New Possibilities for a New Era: Research-Based Education for Equality and Excellence

Overview & Synopsis

Despite many renewed possibilities for U.S. schools, fixing them remains a multifaceted problem. Clearly focusing on improving education for all American children requires a comprehensive understanding of global issues that will impact their future, along with cutting-edge interdisciplinary research from neuroscience, psychology, pediatrics, and education. Gains made in brain-based research and global education studies can directly influence delivery approaches within classrooms and teacher education programs. Educators are beginning to bridge the divide between education research and practice, an initiative that offers hope for real change. Research on global education is beginning to reveal why many U.S. students are lagging behind their counterparts in other countries. Most of those countries' curricula, teaching approaches, and teacher-preparation programs are "based upon research" and "equally available to all children." Their resources, both in school and out of school, are "strongly supported by government funding." The Forum for Education and democracy (2008) has called the U.S. education system one of the most inequitably funded of any industrialized nation. In this article, the author focuses on research-based education for equality and excellence in the U.S., and looks briefly at the curriculum and how it is taught. Some recommended changes within teacher education programs in the U.S. are presented. (Contains 1 note.)