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why education is failing in america
why education is failing in america
education for future generation
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Schools are institutions that lay the foundation of a child's development. They play a key role in developing children into responsible citizens and maximizing an individual’s potential. A school is where young talent is recognized and nurtured. Every country has its own particular characteristics regarding the school curriculum, teaching profession, and overall education system. However, in the global education race, the United States is extremely falling behind; countries that were once behind now meet or exceed U.S. education standards. The failure in our education system is characterized by low test scores, minimal parental involvement, and high dropout rates.
Firstly, the number of students who pass state reading and math exams is dropping drastically every year. In the article entitled "Test Scores Sink as New York Adopts Tougher Benchmarks,” the author reports on the decline of test scores and points out that in the year 2013, “only 26 percent of students passed English and 30 percent passed in math.” The article goes on to say that at a middle school, only 7 percent of stud...
President Ronald Reagan once described America as, “A Nation at Risk,” He was addressing this statement to the education department thirty years ago and meant it as a wake-up call. He was aware that the United States was falling behind in education and needed to take action in order to prevent the demise of the country. Reagan correctly predicted the grim fate of America if education did not see improvement. Today, research finds that American education is failing to provide the necessary skills to succeed in college and various careers. The quality of education in America is a growing issue and every year graduate students are finding it more difficult to obtain high paying jobs and start his or her career. According to studies conducted globally, the curriculum in America is not as advanced and years behind international schools in countries such as China and Japan. There is much controversy in government over what can be done to reverse the situation in public schools but possible solutions that have been suggested are hiring more qualified teachers, more classroom time, and investing more money into education.
America’s children have found increasing difficulty with school. The curriculum in schools is claiming to be harder in higher levels, but the lack of focus and direction in the younger grades has made for decreased grade levels and lower mastery in several basic areas such as math, writing, and reading skills. Standardized test scores are at an all time low, as increasing amounts of children progress through the educational system having not at...
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
In today’s society, we would describe high school as a four-year passageway into adulthood [college]. Ever since our current education system was implemented, high school would begin at the 9th grade level, and end at the 12th grade level. With the average age for 9th graders to be at 14 transitioning to 15 and for 12th graders to average in at 17 transitioning to 18; this have been the norm, for the American society for ages. In Leon Botstein’s “Let Teenagers Try Adulthood,” he writes an opinionated piece on how the current American education system is obsolete; plaguing the current youth by preventing their way into adulthood and isolating them from their experiences of it. From my experiences as a Junior in high school, I do have to disagree with Botstein’s statement that the current American high school is obsolete. Age and maturity would not, and should not be the main cause of the American high school system to go obsolete. Adulthood is not based by age, it is by the students’ own mentality; for some students, being a “late bloomer” would not be in their favor if the proposed solution by Botstein would have taken place. Using the Littleton [Columbine High School] shootings as a way to support his argument, is inconsequential. In no means I’m saying the current American high school system is the definition of perfection. The system is flawed, unsound, and imperfect, but for other reasons
Schooling has a lot of problems that need a lot of solutions. Many of these problems stem from the fact that the American school system is notorious for wasting the time of students and teachers. Students rarely get the chances to learn and experience topics that not only interest them but are also topics that have the potential for being important in their future careers. Time is also wasted during standardized tests that do not give American students an accurate representation of their intelligence compared to the intelligence of others worldwide.
California is one of the largest states in the country and has one of the biggest state budgets, but in the past several years, its school system has become one of the worst in the nation because of enormous budget cuts in efforts to balance the state’s enormous deficit. The economic downturn at the end of the 2000s resulted in even more cuts to education. It is in environments like this one in which students from poor backgrounds become most vulnerable because of their lack of access to support in their homes as well as other programs outside of schools. Their already financially restricted school districts have no choice but to cut supplementary programs and increase class sizes among other negative changes to public schools. The lack of financial support from the state level as well as demands for schools to meet certain testing benchmarks by the state results in a system in which the schools are no longer able to focus on students as individuals; they are forced to treat students as numbers rather than on an individual case by case basis. An article from the Los Angeles Times showed that majority of Californians give California schools “a grade of C or below” and half think that the quality of schools will continue to decline (Watanabe).While the economic downturn affected the public school system in a negative way, it was not the sole root of its problems. It just simply exacerbated already existing issues.
Margaret Mead said, “Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.” In our society we value education over everything else. If one has a high education, then they will be able to make a better living for themselves. No school system is alike, some are better than others. The American education system used to be known as one of the leaders in education, having the highest graduation rate, and being innovative when it came to teaching styles. Now, it seems that it’s changing and other countries have taken it’s places as the best. This makes sense since the statistics show that most American students are losing to foreign countries. According to Paul Zoch in Doomed to Fail, Japan’s high school graduation was 90% whereas, the United
America’s public school system started off very rough, but through the dedication of many hard-working Americans, it was starting to shape into a system that allowed all children, regardless of race, gender, religion, or nation of origin, to have an education.
Americans strive toward having the best education system in the world. There are even lists published each year naming the best and worst schools in the country. The flaws in the education system become unveiled upon a close inspection of the nation’s worst schools. The natural competitiveness of Americans pushes the culture into attempting to fix any flaws through the agenda of education reform. Education reform is currently a hot-button issue, with an exponential number of proposed solutions. One particular solution to America’s education crisis is the proposal of equally funded schools.
Something I have always known since I was a little kid is that the educational system in this country is a complete fraud. American schools claim to live by the ideal of No Child Left Behind, but millions of students get cast aside each and every year. In schools these days, it is obvious which students are the elite—those that are raised up and motivated to go to college—and the ordinary student— those that are somewhat ignored throughout their schooling and are lucky if they even earn a GED. As a recent graduate of high school, and a product of this country’s educational system, I have had the opportunity to develop my own opinions regarding the myth of education in our society. Based upon my observations going through the school system, and the various arguments posed by several authors in “Rereading America”, I strongly believe that schooling in this society caters solely to students in the elite category while ostracizing students that do not live up to the elitist ideal.
Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the American educational system has undergone much transition in response to our changing society. Though there have been many problems raised throughout the years in regard to what our school systems should be teaching our children, there have also been many developments.
Education is an integral part of society, school helps children learn social norms as well as teach them how to be successful adults. The school systems in United States, however are failing their students. In the world as a whole, the United States is quickly falling behind other countries in important math and reading scores. The United States ranked thirtieth in math on a global scale and twentieth in literacy. This is even more true in more urban, lower socio-economic areas in the United States. These schools have lower test scores and high dropout rates. In Trenton Central High School West, there was an 83% proficiency in literacy and only 49% of the students were proficient in math. Many of these students come from minority backgrounds and are often from low income families. There are many issues surrounding these urban schools. There is a severe lack of proper funding in these districts, and much of the money they do receive is sanctioned for non-crucial things. Schools also need a certain level of individualization with their students, and in many urban classes, this simply does not happen. While there are many factors affecting the low performance of urban schools, the lack of proper funding and distribution of funds, the cultural divide between teachers and students in urban districts, along with the lack of individualization in urban classrooms are crucial reasons to explain the poor performance in these districts. Through a process of teacher lead budget committees and further teacher education, urban schools can be transformed and be better equipped to prepare their students for the global stage.
The education system has been a controversial issue among educators. Requirements of school do not let student choose what they want to study for their future. It’s a big issue to force student study specific curriculums, which don’t help them improve, and what they like to create something. Educators choose a general system for education to all students which based on general knowledge. Intelligent or genius students have to be in that system of education, which doesn’t let them improve their creativity. Educators attempt to change that system to make it better, but their changing was not that great to be an example for the world. Also, did that change qualify education system to compete other systems or not? In some examples and reasons have been made me agree with some of points from Gatto’s and Edmunson’s and disagree them.
There are many important things children gain while growing up; the most important thing children gain growing up is their education. The educational skills children learn in school teach them the skills they need to perform outside of the classroom and in the workforce. With education being one of the most important gains in the lives of children, it has come to light how in recent years the United States has fallen further and further behind their peers in international rankings. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 2009 educational scores the United States ranks “33” (1), which is lower than the 2002 ranking of “18” (CNN). With such a decrease in the United States ranking, parents wonder why American students are falling behind. The No Child Left Behind Act, standardized testing, and the large use of technology are some of reasons why the United States is falling behind in educational rankings.
Over time, the passing of knowledge became more organized and societies developed what is known today as the school. In the school, people of all ages are able to learn from the experiences of others. Today, America’s system has been neglected to a point that students of other nations are testing higher academically than that of American students (Duncan, 2010). Because of this, many government officials, school reformers, and concerned citizens are faced with the challenge of finding a solution. However daunting and intimidating this may be, we must remember that this is not the first time that America has faced a need for change in the school. History is full of such events calling for changes to be made; unfortunately many of these changes were never fully implemented into the school system. Therefore, by studying the past we can build upon and complete the changes started. Unleashing the full potential of the American public school, giving each student a chance to be their greatest, regardless of who they are, and/or where they came from.