High Schools Should Change Current Curriculum to Better Prepare Students for College

In the Article, On The Anniversary Of Brown V. Board, New Evidence That U.S. Schools Are Resegregating author Emma Brown states, “High-poverty, majority-black and Hispanic schools were less likely to offer a full range of math and science courses than other schools (Brown 5). This can often result in unqualified teachers and materials that are not useful. Not having sufficient funds to have a normal running good school is the whole reason why many of those students don't succeed. Money is the number one factor in having a successful school system. If there's no money then there are no supplies, and if there are no supplies then how are they supposed to learn.

Even when disadvantaged students do overcome barriers and graduate from high school they find it difficult to navigate the path to college. Parents living in lower socioeconomic conditions may not have the time, knowledge or money to help their children with college applications, SAT prep classes or FAFSA forms. O’Brien asserts, “It 's a totally different game for high-achieving, low-income students, because nobody tells them how to play it… they mostly don 't have parents or teachers or counselors with much experience applying to selective colleges” (O’Brien). Unfortunately, some of the next generation’s innovators or scholars may be left out due to lack of help in navigating an intimidating system of fees, applications and tests. Students

“Only 8 percent of low-income students take a rigorous course load, compared with 28 percent of affluent students” (CED 2005). Ignoring this group and not providing enough guidance can definitely prolong the economic crisis, especially when many of these students may actually have a strong possibility for success and leadership. This crisis, will not only extend poverty cycle within this group, but decrease their confidence level that can make them lead to destructive paths. “Children raised in low-income, single parent families often suffer from a number of critical cognitive, health, and nutritional deficits that are likely to limit their future academic achievement and educational attainment” (ETS). Lower-income students may more likely suffer from malnutrition and other health problems, which may cause them to lack concentration in classrooms and trainings for the workforce.

Public Schools in America for a long time were regarded as the best public schools in the world, but with the development of Asian and European schools American schools are not ranked as highly. American Public schools in 1999 were ranked sixteenth and seventeenth in science and math right behind Bangladesh. Some students are graduating from high school with little more than an inadequate ability to read and a diploma that should mean the student knows at least the core subjects. Other students are dropping out and not graduating at all. Colleges are not trusting diplomas and grade point averages as a basis of admissions because they know that with the large variety of classes that high schools offer as credit that the student may not know as much as his or her GPA says.

Even though many forms of financial aid are accessible to low income students wanting to attend college, there is no such acclaim available to low income families who would prefer to live in a higher quality school system (Rouse/Barrow, 1-2). Children who live in a home where money is scarce do not have as many necessary resources as their wealthier peers. For example, many low income families lack books, computers, Internet access, and parents with a high education that can assist their children with schoolwork. These children are behind academically, and piling on standardized test after test to measure their progress and teacher worth is not productive (Strauss, 2). The federal education policy has been ignoring the issue of poverty for years now because many school reformers argue that the effects of living in pover... ... middle of paper ... ...2006: 1 “Teens Feeling Stressed and Many not Managing it Well.” usatoday.com.

The lack of capital effects African-Americans' low scores because the schools they attend do not have the resources necessary to provide for the students. The worst test takers were senior citizens, prisoners, and immigrants (Kaplan 45). Older adults' problems were generally linked to the facts that twilighting Americans have completed fewer average years of schooling than younger Americans and that the mean literacy of the population rises as more educated, younger generations of residents replace the lesser educated ones (Goldstein 3). Persons speaking other languages than English might have measured out as better readers had the surveys been administered in their native tongues. Variance in the levels of male and female scores are not that outlandish.

Because of the lack of money, schools we... ... middle of paper ... ... to changes to the current United States public schools. However, the people in charge of making the changes are the ones who profit and will probably never change their mindset. The school system needs to be changed entirely, but solutions to this problem simply aren’t out there. Experimentation needs to be done in certain school systems to determine the most successful method. Until then, the United States of America will continue to support a failing school system and will continue to produce uneducated adults.

It is important that the youth of America can understand cause and effect, so they won’t act impulsive and make decisions that potentially could get them in trouble (with the law). Because of the lack of resources and cognitive development, children from poverty are 10 times as likely to drop out of high school. 90% of a child’s brain growth occur between birth and the age of three and without the same access to resources that middle and upper-class children have, impoverished children miss some essential brain development during these stages (Rokosa, 2011). Because of this lack of brain development, children in poverty tend to not complete homework, be physically aggressive, aren’t very organized, laugh when

In school all kids are really forced to worry about is learning the knowledge used to pass the state tests. After the test taking is over the knowledge is forgotten and hardly ever used again. Things such as being prepared for college, jobs or even knowing how to do simple everyday life things are being over looked. Most American teenagers do not know the basics of everyday life. “The United States tests horribly as compared with the rest of the developed world, leading to American children being ill prepared for college and careers in a global economy after high school graduation.” (Emma Connell, Dead Standardized Scores Society) America is one of the top countries in the world, yet our education system is testing behind the rest because ou... ... middle of paper ... .... 2012.

People without a high school diploma experience difficulties gaining the necessary h qualifications most employers require; “Ninety percent of US jobs a high school dropout is not eligible for” (“High School”). This leaves merely ten percent of jobs in America for those that do not their high school credentials. Also, the competition between the citizens that have not obtained their diploma will be rather large, resulting in even more people below the poverty line. Because there is such a larg... ... middle of paper ... ... ability to beneficially manipulate technology. Children that dropout of school before learning how to use current technology are not able to compete with those who completed high, nor are they able to take advantage of the programs that are necessary to make a profit.