Reflection 8 The Three Waves of education Reformed

In 1983 a report cited a decline in test scores, the weak performance of U.S. students compared with those of other nations. This called for an education reform. To reform education they came up with three waves of reform which continues to influence American education today. The first wave of reports states, the goal was to raise educational quality by reporting more courses and more testing of students and teacher performance. States were to assume the leadership in improving existing practices and this wave continues to be the strongest. This wave also viewed reform in terms of national defense and economic competition. This first reform wave covered several educational issues and topics such as; the rapid growth of state tests, and the effort to identify weak performing students, teachers, and schools. The second wave of reform, began in the mid-and late 1980’s, and was led by educators, rather than by politicians and business leaders. They see the nature of the curriculum as a central weakness, and recommending that students cover fewer topics but study them in the greater depth. They were alarmed by the loss of teacher autonomy in school climates and poor academic performance. To change this they came up with a conclusion to reduce bureaucracy, creating a more professionally trained of teachers, and study the subjects in greater depth. Finally, the third wave began in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s refer to full service schools, by all means to provide a network of social services, nutrition, healthcare, transportation, counseling, and parent education. School policy, focused only on education, would be replaced by children policy. In my opinion I feel the third wave has been so dominant because it primarily focuses on the need of the children and not the sake of the nation’s reputation. We never know what a child is capable of and have access to. Some children may not afford the ability to seek counseling, healthcare, and networking. School is probably their only access to the key to success and other guidance beyond their own home. In my opinion, the first wave is basically worrying about making the students improve to give the nation a high-quality view from other nations or as a competition.