Equity And Excellence:Research On American Basic Education Policies In The 21st Century

In the 21st century,with the impact of globalization and knowledge economy,the countries all around the world are increasingly aware of the importance of outstanding education and excellent talents which are the key to achieve its world-leading position in the fields of economy,science and technology.As a basis for the entire national education system,international organizations and governments are actively beginning to think and explore ways and means to promote the steady development of basic education.At the same time,from the formulation of national basic education policies to the implementation of specific practice,equity and excellence has become the goal and trend of educational development in the new century.How to provide more development opportunities for all schoolchildren,how to improve the quality of education,how to meet the individual needs of students has become basic topics of education in the world.As a multi-cultural immigrant dominated world,the growth and development of school-age children at the stage of basic education has always been the concern of governments in the United States.A series of policies formulated and implemented by the government in the field of basic education are committed to "ensuring equal access to educational opportunities and improving the quality of education"-"quality education for all".In the 21st century,in order to make American teenagers have the ability to cope with international competition and to meet the diverse learning needs of various social strata,the Bush administration and the Obama administration have made unremitting efforts to introduce appropriate basic education policies at different times,in order to promote equitable and excellent education.In this paper,the literature analysis,comparative research methods and text analysis are used to analyze the background and main contents of the American basic education policy in the 21st century,to analyze its implementation and existing problems,and to explore its goal to pursue and summarize its characteristics.lt is aimed to provide reference for the scientific formulation of educational policy and the effective implementation.This dissertation is divided into five parts:The first part is the introduction.Including the origin and the purpose and significance of research,defining of the core concept of this paper,expounding the domestic and foreign research status,reviewing the existing situation,and introducing the main research ideas and methods.The second part is the background of American basic education policy in the 21st century,including depth analysis of the basic education policy formulation and consideration of the background factors of the 21st century in the United States.Its social background is the chaotic international background and complex domestic background;theoretical background is the support of multicultural theory and the infiltration of sustainable development theory.The third part is the textual analysis of American basic education policy in the 21st century.First of all,analysis the main basic education bill to formulate of the government in the 21st century in the United States,including No Child Left Behind Act,A Blueprint for Reform:The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act,Every Student Succeeds Act.Secondly,from the pursuit of the target of the policy,the analysis of its policy content and convergence reflects the United States in the basic education reform in the pursuit of equitable and excellent characteristics and trends in the 21st century.The fourth part is the implementation and characteristics of American basic education policy in the 21st century.From the students academic performance,the quality of teachers and the gap between the different ethnic groups in three aspects,analysis its implementation of the results and the lack of the existing.And sum up four main features of the policies:playing a leading role of the government,paying attention to financial investment of basic education,the implementation of new incentives and accountability mechanisms,focusing on the construction of the faculty and principals.The fifth part is the enlightenment of American basic education policy to our country in the 21st century.This paper summarizes the experience of the basic education reform in the United States from the formulation,implementation and main features of the basic education policy in the 21st century,and combines the basic situation of the basic education in China to provide reference for the formulation and implementation of Chinese basic education in the new century:to speed up the balanced development of equity and excellence in basic education;to increase basic education funding;to establish and improve educational accountability mechanisms;to speed up the construction of high-quality faculty;to establish a fair and reasonable educational evaluation mechanism.