American Education: Where Does The System Blunder?
Insightfully proclaimed by Ralph Waldo Emerson “We are students of words: we are shut up in schools, and colleges, and recitation- rooms, for ten or fifteen years and come out at last with a bag of wind, a memory of words, and do not know a thing” (Brainy Quotes 2). According to the Program For International Student Assessment, a global survey that assesses students’ abilities to apply math and reading to practical situations, America is ranked twenty-seventh in mathematics and seventeenth in reading (1). When compared with higher achieving countries, American students know many skills, but struggle to apply this knowledge to real world situations. Thus, students who enter the professional
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Over ten-thousand students are being taught by unqualified teachers. Often, these teachers lack appropriate training in subjects such as discipline in the classroom and proper integration of technology into the learning environment. This does not mean teachers are not attending such trainings, in fact, most new and experienced teachers are required to be present at these events. The problems lie in the trainings themselves. “Seventy-one percent of elementary training in reading instruction is not based on practical research that produces positive results” (Noonan 1). Also, only nineteen percent of training in mathematics is parallel to standards of higher achieving countries such as Japan (Noonan 1). Also, lacking qualifications often stems from an early lack of guidance. New teachers are often prepared in an inconsistent and unsupported fashion. Often put into challenging classrooms with little guidance or supervision, nearly fifty percent of new teachers leave education in the first five years because of frustration with being left unsupported. With college entry standards and Common Core assessments demanding more from students, educators too, must be reevaluated and extensively prepared. License recommendations, teacher preparation programs, and program approval must be made stricter and more rigorous. If teachers are unprepared for the scrupulousness of standards, how can America expect promising results from its
There was a time when America’s education system was top-notch according to the culture and society. With time, a myriad of things has changed, but unfortunately what has not evolved is the American education system. The country is still following a system which was not designed for the current global economic climate. Equality, as positive as it sounds is not as sufficient when it comes to education. The system treats students equally yet expect a similar culmination and outcome. Every child has his individuality and distinct abilities; one cannot judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree. Conversely, a few of the prominent reasons why the education system is failing are overcrowded schools, the rise of technology, and following the same old school hours.
Education is an integral part of society, School helps children learn social norms as well as teach them 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. In West Trenton Central High School was only 83% proficiency in literacy and only 49% of the students were proficient in math. These school have lower test scores and high dropout rates. Many of these students come from minority backgrounds and are often form 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 factors to explain the poor performance in these districts. Through a process of teacher lead budget committees and
America used to thrive on its education system and that is why it became one of the greatest nations in the world. Education is the backbone of our country, and we must give high priority to improve its current condition. Unfortunately, in the past couple of decades, the education system has been regressing. It has been on the decline and not as effective. The quality of education in a country has an influence on GDP growth, social cohesion and social well being in general. In order to improve the quality of education in the U.S., the following must be taken into consideration: the structure of our education system must be reanalyzed, we must compare and contrast our education system to systems of other countries with higher rankings, and finally, there must be a solution.
America is viewed as the most advanced and developed country in the world. It owns some of the largest businesses and companies known to man. It is on top of every new technological advancement that has touched the Earth. It is the country that boasts of having the best and most efficient military in the world. The list goes on and on. And although a lot these claims made by America is true, none can doubt that this country has its fair share of flaws. A flaw in the American system is the lack of education many people receive. I am making this claim because the number of people I see in the street that are poor. These people don’t have access to quality education which prevents them from getting jobs. In the essay, I will dissect this issue
The differences were connected with a teacher’s original preparation for the teaching profession, licensing in the particular subject area to be taught, strength of the educational experience, and the degree of experience in teaching along with the demonstration of abilities through the National Board Certification, in which all of these facets can be addressed through policy (Darling-Hammond, 2010).America has not produced a national method containing supports and reasons to guarantee that teachers’ are adequately prepared and equipped to teach all children effectively when they first enter into the career of teaching. America also does not have a vast collection of methods available that will maintain the evaluation and continuing development of a teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom, or support decisions about entry into the field of teaching and the continuance in the profession of teaching (Darling-Hammond, 2010). n order to reach the belief that all students will be taught and learn to high standards calls for a makeover in the methods our system of education in order to be a magnet for, train, support or uphold, and cultivate effective teachers in more efficient ways. A makeover that is contingent in a certain degree of how the abilities or skills are comprehended (Darling-Hammond, 2010).In the last few years there has been increasing
The United States of America used to be known as one of the greatest countries to be apart of. From the jobs to the economy to education people loved to be apart of the American culture. The problem many Americans are facing today is poor education. Since America is viewed as a high profile country many people have prominent expectations on what they are receiving, specifically the education. The fact is that there are major problems with all levels of the education system today. Starting with early education, teachers are quick to say children needs to be medicated or put into special education. Proceeding to the general or high school education where kids are graduating but not prepared for what’s after. Lastly how higher education or college can hardly be afforded in today’s society. As a result of the failing education system, many parents blame the child or society when in actuality the failing system is corrupted by some teachers, lack of preparation, and lack of affordability in higher education.
Over the course of many years, several things have changed, including technology, science, and people; however, our culture and idea of education have not. Some of these problems include teachers that are not being as valued as they should be and students who are changing both physically and mentally, but are still not being supported by our education system. The education system itself is also problematic as well, but it can be fixed with a change in our culture. Teachers and students are the base of the education system, and by not helping them, the system is not helping itself. Students are gaining new emotions and viewpoints, but the education system has had a hard time keeping up, even teachers are changing but are still undervalued.
Differently than some other countries, the United States has no national educational system since each state in the country has its own. However, some research from 1999 and 2006 shows that the American educational system is falling in a national scale. Experts argues that the system is ignoring cognitive and social aspects that are important for children’s development which would further help them for adult life. Studies indicates that the educational system is not achieving the real purpose of education: prepare kids for their personal and professional life. As a result, what could be worse than a school system that limits creativity and fails to develop kids with critical thinking and diverse social skills needed for adult life?
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
In addition to Mark Edmundson, Danielle Weiner-Bronner, a young reporter with a history in The Wire and has made appearances in The Huffington Post and Rueters , wrote, “What’s Wrong with American Higher Education” published by Huffington Post in 2011. Bronner, like Edmundson, highlights changing expectations of the American student which consists of developing into a highly regarded, intellectual thinker to financial security (Bronner). At last, while many professionals focus on the flaws of administration’s business pursuits, Greg Lukianoff, tPresident of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and Johnathan Haidt, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business wrote, “The Coddling of the American Mind” where authors
What is it that’s making our country suffer from excelling in education? Very few would argue about the importance of our education system today. Issues such as lazy teachers, lack of parent involvement, and teaching useless information in class may hinder progress in today’s education system. An education plays a crucial role and is an essential tool, unfortunately, with all the jaded judgments; our students are not able to value their education. A proper education can open the doors to many opportunities that would have never been possible if it had not been for the knowledge and preparation that one received while in school. With the growing economy and desperate times, it is more important than ever for our country’s children to receive the proper education and training that is needed to allow them to acquire a good job and produce the revenue needed to live. Today's education system is flawed in many ways, and these flaws should be eliminated to ensure a good education for our future generation.
There are three factors that contribute to how the promise of ‘educational opportunity for all” is still a troubling paradox in American society. The first factor is that cultural and background influence effect what academic level each student is at. Institutional education systems in America don’t take this into account. In the “Educational Foundations” book by Alan S. Canestrari and Bruce A. Marlowe, they talk about how students other cultures experience race, culture, native language other discriminations in institutional education system, in chapter 5. Institutional education doesn’t take into account native language in teaching literacy or in any instructions.
There are many challenges in the American education system. Not all American students are learning the same, and many are not having the opportunity to go to an accredited school. Urban schools are at the head of these challenges.7.1 million students are enrolled at an urban school across the United States. Hispanics make up 39%, African American 31%, White 19%, and other 9%; with 68% of those students needing free and reduced lunches (Council of the Great City Schools). The challenges include, but are not limited to: being over populated, race, ethnicity and structural challenges. The students attending these schools are not only having to subsist with the school issues, but they have separate challenges of their own to deal with; students are in poverty, from single family homes and have to deal with violence outside of the school. While not all urban schools are struggling, a majority of the schools is lacking resources, funding and fraught with high turn over’s with expert teachers.
Currently, many states remain focused on magnifying standardization as the primary tool for education. Within the roles of this policy, many educators released the responsibility of leadership and used the standardized test as a tool for prescribed instruction. The Second Way operated quite oppositely of The First Way in that as standardization rose to the top of policy priorities, creative leadership and practices depleted in the classroom. Hargreaves and Shirley (2009) note that such change, “precipitated a crisis of sinking professional motivation and lost classroom creativity” (p. 11). While prescribed education gave way to uniformity across education institutions, the repercussions of such reform severely damaged teacher motivation and limited student learning. Similarly to Hargreaves and Shirley(2009), Koppich and Esch (2012) discuss the ongoing cycle of education change and policy reform and who in particular has had a hand in creating change in education. In “Grabbing Brass by the Rings- Who Shapes Teacher Policy?” authors dive into the past to review over 25 years of educational policies and practices. Much like Hargreaves and Shirley, Koppich and Esch take note on the publication of A Nation At Risk, which highlights the policy landscape and it’s attempts to improve teacher effectiveness. This publication is mentioned in The Second Way of Hargreaves and Shirley, Chapter 1. Respectively, both parties remain consistent in that the search for educational reform is ongoing and begs more questions than
It is a shame that school, at its end, leaves slews of people feeling unqualified for the next stage of life. While schools do offer some of the courses that teach important life skills and knowledge, they are short and overshadowed by the common core. For instance, a high school has seven classes or more with two semesters per year, in four years there are a total of fifty-six semesters. These key subjects are typically one semester and thus dwarfed, ultimately forgotten. David Brown, an internet personality, presents many different subjects that were either not