Darling Hammond In Education

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In the heat of education reform, debate has risen on how to improve America’s struggling school system. Two sides have formed with different ideas on how to address the achievement gap. Patrick McGuinn introduces us to the two ideologies in The Federal Role in Educational Equity. McGuinn (2013) explains that: For some, poverty is the decisive issue and it is misguided and unreasonable to expect schools to generate substantial improvement in educational outcome without the broader efforts to address socioeconomic gaps. Others, however, believe that schools can have a major impact on their own if reforms alter the way they are financed, governed, staffed, and held accountable for results (p. 222). These two perspective can be differentiated…show more content…
Linda Darling-Hammond in The Flat World and Education helps us understand how these in-school factors are affecting student success. Darling-Hammond (2010) states studies showing that in North Carolina student achievement was greater if they had a teacher certified in their teaching field and that teacher certification was one of the most significant predictors of mathematics achievement (p. 43). The quality curriculum is also a big factor in student success. Darling Hammond (2010) explains how “differences in reading achievement were almost entirely explained not by socioeconomic status or race, but by the quality of curriculum and teaching the students received” and that racial gaps were created by difference in curriculum quality between black and white students (p. 51). Supporters of in-school-factor reformation believe that if the quality of schools is turned around, then student success should…show more content…
In order to asses these standards, standardized assessments are created to “accurately measure student grow; to better measure how states districts, principals, and teachers are education students” (Blueprint 2010, p. 11). This is almost a continuation of Bush’s No Child Left Behind policy. The standardization of school curriculum turns classroom environments into a ridged system where classes are taught to the book. In order to foster an enriching environment, curriculum should focus on teaching “students to learn how to think critically and learn for themselves, so that they can use knowledge in new situations and manage the demands of changing information, technologies, jobs and social conditions” (Darling-Hammond 2010, p. 4). By creating a common curriculum, this will step away from individuality and creativity. Assessing student achievement is important, but by standardizing education, an environment of learning will

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