UNITED STATES EDUCATION SYSTEM vs. OTHER COUNTRIES
Ethical Considerations
Background
The American education system, compared to that of other nations, has significant uniqueness and differences. For instance, there is minimal standardization in the American curriculum as education is mainly the responsibility of state and local government. This implies individual states wield a lot of power over what is taught in schools as the basic requirements that students must meet, in addition to being responsible for funding of schools. As such, unlike in many other countries, there are considerable variations relating to courses, subjects, and related activities which depend on the location of the school (Midgley et al, 2013). However, the American education system has a number of similarities to international systems such as the division of the education system into primary/elementary education, secondary/high school education, and postsecondary/higher education.
In the United States, parents generally gauge education through the achievement of their individual children and their own schools. Previous researches have established general underperformance of US students in math and science relative to their counterparts in other countries. Previous international surveys have also shown that considerable inequalities in student achievement across the United States, with substantial performance gap especially between the most proficient and least proficient students.
While there is widespread belief that other countries have high achievement levels because their small, homogenous student populations, extensive research indicate that schools of many other countries are successfully assimilating immigrant or high-poverty populations relative to those in the United States. There are concerns, therefore, that American schools are do little in mitigating the barriers faced by these groups. However, the greatest worry among most American people is whether their schools are sufficiently preparing students to compete in the increasingly globalized 21st-century global economy (Simons & Usher, 2012).
In view of the state of affairs, it is apparent that an a research on the American education system as compared to other nations would need to be approached with utmost care because it is currently a thorny issue in the American public and education stakeholders.
The research will done following ethical considerations which relate to methodology, sample size, subject selection, research protocols, equipment, statistical analysis, personnel, funds among others. In this regard, there will be strict adherence to the research design, protocol as well as analytic plan so as to ensure data integrity (Simons & Usher, 2012). There would also be adherence to such accepted scientific practice as honesty in authorship and data collection, objectivity in analyses and reporting, abstaining from misbehavior and misconduct and bringing to it light if present, along with avoiding conflicts of interest of data reviewers.
The research strategy shall respect autonomy of the target sample by allowing them decide for themselves whether or not to participate (Midgley et al, 2013). In this regard, every participant shall be first made to fully understand the nature and purpose of the research and the use of information to be gathered.
The research shall adhere to privacy and anonymity requirements as necessary by ensuring that all confidential and anonymous responses are respected and maintained as such in the report. The research strategy shall also ensure equality by avoiding any discrimination of people on the basis of their background, upbringing or any other reason whatsoever (Simons & Usher, 2012). The research team shall also be sensitive to the feelings of each participant. Official permission shall be sought from governmental education officials, schools and respondents prior to undertaking the research. Also, prior permission shall be sought from previous researchers to use their published statistics, extracts and findings. There will be ethical consideration in analysis of the data, where only licensed software shall be used in analyzing the gathered data (Simons & Usher, 2012).
There will a range of resources that the research shall consult to gather data. Primary data shall be obtained from previous related research journals, technical reports by education organizations and research institutions, and responses from participants. The research shall also draw on such secondary sources as literature reviews, books, newspaper articles, and peer-reviewed articles by education experts (Midgley et al, 2013).
The outcomes or findings of the research are expected to make clear the state of academic system of the United States relative to other countries, providing useful suggestions to improving or reforming the system so as to fill the gaps especially in math and sciences. The findings would be very important towards fighting the complacency that currently bedevils the players in the American education system while the ground is shifting across the borders.
Reference:
Simons, H. & Usher, R. (2012). Situated Ethics in Educational Research. London: Routledge.
Midgley, W., Danaher, A. P., & Baguley, M. (2013). The Role of Participants in Education Research: Ethics, Epistemologies, and Methods. London: Routledge.
