Six Waves of Contemporary American Education Reform and Their Implications Author: Linda Beamer The late 1950s, the former Soviet Union's first artificial satellite’s successful launching not only stimulated technological competition between world powers, but also triggered a world-wide scale education reform movement. Intense competition and frequent reform, education reform in the United States is particularly noteworthy, and countries have a broad impact. Look at contemporary American education sequence and showing the characteristics, not difficult to find American education since the Second World War, from the time point of view, although so far experienced only half a century, but the reform cycle conversion the speed of reform content changed greatly at any other time in American history have not seen. Reform program and reform proposals and their implementation strategies tend to show a trend parallel to the marching and in some respects conflicting. It is these reforms that promote the process of American education, scientific and people oriented. The first wave of reform: "The new curriculum" movement (1950s In the history of American education development, education reform has been stopped. And into the 1950s, the reform cycle is constantly accelerating. Study its causes, mainly because of the history of the United States is the history of a reform. As Yuepuliman said (John D.Pulliam and James Fan Pateng (James J.Van Patten:
"America's history, from the regime of the Kennedy and Johnson to Reagan, Bush and Clinton regimes is governed by social reform movements are about." Along with the country's political and economic reform, education reform is also a wave after wave. Examine the educational reform movement in the United States since World War II, it is not difficult to find, the first wave of contemporary American education reform is accompanied by the former Soviet Union's first artificial satellite was successfully launched to kick off. 1957 years ago, the Soviet Union successfully launched the first artificial Earth satellite, the U.S. government shocked the public put the sights on the quality of education in public schools, blame the U.S. aerospace technology behind the decline in the quality of school education due to and then think that this is the Progressive Education neglected basis, systematic, and reduce the bad consequences of academic standards. As a result, the U.S. government will soon be national defense and education closely linked together, and the "National Defense Education Act was promulgated in 1958, established a new system of teaching in order to cultivate high-tech talent. The bill earmarked funding and reform of the science, mathematics and modern foreign language three "new art" courses; teaching facilities; promote the guidance, counseling and testing programs, with particular attention to discover and nurture gifted children. Since then, scholars have further to remind people to fully understand: "Education is our first defense line of" educating for a democratic society, how important it is. ” " Second wave of reform: to promote educational opportunities and Equality Movement (1960s
