“Destructive Pact”
The destructive pact is unspoken contract between students and instructors not to demand anything from each other. Based on my own experiences, the “destructive pact” is a reality in high school, but not in college. But based on discussions with classmates, interviews with others and students survey the pact is reality in both high school and college. The pact is harming the higher education system by decreasing the quality of education students receive and the students efforts are decreasing while their grades are increasing.
In my experience the destructive pact is reality in high school but not in college. I began high school a year after I moved to Minnesota. As a freshman I expected high school to be hard and challenging.
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The “Pact” is affecting their education as they only have to show up. Anyone can pass as long as their names are marked in the attendance book and by doing simple essay responses. As I was interviewing my brother he said, he only has written essay responses and an introductory essay since school started in his English class. Another person that I interviewed said he has not written anything or took any exam since school started in his English and Political Government class. Even though both students are taking different courses, they are not being challenged to their best of their ability. They both said they have lots of free time. They are not receiving the quality education they deserve as college students.
Based on my discussions with classmates about the video, I discovered that for most of my classmates the “ destructive pact” is a reality at some point in their lives. One student said that she doesn’t go to her Nutrition class because the instructor only expects the work to be done without stepping foot inside a physical classroom. In this manner, the pact is allowing a teacher to not be accountable for the student attendance to which leads the teacher to not be present for any discussions, questions, lectures, or anything remotely responsible that a normal instructor is charged
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On the survey I asked five questions to each student. The first question was “if they ever have seen the pact in any of their classes.” The follow up question was if students dropped the class as soon they figured out the teacher wasn 't challenging them, with 23 students said no only 1 said yes. Based on the survey student wanted easy teachers to keep their GPA high. By taking classes with teachers that demand less they didn’t have to make effort for good grades. This affects students education because they are not learning what they are expected of them and don’t challenge themselves. The overall expectation of an instructor can greatly affect the student’s ability to learn as more pressure is placed on the curriculum and in the classroom. According to the MCTC grade distributions chart, from 2010 to 2013 out of 82,333 students 30.7% got an A and 21.1% got B. Majority of grades that are being given to students are A and
Benton is a concerned professor trying to help other professors assist today’s students. Benton genuinely enjoys what he does and he cares about those that he teaches and wants them to succeed, learns, and grow. He is slightly irritated by the actions and behavior of those that he teaches; however, that does not stop his desire to help those learn: “we must stop pretending that we are not seeing what is in front of us every day. We must stop shrugging our shoulders at minor discourtesies before they metastasize into a culture of vulgarity, violence, and general mayhem.” Benton is dedicated to his cause and he is passionate about helping others to learn, despite the behavior of the
For some students it is difficult to get a good education. These students live in a poor community and are required to go to schools that have a low graduation rate. These schools have a certain reputation such that other students refer to it as the “ghetto school”, “where the pregnant girls go”, and the “dropout factory”. This
Wellmon, R. , Gilin, B., Knauss, L., & Linn, M. I. (2012). Changes in student attitudes toward
Since socializing is what is more important to the teenagers it reflects on there test scores tremendosly. Steinburg states “In other words, over the past 40 years, despite endless debates about curricula, testing, teacher training, teachers’ salaries, and performance standards, and despite billions of dollars invested in school reform, there has been no improvement—none—in the academic proficiency of American high school students.” Even after 40 years nothing has been solved for the exact reasons why students aren’t getting the proper
As child growing up some of the frightful memories include a visit to the dentist; an evil man with scary drill whose solve purpose is to hurt you or the first day in elementary school you finally leave all behind the cozy classrooms and nap times of kindergarten and enter the big leagues. All of these are considered a cakewalk compared to standardize testing. Since the start of elementary school students in the United States are taught to test. In many instances students are held back or placed in remedial classes because of lower grades. But many don’t realize that some students are not great at testing taking and because of the lower grades some educators believe that these students are lower achievers. This leads to lower self-esteem and encourage students to drop out in later years. Also students are forced to memorize information merely as facts without sparking their creativity or enhancing their knowledge.
Seeing this, the ability of grades to influence and create positive and negative roles to students remains to be the responsibility of the educator. Given that grades help manifest a standard for students to adhere to, teachers must try to create an environment where they can facilitate and motivate students to do better (Tomlinson, 2001). By using grades as an instrument for development, it can create a positive perception for students to improve and seek connections with instruction and course content.
In addition to a system where few in a class receive a failing grade and if a student falls below the line have the opportunity to obtain a successful grade in the course by completing extra course work and offering an opportunity to retake tests/quizzes. A student will be more willing to take a risk by taking a class that they may not get an A in. For example, many students, including seniors would opt out of taking Chemistry due to the fact they may not receive a “good” grade. While, these students may be protecting their high GPA's they miss out of the opportunity to gain a higher level of logic. Honor and AP classes benefits a student by challenging them and improve their study habits, but find the subjects that one may excel at.
For students to be able to do well on standardized test they rely on their teachers. Several teachers interviewed said they spent hours of extra planning time and hundreds of dollars to create more interesting lessons. They said they must be supremely organized and strict enforcers of classroom rules. (Watanabe). Some teachers are pressured to the point that they make education all about the test and up to the test. The pressure to improve students test performance in California and across the country often meets with disdain from teachers who say they are compelled to throw out creativity and “teach to the test.” (Watanabe). If somehow the test were based on what students learn, then students could score better. Educators are unanimous that high-stakes test should be aligned with curriculum and instruction-taught and are expected to know – and that teachers should be involved in the process. (Nina and Sol Hurwitz). Teachers should continue to teach to the test, standardized test will end up being a simple exam in which every student should find it easy to take. If high-stake tests adequately cover the essential material to be learned in each grade, these practices can enhance the teaching in the classroom. Teaching to a well-designed set of tests can improve both test scores and student achievements. (Crone). Even
Our education system is failing and in his essay “What Our Education System Needs Is More F’s” Carl Singleton writes that nothing else will right the ship or fix this issue except for his proposed solution which is to simply fail more students. As a matter of fact “by the dozens, hundreds, thousands, even millions” (Singleton 1) is how he describes the failing grades should be distributed. He claims that illegitimately passing students has existed for the past two decades and even implies that it stems further back than that with many teachers in the school system today “who never should have been certified in the first place.”(Singleton 1).
Ninety percent of secondary schools in the world today use standardized tests with only a 60% passing rate. Ankur Singh, a high school student, was ready for his Advanced Placement Classes (AP) but found that his excitement would soon turn into frustration and failing grades. Singh went into his class expecting to analyze character and themes of literature, but instead he found his entire year to be filled with 50 minute, questions based essays to prepare for the upcoming standardized tests. Rather than continuing his outstanding previous pattern of academic excellence, he began to do very poorly in his AP classes. Singh expressed his frustration by stating that all of his AP classes taught specifically around college preparation and standardized tests rather than focusing on genuine learning. He continued to state, “I’m not being challenged. My classes are easy. All I have to do is memorize the textbook and spew it out on the test. I’m not learning anything. I’m not growing.” (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2012/11/09/one-teens-standardized-testing-horror-story-and-where-it-will-lead/) Not only do parents and students disagree with standardized tests, educators are finally standing up against it. At Seattle Garfield high school, the teachers unanimously decided to not administer the reading and math standardized tests. Teachers sent letters to the parents giving the parents an option to opt out of their student taking the test. Teachers comment that these tests are “inappropriate measure of teacher’s effectiveness of teaching.” (http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/11/when-parents-yank-their-kids-out-of-standardized-tests/281417/) Hiss, a former dean of admissions from Bates College in Lewiston, ...
As an individual stuck amidst a foundation known for its propensity to breed social congruity, college has opened my eyes to numerous distinctive reasons why individuals decide to act in ways they wouldn't regularly act. Since they ordinarily aren't certain of their character, adolescents are more inclined to similarity than others. In the most essential structure, college is tormented with congruity through the generalizations that learners seek after and explore different avenues regarding trying to uncover their personality. There are two sorts of Conformity: the kind that makes you do your errands when your father authorizes you to, and the less than great kind in which you aimlessly take after the thoughts and tenets of an inner circle or gathering, without addressing the negative impacts it has upon yourself and the improvement of whatever remains of public opinion. Conformity is basic in that people strive for a feeling of strength and acknowledgement in their lives. As a result of this need, “we therefore figure out how to fit in with principles of other individuals. What's more the more we see others carrying on in a certain manner or settling on specific choices, the more we feel obliged to stick to this same pattern.” Despite the freedoms we are supposed to have in American society most adolescents find it difficult to have their own identity.
Before World War II, attending college was a privilege, usually reserved for the upper class, but, in today’s society scholarships, grants, and loans are available to the average student which has made pursuing a college education a social norm. Norms are usually good, they help keep society run in an organized manner by sharing common rules and values. But, when pursuing a college education becomes a norm, it does more destruction than good. For a lot of students, a major reason for attending college is because their parents tell them it’s the thing to do to become successful in life.
Put yourself in a high school students shoes. Your main focal points are to do well in school, get good grades, learn new things, make memories, and to have fun. Though many schools place a fun and constructive learning environment over a stressful test based environment, some do not. Schools have made standardized testing their main focus instead of teaching students other equally important skills. ( ProCon. "Standardized Tests - ProCon.org.) Many schools are so focused with test scores that they change their curriculum to include a large amount of test preparation. (ProCon. "Standardized Tests - ProCon.org.) Most schools across America rely heavily on ineffective overuse of standardized testing. The test can be very helpful, but not in intense and stressful situations. (Ravitch.151) Some schools place too much responsibility and accountability on the teachers and educators. (Ravitch.154 ) Critics would argue that certain standardized tests do not meet the qualifications necessary to judge the progress of a student or a teacher. (Ravitch.152 ) Not only is testing used to evaluate a student, but also teacher achievement. (ProCon. "Standardized Tests - ProCon.org.) Holding educators accountable for test scores places an unfair amount of stress on all parties involved, as well as inducing a difficult working atmosphere. (Brill, Allie. "Standardized Testing Leads To Unnecessary Stress On Students, Teachers.") Standardized testing generally imposes harsh consequences that bring many different problems, which often lead to dishonesty and a narrow perception of education from students and educators. (Gatt, Jeneba. "Atlanta's cheating ways: S...
According to an article by Douglas B. Reeves, he suggests that schools should re-examine and change their grading practices and if they want to immediately reduce student failure rates. He states that schools do not need a new curriculum, a new principal, new teachers, or new technology to reduce failure rates. Instead, he has found they need a better grading system. Guskey and Bailey (2001) and Marzano (2001) have done decades of research with similar findings to those mentioned by Reeves. Unfortunately, neither the weight of scholarship nor common sense seem to influence grading policies in many schools and practices vary greatly among teachers in the same school-and worse, the practices best supported by research are rare...
The expectations teachers have for their students attempt to prepare the students for the rigorous academics ahead. Students are told that in typical colleges, teachers do not care about one’s excuse for a late assignment or attendance issues. Therefore, high school teachers expect their students to turn in assignments on time and be in class. If those expectations are not met, some high school teachers will not accept the assignment or will expect the students to find out what they missed on their own. “The transition from a public high to a top U. can be difficult, stressful, and frustrating. You will have to learn to excel in...