In the past few decades, American education has slowly fallen behind other nations such as Belgium, Switzerland, and Japan. The New York Times Editorial Board attributes this to the lack of attention given to gifted students. The Editorial Board of The New York Times has a wide range of expertise among 19 contributors, in fields from immigration to science, to education. This article was co written mostly by Brent Staples, who holds a Ph.D. in psychology and has been on the board since 1990. They article argue that the young minds, the board argues, are the future of the nation, the driving force behind innovation and scientific progress. Throughout the article, statistics support their claim of fact that the US in behind other countries. Instead of simply identifying the problem, however, they offer some recommendations on amending curriculum and government funding to better support advanced students.
This article seems to be directed towards those involved in education. Specifically, it appears to be aimed towards politicians who have say over issues regarding the funding of schools, and those in charge of schools or districts who have say in curriculum. Since this piece was originally published in the New York Times newspaper, it is very likely that many subscribers, a portion of whom are involved in education, read it. Furthermore, since this paper is nationally read, there is a good chance that it has been received by educators and politicians across the country.
This exposure is key to this article’s purpose, which is to persuade those in power to reform the United States education system to better compete with foreign nations in accelerated learning. The reform that the article asks for will most likely take a while to become reality, so while technically the authors didn’t achieve their purpose, they may someday once their recommendations are actually applied to the country.
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