It's Time for Education Reform
My sentence is still being carried out and, as such, I am still gathering much damning evidence on the topic. Hopefully I will be able to compose a meaningful -- perhaps even persuasive -- critique of the system. There is quite a bit of bureaucracy and conformity to overcome.
The education system is profoundly skewed and this is the second time I have experienced its most significant problem: placement and grading. Most educators place too much value on inflexible systems for identifying proper places for students and estimate their comprehension of the material; there are many factors that may aid or hinder a student's performance on such tests. Yet, even excusing poor test score(s) is not my main intention.
Throughout most of my education I felt extreme boredom and "excelled" at all "academic studies" (as ill-defined as they were), which made me rather excited about the prospect of going to college early. I thought the MASMC, focusing on (personal) and academic challenges, should provide the extra stimulation and opportunity to let me "soar." I have come to understand the harsher conformity of lower level courses.
In highschool I had precalculus (which actually ended with limits!) and chemistry, and I considered my entrance to calculus and (advanced/secondary) chemistry in college almost guaranteed. I found out about placement tests the night before actually taking them (the best I can remember) but still felt confident after having completed them. I found out little before actually going to the academy that I would be placed back in precalculus and chemistry one. After talking with a few "authorities" I discovered there was one other test I could take. Without even looking at the C I received on the first precalculus (mostly algebra and some trig) test, I took another one. Again, I received a C and felt rather bad.
I talked with Dr. Malm to figure out what I did wrong. After looking over the test, I felt somewhat worse: the errors I made were not due to a real lack of understanding, rather they were "stupid errors" from lack of attention, sleepiness, and some misinterpretation. I was assured that the college precalculus course would "fill the holes" of my precalculus education. I doubted it, and was correct: I learned, effectively, nothing in precalculus while spending hours (and taxpayers' money) listening to the same material and doing homework (unnecessary -- I didn't last year and by not doing homework I did not hurt my placement test score).
Dalton, Paul ‘Scottish influence on Durham 1066-1214’ in Rollason David, Harvey Margaret and Prestwich Michael, ‘Anglo-Norman Durham’ (Boydell 1994) pp339-353
In the end, I find that Robert Scholes is correct in his conclusion that commercials hold a certain power, with which they can alter our decisions whether or not to buy a product. Through visual fascination, we are offered images we could never have on our own; through narrativity, we are told what to think and how to think it; and finally through cultural relativity we connect with the rest of the world. When these three forces are combined by advertising, our brains cannot help themselves, we allow ourselves to become brainwashed by corporate America. This is why Robert Scholes feels that Reading a Video Text should be taught in school.
Burns, William E."Britain in the Late Middle Ages, 1272–1529." A Brief History of Great Britain, Brief History. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. Modern World History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
Furthermore, it was not merely through nurture or nature that lead Robert Wringhim to commit these murders; it was the combination of both. Nature and nurture should not be classified into two separate categories or theories, because they have a correlating relationship and work off of each other. Hogg demonstrates this through Robert Wringhim using both nature (Paranoia Schizophrenia), nurture (rejection of society), and a mental disorder that combines both classifications (Multiple Personality Disorder).
Many individuals have been affected negatively by trouble makers in school. Troublemakers have either disrupted classes or bullied other students. Yes, trouble makers may harm one’s learning environment, but should they be kicked out of school? Though many individuals argue that troublemakers will not change and hold the class down, they should not be kicked out because they need help. Most of these kids that are disobedient do not know the distinction between right and wrong. We should not withdraw trouble makers from school, rather, we should help these troublemakers and teach them right from wrong. In the article “Let’s Really Reform Our Schools” by Anita Garland, she states that American high schools are disasters because there are troublemakers (694). She asserts that the withdrawal of troublemakers in schools would make the learning environment peaceful for students who want to learn
I was taking AP World History, my first AP class. Keeping up my grades in the class was one of my biggest concerns, but surprisingly, it turned out to be a relatively laid-back class without much homework. Throughout the year, the class was mainly notes and document analysis. The only difficult part of the class was the tests. They were long and arduous with several vague questions based on specific parts of the curriculum that we had only gone over lightly. The course became more vigorous as the exam date drew closer; we began writing more essays, the tests we took grew longer, there were after school study sessions, and even a mock
Holinshed R. Historie of Scotland (2nd Ed. Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland 1587) "Historie of Scotland"
C. Warren Hollister, Anglo-Saxon Military Institutions: On the Eve of the Norman Conquest (Oxford: 1962), p. 26.
TOPIC SENTENCE Then, a few years later in 1305, the English defeated Wallace and the Scots at the Battle of Falkirk. The English captur...
Throughout my experience in the public school system, I have heard the line, “What do I need to know this for anyway?” about 1,057 times. It is not uncommon to hear students complain about the worth of their education. Regardless, there seems to be a unanimous agreement that the youth needs education to succeed in life. What is education anyway and what does schooling accomplish? In his book, “A Time to Learn” George Wood provides a definition of education as “making wise citizens and good neighbors who can think deeply and intelligently about issues of self and society, take care for and respect others, take care of their family needs, and contribute to the welfare of others” (Glickman 48). Is school necessary for developing this type of educated citizen? If not, how is it we measure success and how is school important in attaining that?
The nuclear bomb was the most devastating weapon ever created by man. It was developed between 1942 and 1945 during the second World War. The project to build the worlds first atomic weapon was called The Manhattan Project. The nuclear bomb was based on the idea of splitting an atom to create energy, this is called fission. Three bombs were created, “Trinity”, “Little Boy”, and “Fat Man”. “Trinity” was dropped on a test site in New Mexico on July 16, 1945, proving the theories, engineering and mathematics of the bomb to be correct. Shortly after that, not more than 2 months, the U.S. performed the first actual nuclear attack in the history of war. The bomb “Little Boy” was dropped on the town of Hiroshima, instantly killing thousands. “Fat Man” was dropped shortly after on the town of Nagasaki. After the bombing almost all scientist involved with the creation of the bomb regretted its construction and spoke out against the abolishment of nuclear weapons.
I have always had a strong belief that I could pass college like I did in high school. Always relying on those quick study sessions before a test or having the teacher going over the material right before a test. But boy was I wrong. In my first test I learned the hard way that studying is essential in college.
It is time to turn the tables and test the teachers on the challenge of college. Throughout high school, students are told all about how difficult college is and what to expect. Not yet having experienced it, the students typically prepare for the worst. They teach themselves how to study based on the standards of their high school. They write papers, do homework, and participate in class in the attempt to meet the expectations of their teachers. They base their picture of college off their teachers’ standards and what their peers say. While many high school students have developed accurate expectations regarding the difficulties of college, the study skills acquired in high school may not be enough to ensure success at the collegiate level.
Gascoigne, Bamber. "HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN (from 1707)." History World. (2001): n. page. Print. .
Rice, Eugene E. and Anthony Grafton. The Foundations of Early Modern Europe, 1460-1559. 2nd. ed. New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1994.