The American public education system is not based off of any one individual teaching theory,  yet the basis of the current educational system is much accredited to John Dewey, as his philosophy and belief was learning should take a ‘hands on’ approach, where students learn through experience which suggest interaction with said individuals environment and community members. The system we are currently within, however, arguably follows a curriculum that strictly teaches to the test in order to measure a students proficiency in a given subject. This is because a post-industrial America was motivated to generate individuals with the capacity and skills to join the workforce quite soon after adolescence, usually expected to begin work immediately following graduation from secondary school. I take issue with this adopted methodology due to the prioritization of skills over creating foundational interest in knowledge. The rush to create workers robs children of the facilitation of their innate intellectualization, and instead creates a disinterested population fulfilling stagnation in lieu of progression as a society. The focus on the finished worker creates a lack of attention to the individual's progression in learning. The Gesell theory has a number of experiments backing the idea of child development following a continuous learning curve with every child making progression in their own time due to a multitude of internal and external factors. This is why attention to the individual in a classroom is crucial. In theory, Dewey’s educational theory would be an ideal system but implemented and blended with other societal motives, it is only effective in producing well indoctrinated members of society. Instead of education focusing on the final state of the being entering the world and what additions they can add to it, education should be focused on an individual's metacognition so they develop habitable intellectual and social skills unique to them thus creating well rounded individuals on the whole. 

The Dewey approach was the start of the push to progressive education in the 19th century. The idea was to bridge the gap between classroom and reality through guided experience, emphasis on guided as Dewey adopted democratic ideals in his philosophy, stressing the equality of voice within a discussion. Once democracy was implemented after America had gained independence, Thomas Jefferson voiced the idea of free public education. Colonial education, though, had aims that were now irrelevant to the industrialized era. While colonial education was often only accessible to well off white men, Dewey's revolutionary theory valued practical labor skills and sciences which would be handier in the workforce, over reading and writing which he thought would develop naturally as the base level skills were reinforced within an individual's mind. Children indeed have a high retention rate for knowledge but learning can only occur once one fosters the process of experimentation and trial with error. Methodically drilling information into a students mind does not constitute as learning, if anything it stifles a child's ability to communicate with their most profound needs. 

William Glasser proposed that there are five innate needs: survival, power, freedom, fun, and love. These needs are simple enough to grasp but when thought of in relevance to a classroom it takes on a different importance. Individuals not only need to fulfill their needs but can optimally learn when the material connects to these needs. Lack of relevance to students' lives leads to a mental disconnect in the classroom. They can feel there is virtually nothing in the material to connect to them thus creating a schema of that knowledge being useless. This is why foundational inquiry of knowledge should be established prior to departing textual knowledge upon a child. A teacher's approach to the situation is also critical, William Glasser's control theory hypothesized two types of teachers in the classroom; boss teachers and lead teachers. Boss teachers are a more common find in the American classroom, they typically utilize a punishment-reward system in order to get a student to complete a given (usually low level) task. In contrast, lead teachers use prompts that stimulate students and generate known intrinsic rewards. They often stay away from tedious tasks and empty requirements as they don’t yield any significant intellectual payoff. Through “Instruction, teachers rely on cooperative, active learning techniques that enhance the power of the learners. Lead teachers make sure that all assignments meet some degree of their students’ need for satisfaction. This secures student loyalty, which carries the class through whatever relatively meaningless tasks might be necessary to satisfy official requirements”. Though there are mandatory prerequisites set in place by the government’s regulation on education, lead teachers find ways to navigate and stimulate children around the set requirements versus boss teaching who aim purely to fulfill the requirements. The requirements are typically passing grades (anywhere between 70% - 79%) in English, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. Though the curriculum differs from states down to individual classrooms, the same broad subjects must be covered and tested. 

The No Child Left Behind Act was instituted in 2002, an effort to make sure education would be extended to all children, with extra attention placed on disadvantaged students. Schools now had to produce results and students progress in quantifiable amounts which was done through testing and grades. Though it gave freedom to individual states to develop their own standards, the standards would have to collectively be met consistently in order to receive federal funding. There were of course punishment if standards were not met, including funding being pulled, so the incentive was high for schools to focus on performance rather than actual educational value. Though this was the government's attempt at taking their hands out of public education, it only proved to further strangle our education system. With these measurements, students who don’t meet requirements are systematically punished and effectively disenfranchised in society. This is a huge consequence to students who aren’t adhering to new reforms. The push for standardization arguably does nothing more than test a preset curriculum and measure how effectively students are taking these tests rather than tracking overall success rates of these kids. An article written by Jack Jennings and Diane Stark Rentner summarizes the top ten effects of the No Child Left Behind Act and though all the points are compelling, there is one effect that corresponds to the measurements of success, reading; “State and district officials report that student achievement on state tests is rising, which is a cause for optimism. It’s not clear, however, that students are really gaining as much as rising percentages of proficient scores would suggest. Scores on state tests in reading and mathematics that are used for NCLB purposes are going up, according to nearly three-fourths of the states and school districts, and the achievement gaps on these same tests are generally narrowing or staying the same. States and districts mostly credit their own policies as important in attaining these results, although they acknowledge that the “adequate yearly progress” (AYP) requirements of NCLB have also contributed”. There is no disputing the requirements being fulfilled and goals being met thanks to heavy incentive placed by the government to meet these standards, “However, under NCLB, student achievement is equated with the proportion of students who are scoring at the proficient level on state tests, and states have adopted various approaches in their testing programs, such as the use of confidence intervals, that result in more test scores being counted as proficient.” Confidence intervals are changed through random testing within the population. Kids are taking significantly more tests and schools are taking samples from this large pool to fulfill requirements and not suffer sanctions which doesn’t attest to any progress or growth.  

The National Commission on Excellence in Education published A Nation at Risk to warn the United States Department of Education (DOE) and really the nation as to what dangers lie ahead if we keep educating youth in the same manner. The report states “More and more young people emerge from high school ready neither for college nor for work. This predicament becomes more acute as the knowledge base continues its rapid expansion, the number of traditional jobs shrinks, and new jobs demand greater sophistication and preparation.” To speak from the perspective of a current student, I couldn’t agree more. Things you are expected to know are vast and at times wildly absurd. There is also an assumed capacity for the young mind today that seems to not have taken the technological advances we grew alongside into account. Students are expected to retain American history (with a severe lack of world history being taught), build continuous knowledge of mathematics, memorizing extensive literature that far outdated our parents, and sciences that we are far distanced from in our industrialized society. Many of the skills we are graded upon seem trivial now that computations and summaries exist at our fingertips. The report goes on to say, “on a broader scale, we sense that this undertone of frustration has significant political implications, for it cuts across ages, generations, races, and political and economic groups. We have come to understand that the public will demand that educational and political leaders act forcefully and effectively on these issues. Indeed, such demands have already appeared and could well become a unifying national preoccupation.” Education poses a much bigger concern to the social climate that we are living in today. While that problem worries many Americans, our more integrated society is so politically, economically and arguably racially divided, many civil rights issues have taken the foreground.  

A Nation at Risk also speaks on the class disparities within schools and education reach within impoverished communities. The study doesn’t explicitly talk about the effects of these rather than quite literally state the risk, however it is my belief that these disenfranchised students are pushed through continuous disengaged teaching methods, rigorous testing which yield failing results, systematic punishments, along with economic and social factors, have no chance in advancing in a system that is preparatory for non applicable skills but further institutional education. The report relays that there are some 23 million Americans deemed illiterate. But I pose the question of by what standards is literate reading measured by? It's known that our system has a complex affinity for classic literature but in an urban school setting where the classics don’t come into play outside of the classroom, much of the learned information cannot be retained due to the lack of relevance in the students' lives. The Glasser theory provides support for this disconnect as the needs he proposed are all but left out of the concept of standardized testing and other legislation for education standards in America. 

While these prerequisites are in place to ensure every student gets the base level education and skills, it is still somewhat limiting in terms of a teacher's control over a classroom. A teacher's role is to impart knowledge and skills on how to use said knowledge but the individual student's pathology dictates what and how they learn. Overlooking the individuality of the student robs them of valuable learning experiences. And to emphasize the learning comes quite literally from the experiences gained from the classroom. These experiences are immeasurable and arguably cannot be tested. Dewey's original laboratory consisted of learning that existed without our current idea of traditional testing. Tests were carried out in situations that had plausibility of occurring, much closer to real life circumstances. This ensures the knowledge students were acquiring would be applicable to real world situations. Both natural and social sciences are one of the most important subjects you can teach a child, if done correctly. A teacher's guide dedicated to teaching science, titled Ready, Set, Science!, pays attention to inquiry based knowledge and setting up foundational curiosity in students. The book beautifully explains; “To the degree that we actually know science, we have the knowledge and strategies with which to examine evidence systematically, interpret, and control our surroundings. Knowledge of science can enable us to think critically and frame productive questions. Without scientific knowledge, we are wholly dependent on others as “experts.” With scientific knowledge, we are empowered to become participants rather than merely observers. Science, in this sense, is more than a means for getting ahead in the world of work. It is a resource for becoming a critical and engaged citizen in a democracy”. The book brings in practical real world uses for science extending outside of the realm of grades. It gives us an idea of how the subject can be used for critical development within an individual, the benefits of inquiry-based knowledge and highlighting the ideal type of individual that society should want to bring about. Critical thinkers who can form and articulate thoughts which lead to important reform and evaluation within a society. I appreciate the note of relying on experts rather than what I would assume would be the informed opinions formulated by your peers. The act of relying on others' expertise isn’t damaging in and of itself, but the inability to trust and rely upon your own judgements is damaging on a human's innate ability to navigate the natural world. Not to mention the rates at which this intellectual insecurity is exploited and used for profit. 

At this point in time, the American educational system is in dire need of a major reform. I believe my research concludes that the current testing standards are not proven to be efficient and neglects critical developmental studies that show ways in which children learn. Satisfying more or less ambiguous standards in the name of tracking knowledge in this country is much more toxic than likely anticipated. The focus on reforms, specifically in impoverished neighborhoods are taxing as such a small number of schools have been reformed or turned to charter schools and instead face administration sweeps where an entire staff is replaced. These are oppressive conditions to both teach and learn in, and as Americans, we can do better. 

Works Cited:
Belea, Felicia, et al. “Control Theory.” Funderstanding Education Curriculum and Learning Resources, 14 Apr. 2011, https://www.funderstanding.com/educators/control-theory/.
Denning, Peter J. “A Nation at Risk: the Imperative for Educational Reform.” Communications of the ACM, vol. 26, no. 7, Jan. 1983, pp. 467–478., doi:10.1145/358150.358154.
Eis, Rafi, et al. “The Crisis in Education Theory.” National Affairs, https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/the-crisis-in-education-theory.
“Gesell Theory.” Gesell Institute, https://gesellinstitute.org/pages/gesell-theory.
Jennings, Jack, and Diane Stark Rentner. “Ten Big Effects of the No Child Left behind Act on Public Schools - Jack Jennings, Diane Stark Rentner, 2006.” SAGE Journals, 1 Oct. 2006, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/003172170608800206?journalCode=pdka.
Klein, Joel. “The Failure of American Schools.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 6 Dec. 2017, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/06/the-failure-of-american-schools/308497/.
Michaels, Sarah, et al. Ready, Set, Science!: Putting Research to Work in K-8 Science Classrooms. National Academies Press, 2008.
“Middle Grades Promotion Requirements.” Florida Department Of Education, http://www.fldoe.org/academics/standards/middle-grades-pr.stml.
Novack, George. John Dewey's Theories of Education, https://www.marxists.org/archive/novack/works/1960/x03.htm.
Potter, Kevin. “5 Facts You Should Know About the U.S. Grading System.” MastersPortal, https://www.mastersportal.com/articles/2288/5-facts-you-should-know-about-the-us-grading-system.html.
“Quickstart Guide to Choice Theory.” GIFCT, https://wglasser.com/quickstart-guide-to-choice-theory/#basic-needs.
Windhorst, Dirk. “The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education.” Brock Education: A Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 5 Jan. 2011, https://journals.library.brocku.ca/brocked/index.php/home/article/view/172.