculum or other changes to a state committee. School governance needs to take into account American Society, and the changes that take place yearly. Community involvement is also a necessary component of school success. Goodlad suggests that in

In the current economic climate in Britain, the risks of starting up a Essay

In the current economic climate in Britain, the risks of starting up a new business outweigh the benefits, Discuss - Essay Example Admittedly, some very recent reports of Britain's Office for National Statistics indicate a hopeful improvement in the economic performance of the nation with regard to its GDP that showed ‘over 3 percent annual growth rate’ unlike other world economies (Schomber and Milliken). Although the 0.8 percent growth it showed between July and September ranks its fastest pace in more than three years, the employment growth has not yet showed significant improvement; and this makes the sustainability of the economic recovery uncertain. Hence, from an entrepreneur’s point of view, the risks of starting up a new business in UK in the current economic climate outweigh the benefits. Some experts believe that Britain’s economy is built on shaky foundations. To illustrate, as Elliot, the Guardian reporter points out, the economy is exceedingly depending on private, ‘and to a lesser extent to public borrowing’. He also says that the so called economic recovery is concentrated only in certain sectors and as a result, ‘manufacturing base is shrinking’ and the trade deficit is mounting. Obviously, all these reports reveal that UK economy currently is relying on a debt based recovery which will raise long term financial stability concerns. The growing rate of consumer borrowing is one of the symptoms of this economic crisis. Another point to mention here is that the highlighted GDP growth in fact does not add up for the country’s working class. For instance, over the past 12 months, the use of food banks has gone up by 170% in the nation, and still five million people in the UK are currently living in fuel poverty (Cresswell). The financial position of an economy can influence a company’s stability and sustainability. New businesses are highly vulnerable to risks related to the economic stability of the country in which it operates. New entrepreneurs often fail to plan financial projections or create good working e nvironment. It is necessary for new businesses to determine if their product or service is strong enough to sustain the market completion and other challenges. Business owners with little knowledge in current trends and socio economic changes tend to fail in their venture. In other words, it is important to study the socio economic and political conditions of the business destination before commencing operation. Finding a new appropriate business is also a challenge in the new environment. It requires extensive research to determine the most relevant product and business concept in a competitive environment. One recent survey report reveals that 31% of the participants opined that finding a new business would be the major challenge for their organisations in 2013 ‘followed by rising costs (14%) and holding onto customers (13%)’ (MT Management). At this juncture, new entrepreneurs must be cautious about the current economic climate in the UK regardless of the recent impr ovements. This is because even Britain's big businesses have just started spending their cash piles after the recession. Although expansion is their higher priority, for the time being, their decisions seem to be an experiment. When it comes to new businesses, they usually confront insufficient cash flow, lack of expertise, and knowledge. Although new businesses fail due to a multitude of reasons, there are