Education Reform: Areas of Education that Need Attention Essays

In other countries, students must pass an exam to just receive a high school education. Here in America, many college students cannot even do the simplest of algebra problems. In contrast, students just entering high school in these other countries have already learned more than American high school seniors. Furthermore, most people in foreign countries have learned to speak English as a second language. In his article, Moore points out that “70 percent of those who graduate from America’s colleges are not required to learn a foreign language” (157). This information proves that the curriculums of all American schools, including colleges, are not as demanding as the curriculums in schools of other countries. In addition to a poor curriculum, many facilities are in horrible conditions and lack the proper resources that students need to learn. Moore suggests to “walk into any public school, and the odds are good that you’ll find overflowing classrooms, leaking ceilings, and demoralized teachers” (156). A school’s environment is what sets the mood for learning, so if the environment is bad, it can only be expected for the students to not be as cooperative as they would be if they were in a proper environment. This means that schools must provide resources that contain correct and up-to-date information. All schools need to have a good library, computer lab, and recent textbooks.

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.

Their eyes met from across the room, and any student paying close enough attention could see the loathing in the teacher’s eyes as the principal walks into the room for the bi-semester teacher evaluation. In the blink of an eye the teacher returns her focus back on the students, but the obvious exchange between the two individuals makes those of us in the classroom that understand the source of the icy gaze extremely uncomfortable. My teacher hates the principal with a passion. Ever since the principal assumed control of the school three years prior to this particular evaluation, she terrorized my band director. Through micromanaging, criticizing relentlessly, organizing meetings incessantly, and sabotaging schedules, my principal fostered a hate from not only my band director, but also from the majority of teachers in my high school. The attitude and leadership techniques utilized by my former principal directly contradicts current theories of the scholarly community on how to effectively lead a school.

The American Education System is not meeting the needs of current students. If anything, the system is not building a sturdy foundation for the future working class. Schools have existed for many years and every period they have worked differently. However, every school’s main purpose was to educate students to be efficacious later in life. Modern day schools are corrupting students with added pressure, standardized tests, making less accommodations for special education students, not following laws, and take away individualism from the students’. The students of modern times are the people of our future and the future does not look too bright with the current American Education System.

The state of Arizona is facing a serious education crisis in the retention of qualified teachers. Personally, my school in Yuma, Arizona encountered an average of seven new teachers every year. Yuma High School District allowed for a teacher to teach chemistry when his/her Bachelor’s degree was in mathematics. According to the ‘No Child Left Behind Act’ enacted in 2001, schools are required to provide “highly qualified” teachers to teach at all times (Educator Excellence). Having quality, long-term teachers is imperative to develop students in becoming productive members of society. Unfortunately due to federal budget cuts directly affecting education, Timothy L. Ogle, executive director of the Arizona School Boards Association, says, “Arizona has faced the most dramatic cuts to K-12 education spending of any state in the nation” (Lopez). As a result, administration is forced to have teachers make up for the lack of a certain subject by teaching it without qualifications. Due to this, out-of-state teachers leave within the first 5 years, and 25% all leave within the first year. Some reasons for this include a

I would like to advocate for the education reform and the CCSS because I do not believe that these tests can prepare children for the outside world. Moreover, educations approach towards student should change. I would like to help families understand the test do not define the ability of their children and their student, so they do not need to be disappointed with them. I want to advocate on this issue because I believe in each child and understand teach a child is unique and different, and their potential differs from many others. Schools must become a place for children to feel safe and wanted and although, High school students are at risk many students in elementary years are at risk as well. If this education system does not change fewer

The low pay for our educators is causing many negative effects. New York Times shows that the low income is causing sixty-two percent of teachers to have a second job outside of their teaching jobs. Just to have enough money to support their families and make ends meet. Most everyone decides to college to prevent having these struggles with money, and to avoid having to work multiple jobs, when they get older; however, not when it comes to living off of only a teacher’s income, the struggles to have enough money are interminable. This low pay is also causing most teachers to retire, and find new jobs. New York Times states, “every year 20 percent of teachers in urban districts quit. Nationwide, 46 percent of teachers quit before their fifth year. The turnover costs the

The past decade has been hard on teachers, especially in 2002, when President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind went into effect. This brought about yearly testing from 3rd grade to 8th grade. If every child was not “proficient” and was “left behind” by the the education system then the school would be subject to sanctions. The worst

According to Bruce Hansen, he saw teachers drop out of school or quit teaching, because of lacked management skills. Good teachers often educate wealthier students and fewer teachers often educate financially struggling students. Experienced teachers transfer into the same school as Bruce Hansen

With any class complication, the new teachers are more likely to focus on condemning student behavior and less on actual teaching. This is a dilemma because not only are twenty three percent of teachers dropping out after five years, but also student’s achievement is based on the teacher’s commitment. Students in these low-income schools feel abandoned and setback when they keep getting new teachers who aren’t fully experienced (Shernoff

The United States educational system has realized moments in its history when educational reform was the answer to the perceived social and economic issues plaguing the country (Strickland, 1985). In 1892, the National Education Association created a committee to determine what should be taught in American schools. Specific courses of study were identified that addressed two basic components. Specific courses of study were deemed necessary for students to find success when attending college. It was also determined that students should have a well-rounded education that provided relevance for the academic topics that would be studied (Tenam-Zemach & Flynn, 2011). The quality of instruction seemed not to be the issue. One-room schoolhouses

Once again, there was a teacher shortage. The economy was up and there were other, better career choices. Women left the profession to raise their families. Between the 1970’s and 1980’s more research was being done to look at the problem of teacher attrition. Teachers were dissatisfied with the profession.

This is another factor which could lead to high teacher turnover in the United States. The current teacher average salary has just gone higher by less than 4 percent from the salary of nearly two decades ago. This way, the teachers are not able to cope with the high inflation and escalated cost of life with this pay. This makes teachers to have high mobility rate in search for better jobs or the so called greener pastures.

In addition, insufficient funding of schools along with quality teachers that are retiring are some of the problems we encounter in the education system. In some parts of the United States, there is a lack of adequate access to materials for reading and writing due to budget constraints. In Allen D. Kanner’s article, “Today’s Class Brought to You By…” he mentioned that with the baby boomers retiring, and a high turnover among new teachers, who are asked to teach subjects they are not properly trained for, are causing difficult classroom situations (280). Similarly, Governor Jerry Brown’s statement last January 11 pointed out that K-12 education has ‘borne the brunt’ of the state’s budget cuts with more than $18 billion in cuts over the last three years. This resulted in larger class sizes, programs are cut, and over 30,000 educators laid off. These teachers are very valuable in our society because they provide our youth with the knowledge and social experiences that they will use to better their future and the future of the entire world. As a student, I have suffered the consequences of triple digit fee increases and the lack of available classes offered. The high cost of education has put the burden not only on the students, and many of their parents, but educators, as

Education reform is a topic that every student, parent and teacher should be interested in because it effects everyone in the community. Many different approaches to education reform have been tried, and even though they seem to work for the time being, there are always more improvements that need to be made. One of the best ideas that has been discussed in the most recent years is getting the parents and students more involved in the actual reform process. Many school administrators see a problem with involving students, even though they are the ones most affected by the changes within schools. Student’s opinions should be taken into consideration because they are the ones who see what happens inside the school and within the classroom, and are the most affected by it. Involving parents and students in the reform of their schools will improve the quality of education, improve parent and teacher relationships and reduce parent and student complaints.