The development of the education system in the state is based on the changes in policies, and it affects the social and cultural spheres directly. The modern education system in California seems to develop according to trends, but its development is associated with challenges in implementing such acts and policies as the No Child Left Behind Act and the Common Core State Standards Initiative. Another problem or a pressing issue is an inability to introduce innovations in this system effectively while gaining the support of students, teachers, and parents. Educators and parents also advocate for the improvement of the educational system because of the necessity to change the approaches to competency-based education and homeschooling.
As a result, all these issues influence the successes of children at school (Tough, 2013, p. 53). From this point, the pressing issues associated with the Californian education are the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act in schools, the integration of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, the lack of using technologies in classrooms, the problems with the competency-based education, and issues connected with homeschooling.
Implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act Principles
One of the issues that affect education in California is the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act in school settings. The number of tests increases regularly, and teachers are expected to measure students’ successes equally, without much attention to students with learning problems. Those Californian schools that fail to implement the No Child Left Behind Act principles effectively focus strictly on testing and ignore many other important aspects of teaching (Duckworth, Quinn, & Tsukayama, 2012, p. 440).
While the government sets the standards, schools become blamed if students’ results are not satisfactory. Students demonstrating lower results also become blamed for increasing the problem group in a school and diminishing its status (Tough, 2013, p. 163). From the Christian perspective, the consequences of such approaches are negative for students because they often choose to give up any efforts to improve, and they become even isolated while taking the blame for the school failure on themselves (Duckworth et al., 2012, p. 440). These students can also be profoundly limited in educational opportunities because subjects that develop critical thinking often compose the smallest part of standardized testing.
The additional concern associated with the Christian perspective is that opportunities presented to students are still not equal, even with the focus on the No Child Left Behind Act. Students from low-income families still have trouble with education because they have to face many problems that restrict them from learning and reaching their full potential. It is one of the main causes of poor results, and policymakers should pay more attention to it.
Following the Christian principles, teachers cannot deprive students of trying to achieve higher results while studying. The improvement of the educational system and schedules in schools with the focus on the No Child Left Behind Act puts too much burden on teachers, and some of them cannot handle it while choosing the easiest path to follow (Duckworth et al., 2012, p. 441). As a result, in spite of such advantages as the provision of equal education, students with problems in learning or discriminated students cannot receive the necessary support from educators to demonstrate higher results.
Controversies associated with the Common Core State Standards Initiative
The Common Core State Standards Initiative also provokes many debates because it sets such educational standards that are often hard to meet for most of the students. California is one of the states that formally adopted this Initiative, but its implementation in the educational setting is associated with a range of problems (California Department of Education, 2015). Merely introducing a set of standards is a non-effective solution to the problem of low academic performance. The current problem of the Californian education is that educators often teach students simply to remember correct answers to standardized tests, and the level of understanding the material remains to be low. Thus, the Initiative seeks to address this issue, but the problem is in the fact that textbooks approved according to the Common Core Standards are often inappropriate (Carol, 2015, p. 183).
Teaching materials usually include guidelines for maximizing the effectiveness of learning and meeting the core standards. Still, referring to the Christian perspective, the standardization associated with the Common Core State Standards Initiative is often not appropriate for managing diversity in school settings (Tough, 2013, p. 60). The reason is that teachers can oppress those students who demonstrate negative results because they decrease the overall rate according to the core standards.
From this point, the Initiative has two opposite outcomes. On the one hand, it works to change the whole process of education and determine the standards according to which it is possible to speak about education and teachers’ instructions quality. On the other hand, the statistics of the successes of implementing the Common Core State Standards Initiative is rather questionable because of differences in teachers and parents’ perception (Shanahan, 2015, p. 585). The Christian perspective is useful to explain that educators continue to discuss the Initiative as an effective strategy to improve education not only in California but also in other states, and parents accentuate the disadvantages of standardization. There are situations when students with low achievements face the prejudiced attitudes that are in contrast with Christian ethics.
Use of Technologies and Digital Learning
Huge opportunities become opened for educators with the introduction and integration of new technologies. When it comes to education, the information is better perceived by students when it is delivered on the Internet or with the help of digital resources. Students become more interested in different subjects and willing to participate in discussions with the help of various social media (Porter, 2015). Digital learning nullifies any possible social anxiety, and students become more inclined to take part in the learning process. Technology allows accessing the information much quicker. According to Porter, “roughly 75 percent of the teachers surveyed said that the Internet and search engines had a “mostly positive” impact on student research skills” (Porter, 2015, para. 13). Thus, the Internet allows students to search for required information without leaving their zone of comfort.
However, the problem is in the fact that many schools in California still lack resources for implementing technologies and using digital learning. Students should not be distracted because of using their gadgets when they learn new concepts or search for the material. Nevertheless, the use of those devices for entertaining should be prohibited during classes strictly (Tough, 2013). Children start using technologies and the Internet at a very young age, and this practice should be rewarded during classes to improve education. Still, from the Christian perspective, the problem is in the inappropriate use of the information available online. If the California education officials and parents do not protect their children from the information that could possibly harm them, the use of technologies can become a real social, ethical, and cultural issue.
Competency-Based Education
Competency-based education can also be called quite problematic. It is an extremely innovative model of education. Both students and teachers are quite interested in this model because it can change the whole process of education (Koenen, Dochy, & Berghmans, 2015, p. 2). However, there is an issue with the exact definition of competency-based education because it is relatively hard to reach an agreement on what this term actually means. As a result, it cannot be adequately adopted in Californian schools. This model is based on the concept that there are certain skills required from a student, and it does not focus on the process of learning and its effectiveness.
A student must develop task management skills, contingency management skills, and role expertise, among others. There are various methods of how students can prove their competence. Koenen, Dochy, and Berghmans state that “a flexible curriculum needs a shift from supply-driven education with a fixed curriculum to demand-driven education that includes a more facilitative attitude by instructions” (Koenen et al., 2015, p. 2). This fact means that students should be much more responsible for their process of learning then they are now. It is possible to assume that the shift to competency-based education is not achievable for educators in the Californian schools now. Teachers should focus on helping students with their education and not controlling them. Thus, this model is quite promising because it reduces expenses on education. However, there are still problems with adequate teaching-learning models to adopt.
Problems of Homeschooling
Homeschooling is a pressing issue of California education because most of the parents are not able to provide their children with an adequate education. Homeschooling is a choice made by parents in cases when children cannot attend schools because of diseases or disabilities. There are also situations when homeschooling is a choice for students who are challenged with psychological or physical bullying (Lubienski, Puckett, & Brewer, 2013, p. 380). As a consequence, many students suffer from depression and phobias, and parents choose to homeschool. It is important to state that such a social cause of homeschooling should be discussed from the Christian perspective.
Cases, when students are psychologically and physically oppressed at school, should be monitored and predicted by teachers. One of the steps is an education in cultural, religious, and moral issues (Tough, 2013). Still, only a certified teacher will be able to address this problem professionally. Moreover, those students who are taught at home often cannot get the proper spiritual education.
The positive feature is that parents can take full control over the teaching process and dedicate a lot of time to the education of their children, so the end results are dependent only on their efforts. Homeschooling often results in better than average reading skills of students. However, students need to master crucial social skills at schools that cannot be taught at home and could be paramount for their jobs in the future (Lubienski et al., 2013, p. 380). It is important to focus on resolving those social, faith-related, and educational issues that make parents take their children out of school. Parents want to educate their children by themselves because they do not trust the current education system or try to protect them from dangers that may happen in the school environment. Therefore, it is important to state that homeschooling can provide great results, but students attending public or private schools are more likely to enter colleges and adapt to social life.
Conclusion
California education is challenged with five pressing issues that are discussed in the paper. From this point, educational authorities need to pay attention to how technologies are used in classes, how policies and core standards are followed, and how homeschooling and competency-based educational tendencies are integrated with the focus on the Christian perspective. California Department of Education should be looking for methods to improve the current education system without introducing or provoking new problems. Nevertheless, the situation seems to get better every single year, and this positive tendency will continue, especially with the focus on resolving the most pressing issues.
References
California Department of Education. (2015). Professional standards. Web.
Carol, I. (2015). Experiencing the Common Core. Academic Questions, 28(2), 182-194. Web.
Duckworth, A. L., Quinn, P. D., & Tsukayama, E. (2012). What No Child Left Behind leaves behind: The roles of IQ and self-control in predicting standardized achievement test scores and report card grades. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104(2), 439-445. Web.
Koenen, A., Dochy, F., & Berghmans, I. (2015). A phenomenographic analysis of the implementation of competence-based education in higher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 50(1), 1-12. Web.
Lubienski, C., Puckett, T., & Brewer, T. J. (2013). Does homeschooling “work”? A critique of the empirical claims and agenda of advocacy organizations. Peabody Journal of Education, 88(3), 378-392. Web.
Porter, A. (2015). The problem with technology in schools. Web.
Shanahan, T. (2015). What teachers should know about Common Core. The Reading Teacher, 68(8), 583-588. Web.
Tough, P. (2013). How children succeed: Grit, curiosity, and the hidden power of character. New York, NY: HMH Mariner. Web.