In the United States, both private and public schools provide Education. Most public or rather nearly all public schools are funded by the federal and local government, while private schools are privately funded. It is very clear that that there is a serious problem with the current Educational system in the United States. There are many problems, and not one that is hindering intelligent minds in our state from realizing their full potential, because of the way the current educational system works. Several intelligent students are forced to bear with all these problems and this affects their academic performance. This paper will cover some issues in the U.S. education system as well as providing some solutions for those issues. In addition, it will shed light on the educational reform in American society.
The first main concern in the U.S. Education System is the way access to education varies by geographic location, race, gender, and class. Race matters a lot in the education system of the United States. Students from a certain race are allowed to attend the best schools since they can afford the tuition fee. In the United States, people with more education tend to enjoy higher economic status, power, prestige, and levels of income. There is a gap between the educational system of the people with class and those without class. Therefore, people from the upper class take their children to expensive private schools in order to get quality education, and to continue enjoying prestige and power kin future.
In some areas, the best high schools are private high schools that may be out of reach for poorer students who cannot afford the tuition. In the US, the basic types of schools available are private and public schools. Many studen...
... middle of paper ...
...em.
Works Cited
Johnson, S.L. Burke, J.G. and Gielen, A.C. (2011). "Prioritizing the school environment in school violence prevention efforts". Journal of School Health 81 (6): 331–340.
Banks, J. A. and McGee Banks, C. A. (2010). The Multicultural Education Issues and Perspectives,7th Edition, New Jersey: John Wiley.
Mullen, A. L. and Hopkins, J. (2011). Degrees of Inequality: Culture, Class, and Gender in American Higher Education , December 12, 2011.
Rothman, R. A. (2005). Inequality and Stratification: Race, Class, and Gender,5th Edition,
L. Dean Webb, Arlene Metha, K. ForbisJordan Foundations of American Education,7thEdition,2012.
Delbert, S. Elliott, Beatrix A. Hamburg, and Kirk R. Williams Violence in American Schools: A New Perspective, October 1998.
Klee, SheilaWorking Together Against Violence in School,1998.
https://www.boundless.com/Sociologytextbooks
The American school system is no stranger to criticism, but everybody seems to have a distinct idea of what should be done to improve it. It was not too long ago that we had no public schooling system at all. A man would change that forever, immortalizing himself as the “father” of American education. It was surprising to me that I had never heard of this man, especially considering I had finished my journey through free and compulsory education two years ago. The man who went on to change American education, was Horace Mann, the first Secretary of the Board of Education in Massachusetts. Horace Mann tirelessly campaigned for the public to be educated, heralding it as a “great equalizer.” So why is the gap between social classes rising exponentially? There are fundamental issues holding us back from fulfilling Horace Mann’s dream of an education system which empowers citizens by leveling the playing field for everyone, including pedantic policies, a limited curriculum, and standardized testing.
The human mind is perhaps the greatest object on the earth, animate or inanimate, but without the proper training, the mind is a relatively useless tool. Through the development of formal education systems, humans as a whole have tried to ensure the training of all minds so as to continue prosperity for the world. Most of the time, though, education systems do not realize the harm they are doing to developing minds and the subsequent negative consequences. Among the largest of these inadequate education systems is the American primary schooling system. The American education system is in fact failing; it continues to deplete children of their natural creativity and thirst for knowledge while preaching conformity, which in turn creates an ill-prepared and incompetent public.
Social Class and Education”. It opens by discussing research conducted in the 1960’s in an effort to identify factors contributing to differences in the academic achievement of Whites and Blacks (Banks & Banks, 2013). Researchers hypothesized that the achievement gaps were mainly the result of disparities in school resources and characteristics, but found that there is a high correlation between achievement and socioeconomic status (SES) (Banks & Banks, 2013). Furthermore, attention is drawn to the class stratification which exists in our educational system and works to maintain inequality through exclusion strategies such as ability grouping and tracking (Banks & Banks, 2013). Evidence of the correlation between social class and education is presented with a glimpse into our higher education system. Despite the significant expansion in the number postsecondary institutions, and an increase in overall enrollment of low-income students, they are more likely to enroll in two-year, rather than four-year institutions, and privileged student attendance in highly selective institutions is increasing (Banks & Banks, 2013). The unintended consequence of the expansion of higher education institutions is an increase in class inequality, rather than a decrease, as more privileged students seek admittance to more selective institutions, locking less privileged students out (Banks & Banks, 2013). Greater access to the best universities helps privileged students maintain their class status, independent of their individual qualities. Consequently, privileged students have greater access to higher quality resources than do less privileged students attending less selective institutions, thereby inhibiting movement up the social class ladde...
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
In the United States, education is offered at all levels from pre-kindergarten to graduate school. Elementary and secondary education involves twelve years of schooling the successful completion of which leads to a high school diploma. A distinct feature of the American educational system is its decentralized organization. Three levels of government - local, state, and federal financially support elementary and secondary education. Furthermore, it is divided into public and private institutions. The main disadvantage of decentralization is the quality of education received by some of the students. On the other hand, a real plus to the idea is the fact that not all students are concentrated on the same topics of study, which allows each student to specialize in a certain
There seems to be obvious differences in the education system all over America. It caters the upper class majority and it is biased to the ones that serve the lower and middle class minority. There is a strong undercurrent of racial inequality in today's school systems that negatively affect the quality of education that its students receive. A schools potential to give a proper education often depends on the perspective economic, and social, or perhaps the racial backgrounds of its students.
Koch, Kathy. "School Violence: Are American Schools Safe?" 9 October 1998: 32. CQ Researcher. 30 Nov 2009.
The greatest country in the world still has problems evenly distributing education to its youth. The articles I have read for this unit have a common theme regarding our education system. The authors illustrate to the reader about the struggles in America concerning how we obtain and education. Oppression, politics, racism, and socioeconomic status are a few examples of what is wrong with our country and its means of delivering a fair education to all Americans.
Income inequality in the United States is directly correlated with education decline over the past 40 years. People with lower incomes tend to have less opportunities for a good education than those with higher incomes. American education, when compared to other nations, has dropped dramatically due largely to a rise in income inequality since the 1970s. Not only has economic inequality lead to academic decline and disparity, but academic disparity has also tended to lead to further economic inequality. Because of this, improving the American education system can effectively decrease the income gap. If done correctly, the usage of an alternative school model, specifically the private school model, rather than the usual public school model can reduce economic inequality.
High school and college dropout rates are at an all time high. Secondary school students are told throughout high school that if they don’t go to college then they will never be successful. Going to college doesn’t always make a difference because many career choices such as teachers and lawyers are highly contested and result in either no job or low salary. Low pay deters teacher’s motivation and they tend to work part time jobs to supplement their income. Public schools standards are comparable to a kangaroo court’s procedure; private schools are known for better teachers, environment, and test grades. The major problems in the public school system include the lack of funding, lack of resources, and lack of standards.
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.
Schwartz, W. (1996, October). An overview of strategies to reduce school violence. ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education. Retrieved October 21, 2001.
There are many different factors that affect education. One such factor is, socioeconomic status. Children who attend school in a wealthier community receive a better education than those students in poor communities. In poor communities, student’s education is not only affected by a lack of resources, but also from teaching methods and philosophies. Urban and poor schools’ students do not receive as equal of an education as their more affluent and suburban counterparts do.
Violence in American schools has triggered debates on the root cause of student’s anger and aggressive behavior and proposed proactive solutions.
Banks, J., and McGee, C. A. (Eds.). (1989). Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.