Educational Progress : Arizona 's School System

Mrs. Brenda said Learning may decrease in the classroom when students feel helpless or unchallenged by their teachers in the classroom. Some other strategies that Mrs. Brenda said she uses are: Having a daily routine and sticking to it as much as possible gives the children the heads up on what to expect next, it also gives a sense of comfort in just them knowing they can do it because, they have been doing the routine repeatedly. Being consistent is the main key to success. Some techniques she uses daily are when redirecting behaviors or concerns, talk to the children, letting them know the conversation verses talking at the child this lets the child come to his or her own conclusion to the resolution (be a good listener). This skill can later lead to a lifelong lesson of problems solving steering the child to be a more productive member of society later in life.

The year is 2012. In the movie Back to the Future II, two years from now, in 2016, Marty McFly travels from the past to save his family’s future. The future is almost upon us, and yet it would seem that our education system has changed little since Back to the Future hit theaters in 1985. “We still have same teachers, in the same parts, in the same schools, with the same level of knowledge, with the same equipment’s, and much the same standard of parental support” (David). Ironically, we have been steadily implementing policy after policy, increasing standards and accountability, promoting oversight and rule… the list goes on, and yet our progress seems minimal, our educators complain of underfunded classrooms, and our legislators complain of underperforming schools. The question of “how to improve our education system” is not getting satisfactorily answered because our system is not broken, merely underdeveloped. The truth is that America has made paces in improving its education technique or system; the problem that remains is for us to entrust our educators with the greater pliability and autonomy that they need to excel.

Nelson Mandela once stated, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. Arizona understands how powerful and important education is which is why they are going to correct their way by fixing their public education funding. They plan to do this by passing Proposition 123. Proposition 123 is a ballot that will settle a years-long lawsuit, and provide money that Arizona’s K-12 public schools will have access to without raising taxes. There are those who are hesitant about it and are voting no. However, I believe this is a fantastic idea because this is a stepping stone to a better funding, teachers deserve better pay and resources are extremely important when it comes to learning.Knowing Arizona is ranked 49th out of 51 states per pupil in K-12 spending you would

In taking a brief look at the Oklahoma education system, one need not look far before issues of significant underfunding and understaffing come directly into view. Many different proposals regarding what Oklahoma needs to do to resolve this problem have been suggested in the past, but very few of these proposals outline an answer regarding how these fixes will be implemented. How Oklahoma's educational system can increase the effectiveness of its limited funding is something that can be addressed with simple cost-effective steps and strategies that have proven their effectiveness in other states. Additionally, the issue of understaffing can be looked at from a fresh perspective in order to understand what the Oklahoma education system can do to bring in new teachers and keep these teachers. Finally, in joining with national-level movements and interest groups such as the National Education Association which can help with budgetary issues and Teach for America which can help to bring in new, trained and enthusiastic teachers into areas of Oklahoma that have seen poor performance from students in the past.

“Shrinking state and local education budgets matched with the added pressure of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which sets rigid standards in reading and math that schools must achieve in order to receive federal funding, have created a new challenge for districts” (Van Harken).

To get to this point, Massachusetts had to completely change its educational reform. To achieve a better outcome for the system, school investment had to be doubled. The current total expenditure in Arizona’s K-12 education is clearly not enough. If a real progress wants to be made, a larger amount of funding should be invested. Increasing the amount invested in Arizona’s K-12 education will allow the state government to

I firmly believe that education should be a top priority for the state of Texas. It could possibly be the state’s priority, and the state’s government officials have faith in that high-stakes testing is the best way to enhance education. The high-stakes testing could give students skills in certain areas - such as working under pressure – but a 2016 report shows Texas is still ranked 41st overall in education ("Texas Earns a C-Minus on State Report Card”). There are proposed solutions already in the works, such as the aforementioned HB 133 that proposed to decrease the amount of exams, and also removes STAAR scores from teacher

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

Education is a sensitive subject with a very divisive line. Many strongly believe in the system. Bill Gates stated, “It's hard to improve public education - that's clear.” Others oppose it just as strongly. Friedrich Nietzsche felt, “In large states public education will always be mediocre, for the same reason that in large kitchens the cooking is usually bad.” In Texas, this has always been a concerned issue for parents, teachers, and communities. It is not just a normal topic, but a major political topic, in which the state government has shown continuous efforts to compare and evaluate the standards in which students and teachers must follow. Proper education is now something that is decided for students and

On the other hand, there is an argument that the education system provides positive qualities. Some students are actually improving in the classroom and on standardized tests. In her book, Christina Fisanick found that “In Wisconsin, 87 percent of third-graders were reading at grade-level or above. This number was an all-time high, and a 13 percent increase over 2002 scores” (Fisanick 17). Success for all is one of many purposes that come from the educational system. An education reform named No Child Left Behind signed in January of 2002 was to make sure all students were given the chance to improve. In other words, this act made educators work even harder to make sure all students were moving on and that no child was being left behind. If a parent or guardian is unsatisfied or

The Banning of Mexican-American Studies in Arizona: The Loss of Freedom in Education The Latino community has a very high high school drop out rate which has been linked to poverty. Tucson Arizona created a Mexican-American studies program in the 1990’s in order to change this. They wanted to, “help student achievement by making learning more relevant” (Suarez).

This SB has had a negative effect on education as students have been left at a disadvantage.  Reports say that Arizona communities have been torn apart by the departure of friends and family members.  Because of this statistic, things

Oklahoma as of today is ranked 49th nationally in per-pupil expenditures and ranked 48th in teacher pay (Klein 2). Putting Oklahoma as one of the worst states to be educated in the United States. “Oklahoma is consistently ranked near the bottom for education funding and teacher pay” (“Investing In Education Is Key For Growth And Job Creation” 3). When there are state cuts that need to be made, the departments of education are one of the first that usually tend to suffer. Since the 2008 economic crisis, Oklahoma has continued to cut the budget for education; even though the economy has since then gotten better (Perry). Budget cuts in education affect all parts of the education process for the students. “Some school districts have ordered teacher layoffs and shorter sessions” (“Oklahoma Makes the Poor Poorer” par 4).Schools are now struggling to keep their heads above water. Each year from the budget cutting, schools have had to lay off teachers, cut entire programs, and have limited resources used to educate the students. Even the teachers’ retirement system is suffering, being one of the top poorly funded pension programs nationally (Ash par 3). Seeing as that the schools have to cut down classes and programs, administration has had no other choice than to increase class size, overwhelming teachers tremendously. “Oklahoma has 1,500 fewer classroom teachers and 40,000 more students since 2008-2009” (“Investing In Education Is Key For Growth

Public education in the United States is perhaps one of the most critical issues we face as a nation. Once pronouncing the United States as a “nation at risk”, the educational institution began to implement one reform strategy after another. In efforts to improve schooling for K-12 students, education reform has fiddled with class size, revised graduation requirements, and created standardized testing just to name a few. Unfortunately, traditional public schools are still failing to provide students with a quality education. This is disheartening as we learn that the United States lags behind in math and science compared to our international counterparts. It is safe to say that educational reform has spent billions of dollars over the

14). Regardless of whether or not one thinks the whole system is rotten, some of the results of the examinations of schooling has proven to be deeply unsettling. Educators and policy makers have been hard at work trying to bridge the gap between what is needed for 21st century citizens and how schools meet those needs. It will be a difficult path to reform but it is necessary to change in order to meet the needs of the students who are currently coming out of the school system today.