Why America's Educational System is Failing
argumentative Essay
1116 words
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.
Cheating can be a common routine in a classroom—from copying work on homework to copying answers on a test. “Cheating by teachers and administrators on standardized tests is rare, and not a reason to stop testing America's children” (Standardized Tests). This statement is proved false by the fact that thirty-seven states have been caught cheating by “encouraging teachers to view upcoming test forms before they are administered” (“FairTest Press Release: Standardized Exam Cheating in 37 States And D.C., New Report Shows Widespread Test Score Corruption”). If teachers can view a test before it is administered, they can teach to the test so that their students’ scores are higher. Teachers who have viewed the test can then “drill students on actual upcoming test items” (“FairTest Press Release: Standardized Exam Cheating in 37 States And D.C., New Report Shows Widespread Test Score Corruption”). This is morally wrong since teachers who do not have the access to an actual test or those who refuse to view it do not know what would be on the test and cover a broad domain of material, not just specifics.
Even with material being taught incessantly, standardized tests can not accurately measure a student’s ability. The tests are “single-target—meaning that every student, no matter what level of achievement or ability, course selection, or cu...
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Phelps, Richard P. “Characteristics of an Effective Student Testing System.” Standardized Tests. N.p. 1 November 2013. Web. 20 March 2014. .
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Tung, Stephen. “How the Finnish school system outshines the U.S. education.” Stanford. N.p. 20 January 2012. Web. 21 March 2014. .
In this essay, the author
- Opines that a test that cannot accurately measure the student's mastery of the broader skills domain is simply incompetent.
- Explains that schools judged on student performance can increase their average scores by retaining high-achieving students with their age-level peers rather than letting them advance a grade.
- Compares finland's education system with that of the united states.
- Concludes that the united states should assume an european or asian education policy if they are ever going to get ahead on the ranking board.
- Argues that the united states of america has placed low on the educational ladder due to heavy emphasis on standardized testing and not individual student achievement.
Related
- analytical
- opinion
- The Existing Ethical Issues of American Standardized Testinganalytical essayAfter the implementation of the “No Child Left Behind Act” high risk standardized testing has become a pressure cooker of corruption in the United States due to often unrealistic expectations, abundant incentives, and harsh punishments placed upon educators and administrators, overall resulting in the essential need for reform. The concept that every student’s academic ability can be assessed by a single universal exam is a misguided notion.
In this essay, the author
- Argues that high-risk standardized testing has become a pressure cooker of corruption in the united states due to unrealistic expectations, abundant incentives, and harsh punishments placed upon educators and administrators.
- Argues that teacher cheating is a huge flaw in the institution of academic testing.
- Argues that teachers are merely acting from a sense of duty to help their students succeed, and that teaching to the test can easily be squashed by heavily changing and rotating testing topics.
- Argues that test tampering methods can be seen as the teachers' way of assisting students with academic disabilities that do not receive help.
- Explains that some states have policies in effect to harshly chastise teachers who partake in unlawful cheating, but many teachers take the risk anyways.
- Opines that if harsh punishments were set in stone in all states, other instructors would shy away from cheating, but this is not the case. the higher the scores are, the better the exam process appears.
- Argues that teachers can avoid cheating if they are capable at their jobs. statistically, students who identify as latino or black have significantly lower scores across the united states.
- Explains that the tradition of cheating in public schools precedes the introduction of high stakes testing.
- Explains that most of the problems with testing have one surprising source: cheating by school administrators and teachers. the wilson quarterly 35.4 (2011): 38+.
- Explains smolin, andrea, and clayton, "standardized testing: how prepared are we?." journal of cases in educational leadership.
- States wiliam, dylan, standardized testing and school accountability, educational psychologist, 45(2), (2010): 107-122.
- Explains farah, yara n., "through another's eyes." gifted child today 36.3 (2013): 209-212. professional development collection.
- Summarizes jacob, brian, and steven levitt's "rotten apples: an investigation of the prevalence and predictors of teacher cheating."
- Explains richardson, brian k., lawrence r. wheeless, and cody cunningham's "tattling on the teacher: a study of factors influencing peer reporting of teachers who violate standardized testing protocol." communication studies.
- Analyzes kohn, alfie, "who's cheating whom?" the education digest 73.5 (2008): 4-11.
- States that sahlberg, pasi, "lessons from finland." the education digest 77.3 (2011): 18-24.
1756 wordsRead More - Why Is Standardized Testing And Accountabilityanalytical essayEducators should never be held completely accountable for student scores on standardized tests. Though these tests were made to evaluate a students rough estimation of skill, they were not made to evaluate their entire education. Teachers should not be completely held accountable for test scores either. These scores hold too much power over schools and educators. Failure on a standardized test should mean “improvement needed”, not “you should just give up!”. These tests create anxiety caused by the consequences surrounding them. Giving American students a well-balanced education should be the school systems main goal in order to ensure America’s future economic success. Standardized tests are okay to use as rough estimates, but not for a total evaluation of any person’s ability.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that many schools have made standardized testing their main focus instead of teaching students other equally important skills.
- Argues that standardized testing and accountability is ineffective when it comes to preparing students for the future. some reformers and educators argue that holding teachers accountable is effective, but others oppose it.
- Argues that overuse of standardized testing in the school system can be unfair and stressful to all involved.
- Explains that too much focus on standardized tests will narrow and deplete the curriculum, push students and educators to cheat, and hurt poor and minority students who perform the least well on these tests.
- Argues that standardized tests are effective in measuring a student's skill set, but are not effective when evaluating an educator’s ability to teach.
- Opines that holding students and teachers accountable for standardized test scores misuses the purpose of the tests.
- Argues that standardized tests are faulty because they are rough estimates of a student's knowledge and are not specific enough to judge their individual progress.
- Opines that educators should never be held completely accountable for student scores on standardized tests, since they were made to evaluate a student's rough estimation of skill, not their entire education.
1744 wordsRead More - Argumentative Essay: The Use Of Standardized Testing In Schoolsanalytical essayAlthough standardized testing is commonly used in most schools and educational intuitions nowadays, it does not measure a student’s intelligence. As such, standardized testing should be revoked because, not only is it an unreliable way of measuring a student’s performance, it also pressures educators and creates a grade conscious mindset. Schools should focus more on the development of students, rather than ranking them based on the grades they receive on a test. Not only are standardized tests an undependable way of grading, but also, it does not promote life skills the student will need when growing
In this essay, the author
- Explains that standardized testing is used in most schools and institutions to compare the performance of students in a relative manner.
- Explains that people assume standardized testing is a good way of comparing the performance levels of various students from different schools and locations, but it is unreliable.
- Explains why standardized testing isn't a reliable way of measuring performance because it evaluates the student's proficiency only during the time of the test.
- Argues that standardized testing should be revoked because it pressures mentors. after taking standardized exams, scores are published and schools are ranked from the best performing to the worst performing.
- Opines that standardized testing should be optional because it creates a grade conscious mindset. test anxiety can cause mind block in learning and hurt test performance.
- Argues that standardized testing should be revoked because it is an unreliable way of measuring a student's performance, and it also pressures educators. schools should focus more on the development of students, rather than ranking them based on grades.
583 wordsRead More - The Pros and Cons of Standardized Testinganalytical essay...’t prone to be covered. Secondly, is Excessive Drilling, many teachers trying to raise their students scored by giving them non-stop practice with questions similar to those on upcoming accountability tests. Thirdly, is Modeled Dishonesty, after teachers being pressured to test scores that need to increase, teacher will be tempted to preform unethical practices while admiration or scoring of the test. Also giving students a reason to cheat because they think if the stakes are high it’s “ok” to cheat on the test.
In this essay, the author
- Argues that standardized testing is an accurate way of testing students in the sense that it can compare students for college and provides fast results of the students’ knowledge.
- Explains that standardized testing is the best way to measure student's achievements because it provides the colleges with accurate achievements from the students.
- Explains that standardized tests only measure the student's knowledge or achievements, but they lack multiple key aspects such as creativity, leadership, self-awareness, critical thinking, etc.
- Explains that multiple choice tests are used for standardized tests and primarily in k-12 grades. they can test a vast complexity in students' knowledge.
- Argues that multiple choice tests are the wrong way to assess what students are learning because it forces the student on taking an "educated guess" or cheating to get the right answer.
- Explains that standardized tests are made up of questions that you should know since you were in middle school. memorization plays a role on the test and time interferes with critical thinking.
- Explains that standardized achievement tests involve a student's growth over time in particular subject areas. in some states, these tests are required for students to pass or fail the grade.
- Explains that schools are evaluated annually by the federal no child left behind act, a school reform law, and that teachers are under pressure to improve their students' scores.
- Concludes that standardized testing shouldn't be a way to measure students' knowledge through reasons such as the lack of leadership, self-awareness, or class participation. multiple choice tests are not as effective as one might think.
1582 wordsRead More - The Shortcomings of Standardized Testinganalytical essaySince the U.S. Congress passed the No Child Left Behind program, standardized testing has become the norm for American schools. Under this system, each child attending a school is required to take a standardized test at specific grade points to assess their level of comprehension. Parents, scholars and all stakeholders involved take part in constant discussions over its effectiveness in evaluating students’ comprehension, teachers’ competency and the effects of the test on the education system. Though these tests were put in place to create equality, experts note that they have created more inequality in the classroom. In efforts to explore this issue further, this essay reviews two articles on standardized testing. This essay reviews the sentiments of the authors and their insight into standardized examination. The articles provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that standardized tests are not effective at measuring a teacher’s competency because they do not take into account the school environment and its effect on the students.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how ravitch changed her mind on the effectiveness of standardized tests four years after advocating for its use in the public education system.
- Argues that standardized tests should not be used as tools to close down schools. popham states that the current examination system requires that schools be given yearly-standardized exams to monitor the progress of students.
- Opines that a strong teachers union would lead to better performance by educators and their students. ravitch supports the formation of teacher unions and says they improve schools' performance.
- States birman, beatrice f., et al. "state and local implementation of the "no child left behind act."
- Analyzes the pros and cons of standardized testing and the role of charter schools in perpetuating classism.
- Argues that there is a gap between the teaching methods employed by educators and the standardized testing methods used.
- Explains that standardized tests don't measure educational quality. ravitch: standardized testing undermines teaching.
1649 wordsRead More - Though standardized testing has played a part in America's education system it took several tries before it played such a large role in education like it does today. The No child left Behind Act of 2002 was the foot hold standardized testing needed in order to be implemented into schools at a national level with such force. During the 1990’s the U.S felt as though it was falling behind on the Programme for International Assessment. “After No Child Left Behind (NCLB) passed in 2002, the US slipped from 18th in the world in math on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to 31st place in 2009, with a similar drop in science and no change in reading”(walker 1).
In this essay, the author
- Argues that standardized testing is a sorting device of which students are better test takers.
- Explains that standardized test scores are inaccurate in testing, and that they are used as a basis for flunking students, denying diplomas and deciding where school funding should be spent.
- Opines that people associate numbers with life, but more importantly, they associate education with progress. children are not numbers and can't be measured by numbers.
- Opines that the emphasis on standards and testing is promoting the least meaningful forms of learning. the aim is to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level.
- Explains that the no child left behind act of 2002 was the foot hold standardized testing needed to be implemented into schools at a national level with such force.
- Explains that multiple choice and true or false questions do not allow students to form their own answers or explain solutions, thus standardized tests are unfair to brilliant thinkers who don't test well.
1319 wordsRead More - Standardized Testing Informative Essayopinion essay“Students are taking between ten and twenty standardized tests, depending on the grade. A total average of one hundred thirteen different ones by graduation.”(Locker) A few years ago the United States, along with other nations, was given a test to assess the academic strengths and weaknesses of each nation and rank them accordingly. When the results were released and the United States was ranked near the bottom, it was decided to start incorporating more testing through school. Between benchmark, TLI, PARCC, and common core standards, teaching technique was forced to change. Standardized testing has had a negative effect on teachers and students, implementing inadequate grading standards and the common core curriculum, such testing has made
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the united states, along with other nations, was given a test to assess the academic strengths and weaknesses of each nation and rank them accordingly.
- Opines that teachers' credibility is assessed by the success of their students on the standardized tests. a teacher in florida was forced to speak out after being inequitably evaluated on such standards.
- Analyzes how the increase in standardized testing in the past few years has not only critically affected teachers, but students as well.
- Explains the ridiculous grading standards pearson and other companies use to calculate the intellect of young students. pearson has posted an ad to craigslist to find people willing to grade tests.
- Explains that the grading standards are insufficient, and some of the test questions are as well. teachers and administrators who have been working for years to provide children with an education, have taken these tests.
- Explains that common core was designed to increase focus on specific categories in each subject, so the student would come out knowing more in the end.
- Opines that the increase in standardized testing was supposed to make the united states more intelligent as a nation, but this hasn't happened in the past few years.
1126 wordsRead More - It's Time to Get Rid of Standardized Testsanalytical essaySince 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.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that american students are not testing as high as other nations in the world. the obsession with standardized testing is one of the most influential downfalls.
- Opines that education has always been in existence in some form or another. the core learning method of a child does not change. thomas jefferson believed that an education would lead men and women to the ability to be self-governed.
- Argues that the united states is failing miserably in the education of students.
- Explains that the intelligence quotient test, which originated in france, was implemented into american schools as a way of tracking students intellectually and placing them in classes that better suit them for the future.
- Explains that standardized tests are the current method for government and schools to measure the students’ understanding of material.
- Argues that standardized testing can be detrimental to the success of both the student and school.
- Argues that schools are failing miserably when it comes to preparing students for tests. thomas jefferson stated that the purpose of education was to help people learn to govern themselves and be free.
- Opines that if american children are to have the ability to govern themselves, contribute to society, and succeed in life, a proper education must be made available to them.
1416 wordsRead More - America's Broken Education Systemanalytical essay“If you would just get up and teach them instead of handing them a packet. There’s kids in here that don’t learn like that. They need to learn face to face. I’m telling you what you need to do. You can’t expect a kid to change if all you do is just tell ‘em.” Texas student, Jeff Bliss, decided to take a stand against the lack of teaching going on in his class (Broderick).
In this essay, the author
- Describes how jeff bliss decided to take a stand against the lack of teaching going on in his class.
- Analyzes how bliss is one example of the shared frustration felt by students due to a broken education system.
- Explains that a classroom of thirty is filled with students that think in all different ways. each child's brain processes information differently, and teachers must accommodate them by altering their methods of instruction.
- Explains that state and district standards are changing in order to resolve this issue, while teachers are also incorporating new approaches to better encompass the ever-changing needs of students.
- Argues that the common core is a way to standardize learning for all students, using standards of specified learning to better teach curriculum in an effective and timely manner.
- Explains that students who do not read by third grade are more likely to drop out of school, take drugs, or go to prison. students need specialized and individualized attention at a young age to better assess the needs of each child.
- Opines that middle school is seen as the lost years for many students. they argue that elective options should be placed on the necessary skills students should exhibit throughout their lives.
- Opines that high school is the time to prepare young adults for the real world.
- Opines that teachers need to incorporate technology into their classrooms. even minor updates can be taken advantage of to simplify various tasks.
- Argues that common core restricts the curriculum, making it increasingly difficult to personalize lesson plans or expand on certain concepts.
- Explains that some teachers accept the common core, while others continue to teach poorly. the gap between good, caring teachers directly correlates with the age difference that is becoming more prevalent.
- Opines that the vision of american education starts in the classroom, with fully engaged students, creative and inspiring teachers, and the support and resources needed to get every child prepared for college and a career.
- Opines that the common core can be adapted to better suit the needs of each student. if instructors show more individualized attention to younger students, they will be prepared for higher education as they graduate high school.
- Argues that society as a whole emphasizes entertainment over education, noting that many celebrities don't pursue higher education. parents are huge players in keeping students accountable.
- Argues that young learners as a whole are suffering due to unsupportive communities. henderson's quote exemplifies the ideal attitude for our nation to have towards educational reform.
- Summarizes the research spotlight on parental involvement in education by the national education association.
- Analyzes how duncanville student's teacher rant goes viral. fox news, 10 may 2013.
- Analyzes duncan, arne, ellis, karen, and strauss, valerie. "eight problems with common core standards."
3505 wordsRead More - America’s Failing Education Systemopinion essay"A world-class education is the single most important factor in determining not just whether our kids can compete for the best jobs but whether America can out-compete countries around the world. America's business leaders understand that when it comes to education, we need to up our game. That's why need to work together to put an outstanding education within reach for every American child"-President Barack Obama, July 18, 2011
In this essay, the author
- Opines that america's business leaders understand that when it comes to education, we need to up our game.
- Opines that even though everyone agrees with the president and most are aware that the current system is out of order, many disagree on what course of action should be taken to fix it.
- Analyzes how the american education system has been on a downward spiral for quite some time and the longer it takes to address the problem the harder it will be to fix.
- Argues that government-controlled education is unconstitutional because it can be manipulated to create a submissive society and threatens individual liberties.
- Argues that the cost of government-controlled education will outweigh the benefits. the steady rise in school tuition will make more government involvement in education unsustainable.
- Argues that centralized education is vital to the preservation of the american way of life and encourages parents to send their children to public schools.
- Opines that a centralized separate department of education would give the people an opportunity to hold one agency accountable for the failure or success of america's education system.
- Argues that the federal government's role in education should be limited to the monetary and logistic aspects of education and that government should stay away from dictating laws and regulations.
- Opines that a broken education system threatens the social and economic stability of the entire country.
- Opines that the answer to economic instability, unemployment issues, and inefficient political system is through education. a revamped education system will keep america competitive in a global economy.
- Opines that america was not created by chance, but put together by well-educated men with a clear vision of what america would become.
- Quotes daniel b. taylor, west virginia state superintendent of schools, and deeptha thattai.
1878 wordsRead More