Ranks – the way humans all across the globe decide what is considered “the best.” What country a person lives in, what hospital a person chooses to have his or her surgical procedure, and what school parents send their kids to are all decisions that humans base off of ranks. Humans crave to be the best, to be number one. According to Berliner and Glass in 50 Myths and Lies that Threaten America’s Public Schools (2014), referencing Carnoy and Rothstein’s article in the Economic Policy Institute, America ranks fourteenth in reading and twenty-fifth in math of the international scale, which is far from being number one in many people’s eyes (p. 209). Because of this and many other lower than expected ranks, the American government has been pushing …show more content…
It matters because the students in America are not benefitting from the changes. Students are not learning the basic life skills or knowledge that they need to. America actually does not have poor scores if the highest scores of every nation are compared. Not only that, children in America are being compared to each other as well. The best are being praised and the weak are being pushed to go further, sometimes more than they are capable of. The issue is that the average test scores of the whole nation is what is being evaluated, so because America has a high poverty rates which correlate to lower test scores, the average has placed America lower than what it actually may be. America also does not take into account the fact that not every test that is being compared around the world are the same. It is near impossible to test every single country with the same test simply because not all countries know the same information. Therefore, America’s “low” rank does not mean the whole nation is failing in education, only the nation as a whole …show more content…
We need to help our poverty stricken areas get out of the consistent failing cycle that population seems to be in. We need to stop ranking our kids in order and help the ones who are falling behind. We need to stop forcing test-driven curriculums into the public schools and promote the successes of the thriving charter schools and private schools that are already in our nation. America needs to stop looking to others for answers. Most of all, America needs to stop basing themselves off of how well ranked they are in the world because the answers are already here in this nation. Only then will America start to succeed in education
America has not changed it’s educational system in over two hundred years. For this reason, our students and population are falling further and further behind. Our society has done nothing but move forward, so why hasn’t our learning? Everybody has a story, opinion, or response to education. We need to invest in refining our tools to succeed, to create a better sense of self, and a stronger, more well-rounded nation. The American educational system is hurting students by passing them without merit and relying on standardized tests; however, many are now running back to these hollowed halls to ensure better futures.
...ese rankings is not because other countries like Japan or Finland advance precipitously, but because America regresses. The reason why America is a underprivileged country is because, it constantly worries about the uncertainty of the future and does not give attention to it’s present. As said by Dalai Lama, a buddhist spiritual leader “What matters is to live in the present, live now for every moment in the future.”
is world leaders in public education because we give standards that need to be met by schools, teachers, and students. With the identification of these areas there is an understanding of the expectations for schools across the nation. The U.S educational system includes all students with disabilities in our public education system. One way we are not leaders in education is that we are a “one size fits all.” Our vocational programs have diminished leaving only the core academic demands. For example, understanding not all students will use the higher level mathematics of Algebra 2 within the everyday life of a cashier in a supermarket. Students have little or no options when graduating high school in concern to diploma
The United States of America has placed low on the educational ladder throughout the years. The cause of such a low ranking is due to such heavy emphasis on standardized testing and not individual student achievement. Although the United States uses standardized testing as a crutch, it is not an effective measure of a student’s ability, a teacher’s competency, or a school’s proficiency.
A key to ending the cycle of poverty, is educational equity. In America today, public education is unequal racially and socioeconomically (Honda 11). Internationally, America is not excelling academically. When looking closely at American student’s Program for
In The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way, Amanda Ripley investigates the education systems of three of the world’s highest performing countries offering insight into the components necessary to raise education in the United States from its current mediocre place on the world stage. By involving three teenage American exchange students, Ripley gained access to firsthand experience of the familiar US system as compared to the highly competitive systems in Finland, South Korea and Poland. The author proposes that, although the systems vary greatly, commonalities in cultural valuation of education, rigor and teacher quality have made students from these three countries the “smartest kids in the world.”
Snyder, M. (2011, July 5). Number One? 20 Not So Good Categories That the United States Leads the World In. In The Economic Collapse. Retrieved from: http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/number-one-20-not-so-good-categories-that-the-united-states-leads-the-world-in
The United States places a great deal of importance on education and continuing to be a leader in the realm of education. If the United States wants to continue on this road it must take a good look at the achievement gap that has been created and growing. In a system where in high school 34% of black students are being held back, and are more likely to drop out before receiving a high school diploma it is essential to understand what has caused this gap and ways to help close it. When African Americans first came to this country becoming educated was not something they were allowed to do, they had to wait years and years to even learn how to write without there being consequences. When the opportunity did come along for African Americans to become educated and schools were created for them and by them, there have still being hurdles for them with chances of schools losing accreditation, and financial support for students. Policies, laws, and initiatives must really become priorities to help African Americans to ensure that they are allowed to succeed and achieve the same goals and lives as everyone else. Making sure there are able, understanding, and qualified teachers teaching students is also very important. Teachers play such a big role in the lives of students and helping them to succeed not primary and secondary school, but also continuing their journey’s into places of higher learning. This is a problem that can be fixed as long as we are serious about true equality and opportunities for
Many people believe that “having an economy that places a greater value on skills and education is a good thing” and that is the thing that is needed to improve people’s lives and futures (Baicker, Lazear). If what our economy is trying to do a good thing they why are so many students still suffering? The main issues are the low-income education that many students have. Many schools are getting money from the government but that is not enough to pay for everything students need. Educational standards have continued to increase throughout the years but that does not help the students who are unable to pay for the better education. These students who cannot pay for the better education are stuck barely getting by with a low education. A low-education can affect many areas of regular schooling. The students who are at low-income schools do not know what type of disadvantage they have compared to other students across the country. These students believe that they are getting the best education, but there are many students who are getting a better education at a school that has the funds to pay for everything their students need. Low-income students are suffering due to the environment they are in at school and they continue to suffer throughout their life due to it. These students will continue to suffer unless something is done about the low-income schools and improve them for the future. Improvement has to come from all areas, not just one aspect of schooling but from all aspects. Although education has improved along with technology many low-income students still suffer from the vast inequalities. These inequalities will take many years to find a way to fix and even more years to actually fix, until this happens the students will...
Ryan, Julia. "American Schools vs. the World: Expensive, Unequal, Bad at Math." www.theAtlantic.com. The Atlantic Monthly Group, 23 Dec. 2013. Web. 18 Feb. 2014. .
Almost state has gained federal funding from accumulating the test data from all of their schools (Ravitch 107). Data collected from multiple choice questions determines the intelligence of every student and their teachers. The test data is tracked throughout their lifetime in relation to their test scores, graduation dates and other statistics companies such as Amazon and Microsoft use to evaluate different groups (by age, ethnicity, etc) as a whole (Ravitch 107). Ravitch claims there are many problems with this, mainly, tests do not measure character, spirit, heart, soul, and potential (112). Not everyone is the same, and just because one may be weak in math or writing doesn’t mean they’re not smart, resourceful individuals with much to share with the world. For schools to be even seen with a slight amount more than just their test scores, they have to be in great standings with their students’ average test results. The government’s intense focus on test results hurts schools’ ability to be a well-rounded school immensely. In contrast to federal’s pinpoint focus on what students learn, educated consumers desire their kids to have a full, balanced, and rich curriculum (Ravitch 108). Schools need to be more than housing for test-takers. The Education Board may claim students’ proficiency in their testing makes them better people, prepares them for college, and ultimately, the workforce. What they are
For decades now, there have been educational problems in the inner city schools in the United States. The schools inability to teach some students relates to the poor conditions in the public schools. Some of the conditions are the lack of funds that give students with the proper supplies, inexperienced teachers, inadequate resources, low testing scores and the crime-infested neighborhoods. These conditions have been an issue for centuries, but there is nothing being done about it. Yet, state and local governments focus on other priorities, including schools with better academics. It is fair to say that some schools need more attention than other does. However, when schools have no academic problems then the attention should be focused elsewhere, particularly in the inner city schools.
The United States has persistently been ranked at the bottom when it comes to education among developed countries. They have tried to come up with strategic ways to change their ranking, like standardized tests. This is an administered test over certain subjects like Math, English, History, and Science, and the form is the same for all test takers. They were not the first country to develop this method; in fact, this method was inspired from other countries that appeared to be doing better than them and still remain ranked at the bottom.
Since the release of the report by Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in December of 2010 many in the government and community are searching for ways to reform the American education system to give American students the greatest opportunity to succeed. According to the report, American students are not testing as high as other nations in the world (Duncan, 2010). There are many contributing elements that have brought America to her knees in the education system, however, the obsession with standardized testing is found to be one of the most influential downfalls.
To start, we need to stop hunger in america because children do worse in school when they are hungry. "81% of teacher report students coming to school hungry at least once a week". This is a problem because them students become less focused during the day. Educators in classrooms that are fed, 73% of them say that kids pay better attention in class, 53% of them say they see improved attendace and 48% of them say they see fewer disiplinary problems. America needs to find a solution to this because it helps kids in school.