Journal of Systems Thinking · Volume 5, Issue 1 · 2025-05-14
Unraveling the Web of Educational Decline
A Systems Literature Review of Causes, Consequences, and Causal Relationships
Kristin Condon, Abylaikhan Kenzhegulov, Alejandro J. Ramos, Derek Cabrera, Laura Cabrera
DOI 10.54120/jost.2025-0081kc (registration pending)
Abstract
The U.S. education system is facing a multidimensional decline marked by persistent achievement gaps, fragmented policy responses, and inconsistent innovation outcomes. This article presents a Systems Literature Review (SLR) of 62 peer-reviewed studies published between 2000 and 2025, revealing the complex and interrelated causes, consequences, and feedback loops that sustain educational decline. Applying the DSRP framework—Distinctions, Systems, Relationships, and Perspectives—we identify structural and cognitive blind spots that prevent the field from perceiving educational failure as a systemic issue. We find recurring errors in how reforms draw false distinctions, overlook scale-crossing dynamics, fail to trace causal linkages, and exclude marginalized voices. Our web of causality visualization illustrates how reinforcing loops—linking educational inequality, diminished socioeconomic mobility, weakened public trust, and policy instability—sustain long-term decline. This study offers a novel systems-based reframing of the educational crisis and calls for systemic, feedback-aware, and equity-centered approaches to transformation in education policy and practice.
© 2025 Journal of Systems Thinking (JoST) · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
