Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Diversity in classrooms
The importance of diversity in the classroom
Diversity in classrooms
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Diversity in classrooms
With so many problems surrounding public schooling, it is difficult to understand where public school is headed. In the article “Taking Sides,” William J. Bennett and Forrest J. Troy tackle the problem from two opposing views. Both sides present a compelling case, while at the same time helping readers to understand the difficulty of creating a program that functions the fullest potential. The article examines one major topic; “Have Public Schools Failed Society?” I hope to answer this question while taking a look at both sides of the coin.
As the former secretary of education, William J. Bennet has a good understanding of what could possibly be right and wrong with public schooling. After placing “goals” schools the United States realized, years later, that they have fallen into a lull. In other words, Bennet believes that the United States has reached a point where the schooling system cannot improve based on the goals they put in place fifteen years ago. This makes perfect sense. Why would a nation as powerful as the United States place “limitations,” on what schools can and cannot do? Learning is constantly growing. With this being said, I believe that the direction that the United States public schools are heading is failure. Teachers and students understand this more than anyone. Each student is completely different, in their own right. To make a blanket statement for the every school and setting the same goals is ridiculous. There are many critics to this status quo idea. They believe that “young Americans are not learning enough for their own or their nation’s good, that international comparisons rank the U.S. academic performance from the middle to the bottom year after year, and that many employers say that they cannot find people who have the necessary skills, knowledge, attitudes, and habits to do the work.” (Noll 173) If education is supposed to aid in the development of an entire nation, then why do so many people disagree with the system the United States have in place at the moment? If the country continues on this path there will never be room for improvement. I think what Bennet is trying to say is that the world is ever changing, so in the same regard so should education.
Chester E. Finn takes the criticism of education in another direction. Instead of focusing on the downfalls of the education system he believe that the problems stem from society.
After the Confederate victory at Chancellorsville in May of 1863, General Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia embarked on their 2nd invasion of the north. General Lee’s first campaign into the north resulted in the Confederate defeat at Antietam. The failure of Lee’s first northern campaign raises the question of his motives. The Confederate Army was...
It all started in the year 1862. General George McCellen currently controls the army of the Potomac. When it was determined that McCellen was a bad general, in December of 1862 he was replaced with General Ambrose Burnside. Within a week, Burnside decided on a campaign to the Southern capitol, Richmond. He told his plans to Lincoln and Lincoln approved, but told Burnside the only way for a win was to move quickly. Burnside split his group into three grand divisions, each with two corps. Burnside’s division arrives first at Fredericksburg; when he arrived there weren’t many Confederates. After Burnside’s arrival there was a swarm of Confederates who arrived. The problem was, that while the Confederates moved into position, General Burnside had to wait for pontoon builders so they could cross the Rappahannock River. (See Map1) He had requested pontoons from Harper’s Ferry but they hadn’t arrived yet and came two weeks later. This gave the Confederates time to get an advantageous position over the Union. While Burnside waited he looked at the town from on top of a ridge.
The Union forces suffered one their most significant defeats of the Civil War at the Battle of Fredericksburg on 13 December 1862. The Union army was pushing towards Richmond, Virginia when they were met with a Confederate defensive stand while attempting to cross the Rappahannock River and the subsequent charges towards the Confederate positions. The first three steps of the Battle Analysis process will be covered briefly in this analysis along with an assessment of the significant actions taken. The Union Army was rendered ineffective due to several flaws in the leadership. Poor utilization of available intelligence methods, poor communication between leaders, minimal terrain analysis, and failure to plan for enemy courses of action all contributed greatly to the Union defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg.
General Burnside’s “Campaign to Richmond” led the Army of the Potomac to the far side of the Rappahannock River, opposite of Fredericksburg, on the 19th of November 1862. Burnside envisioned pontoon boats stretching twice across the river to allow for a swift and continuous passage of his army. This is where Burnside’s problems began. The pontoon boats arrived several days later and Confederate scouts in the city were able to report the Army of the Potomac’s location. Within days, General Lee’s Rebel f...
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.
September 16-18, 1862, outside of the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland, between the Potomac River and Antietam Creek, was the location of the bloodiest battle in American history. Confederate Colonel Stephen D. Lee described it as “Artillery Hell” because of the frightful toll on his gunners and horses from Federal counter battery and infantry fire. (AotW, 2014) The battle of Antietam, or the Battle of Sharpsburg, would collect an estimated 23,100 total casualties (Luvaas and Nelson, 1987). The body count far exceeded any of the other three battles waged in the Maryland Campaign (Harpers Ferry, South Mountain, and Shepherdstown). This battle was a contributing factor in the outcome of our country and the rest of the world. The Union Army desperately needed a victory at Antietam; however, a victory for the Confederate rebels may have very well gained them international recognition as a sovereign country in the eyes of the rest of the world. The Federal Army, which belonged to the Union States, consisted of an all-volunteer army and was a larger army than the Confederate States. Even though the Battle of Antietam was inconclusive, President Lincoln went on to read the Emancipation Proclamation to the country, effectively ending slavery, and ensuring that no foreign nation would intervene on the Confederates behave.
When one examines the history, the quality, and the long-term effects of public education, and compares them to the history, quality, and long-term effects of other education methods, such as home-education, public school is found lacking. Although it may be simpler to merely follow the modern status quo of sending one 's children to public school, it is imperative to thoroughly research other available options to determine if public school will provide more benefit to an individual family than it does harm to both one 's family and society as a whole. In the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true
After reading Joel Spring?s book, and reflecting on some of the issues facing our schools, it is apparent that our educational system requires much attention among our nation?s leaders. While the system has transformed in many beneficial ways, we are still plagued by the growing problems of society. I look forward to reading another book by Joel Spring, and developing my evolving understanding of the educational system within the United States.
The American Education System has been a core component to the development of generations since it became a public system in the 1870s. Since then more rules, higher expectations for some, and even lower expectations for others have been added to the original structure. In recent years, many debates have surfaced over whether the American education system is failing. Too few they believe the American Education System is on the right track. Most researchers however have shown statistics that it is in fact slowly declining as new acts and regimens are added. It has been on a downward spiral for years and citizens have been watching it happen, the lack of government funding, acts like the No Child Left behind Act, focus in the wrong places, and the curriculum set up is acting as a deterrent for success.
Here in “Against School” by John Taylor Gatto, has a large chunk of it that talks about the public school system in the U.S and its history and purpose. I agree with Gatto, partly. Teachers and educators severely need a new school system, and it does indeed need it. The big question is why we still haven’t done anything to try and change the school system into something different and better? After going through the public school system for about 15 years, should people feel as if they just went to school then switch to a remaining life of working like drones of another system? The system that we have today has taken over the sense of creativity and replaced it with one that believes in the opposite. Creativity and individualism, this is the reverse of the school system we have today according to Gatto. Compared to when the public school system first started, here in the present our society doesn’t have the same requirements and needs of what we used to need. What we do need in our society right now for our school system is individualism and creativity.
Individuals in society experience many changes that can make them feel overwhelm or feel accepted by their friends, family members and the rest of society. But there is times when people feel that they do not fit or feel welcome in their social group. Many people face their difficulties and achieve success others are do not have such luck. The individuals that are not lucky finishes their life committing suicide. Suicide is an act of taking one’s own life voluntarily and intentionally that affects not only immediate family and friends but indicates factors in society that are influencing individuals to commit this act. Is important to understand what aspects in society are making individuals to take their own live? And if
Educators attempt to change that system to make it better, but their change was not that great as an example for the world. Also, did that change qualify education systems to compete with other systems or not? Some examples and reasons have made me agree with some of the points from Gatto’s and Edmunson’s and disagree with them. John Taylor Gatto, in his essay “Against School: How Public Education Cripples our Kids, and why,” argues that the contemporary purpose of education in public schools is to produce “harmless electorate,” “a servile labor force,” and “mindless consumers” (28). According to Gatto, he is blaming public schools for claiming that the purpose of education is to shape students to certain expectations and habits without their interests.
Less than two centuries ago, our founding fathers laid out our public schools with land grants across the nation. The founders of this nation said that our country would only survive with a proper education. Over generations, schools shape our nation. Thomas Jefferson said that public schools are important to a democratic society. At that time, it was not common for the schools to be accountable for the student’s performance on the tests.
Even though there are numerous families that struggle to put food on the table, protein deficiency is rare in the United States, but can be seen in third world countries like Africa. However, protein deficiency disorders can occur even in the United States with people suffering from “alcoholism, anorexia nervosa, or certain intestinal tract disorders, [as well as] those who are elderly, have limited incomes, and are chronically ill”(Schiff 2013). Under nutrition of any kind is due to a lack of food in some fashion whether from crop failures, political unrest, or civil wars, but the etiology of Kwashiorkor and other protein deficiencies is often more complicated. Protein energy malnutrition (also known as PEM) affects people who do not consume sufficient amounts of protein. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 18% of children are underweight due to malnutrition of some kind, including protein-energy malnutrition. There are in fact two types of PEM, kwashiorkor and marasmus. Kwashiorkor is the most common and widespread nutritional disorder in developing countries, primarily occurring where mothers breastfeed their infants until they give birth to another child. The older
Social institutions are an important element in the structure of human societies. They provide a structure for behavior in a particular part of social life. The five major social institutions in large societies are family, education, religion, politics, and economics. While each institution does deal with a different aspect of life, they are interrelated and intersect often in the course of daily life. For example, for schools to be able to exist they rely on funding from the government. This is an intersection between politics and education. Social institutions affect individual lives through other aspects of society such as culture, socialization, social stratification, and deviance. This paper will focus on the social institution of education, and how it affects individual lives through socialization, deviance, and social stratification.