Standards-based reform in the United States demonstrates a preoccupation with numbers and not the needs of students. Reform policies like No Child Left Behind in 2001 and Common Core Standards attempted uniformity without sufficient support. Thus, implementation of these standardization mechanisms are less than stellar. In this paper, I argue that education reform requires a recontextualization. A recontextualization of education considers teacher quality, various types of resources, and how rights are articulated in an educational context. Using social capital theory as my theoretical framework, the significance of social networks, developed relationships, and adaptive learning environments lay the groundwork for progressive education. Based on these findings, I argue that policy makers and curriculum developers provide extensive professional development and malleable standards that empower teacher autonomy by looking to suggestions from the United Nations. The findings in this exploratory design can help inform a recontextualization of educational policy to achieve more substantive education reform.