"Rising to Greatness"

Initially when I read this article title, I thought it was going to be about how great the education system is in Iowa and that becoming a teacher here was the best choice! Too bad I was very mistaken. As an Iowan, I have always prided my state on being a top-performer in educational statistics and found it quite alarming that since the 1990s, we have not only stayed stagnant on our achievement levels but even declined in certain areas. I remember as an elementary student loving the week of ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills) because that meant we got tastey snacks and I got to fill out tests that were a breeze for me. Are students today missing out on the snacks and therefore getting worse scores? I think this may be.
In reality, I agree with the Iowa DOE that the state has become too comfortable with strategies they used back in the day and while everyone else around the nation and globe have put in the effort to find new and improved techniques, we're staying put. The comment by Jason Glass that I found to be extremely encompassing ends with, "If you aren't getting better, you are getting worse."
I question however, is it the issue that the teachers are not able to teach a variety of learners or that the variety of learners cannot come to an agreement that school needs to be taught in a streamlined way?
 What have we changed from the time that we were in the sufficient levels? Are these things that we need to go back and re-alter?
I have also wondered that is part of the reason the U.S. falls much lower on the achievemnt scale compared to other countries such as China and India due to our focus on a wider spectrum of education including community and societal understanding?
 Is it an issue that we have learned to take pride in our country's diversity and promote differences?
Despite my devils's advocate of questions. I do believe that such statistics show truth to problems occuring that need action taken immediately in order for our country to produce the best of the best. I cannot say where I will be teaching in the future, but I hope someday that I will be in Iowa and that I can say my state's education system has gone up since 2010 and possibly back to where we were in the 1990s! It is going to take us educators to not only see the issues but create means to fix them and better yet techniques to avoid problems from the get go.
Whatever it takes, which is why I am in school to learn, we need to get back on track and get the ball rolling to greatness! If not for Iowa's sake, for the children's.