Educational System Vs American Education System

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 such an important institution in the society that has a huge impact on the younger generation. A well performing education system continuously requires the process of analyzing and reforming. However, it still remains that not every country does the same to satisfy this process to improve its educational system. As a consequence, some countries have better education systems than others. In the present days, Japan is one of the countries that has the best education systems based on the excellent scores their students get in international competitions in math, science, and reading. American students’ achievement in these competitions is far behind Japanese students’. The differences in many aspects such as the school structure, educational motivation of the younger generation, and culture between the two education systems cause huge differences in academic achievement, so comparing and learning from the best education system is a method to help U.S education reform.

Is America’s public education system benefiting in helping students succeed or is it taking part in students lacking crucial information? In “The Problem with American Education” Zastrow Marvin C. states that “our country grew and flourished as it developed the most extensive, the most elaborate, and the most expensive educational system the world has ever known” (233). There are other systems around the world that maybe more effective, use a smaller budget, and are less time consuming. Students in American schools are beginning to score lower and lower on state wide standardized tests. Also more and more students are beginning to walk out of public education schools lacking crucial life knowledge. One different education system around the world that is more efficient and cost less money is Finland. Also this education system is less time consuming than America’s system. In America it is important for students

Education plays important role in society. It determines the final development of an adult’s personality. In today’s society most jobs require a University degree. To receive a University degree students need to rely on a good education system. Does America provide this? The American education system has relied on the grade point average system for a long time. The problem with this is there is not a universal GPA grade point system varying from course to course. This creates an inaccurate way to determine ones overall achievements. Teachers have different standards than others, grade inflation can occur and students can be exposed to different learning environments. Does the education system need to change to create fairness?

Education is a necessity across the globe, from America to Africa to China. Some education systems, however, are more successful than others and hold differing views and approaches to education. Culture greatly impacts education, which in turn impacts further opportunity. As unfair as it may be, a child’s cultural background largely determines their level of success. The American education system is lacking when compared to various other world cultures, and this is causing the socioeconomic gap to grow. Because of this inadequate education, more and more families are dipping beneath the poverty line. This could be due to poor discipline as well as the diversity of students. The diversity of the students results in a wide array of needs that are not being met by the public education system. This issue could be minimized by working to create a more inclusive academic environment to ensure equality and success.

In an intelligence-based economy, education is important to national prosperity and individual success. Huge achievement gaps and opportunities must shrink to non-existence, and every student must receive a well education that prepares them for college and careers in the world as it is today. Comparing the United States education system to other countries shows that the United States scored lower than nineteen other counties and education systems in reading in the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment. Germany and Poland in particular are two countries that have now surpassed the United States. During the same study, scores showed that twenty-nine nations outperformed the United States by a large amount in mathematics, and in science, there have been twenty-two education systems that scored higher than the United States (Heitin).

There are many life issues and affairs people have to adapt too while maturing and growing up. These could include: learning about what kind of person they aspire to be, where they have the desire to live, or what it's like to pay bills. Yet, when and where does one learn to digest all this information? Certainly not in the American education system. Research suggests that Leon Botstein's claim- rules of high school are not the rules of life and that schools need to bring more real world into them- is true and that the American educational system needs to be revised and refined.

America’s test scores are barely average compared to other countries. 470,000 15-year-old students took the OECD test in math, science, and language arts. The test was scored on a 1,000 point scale. The U.S average score in math was 487 meaning that 24 out of the 34 countries ranked higher. This includes Finland who scored a 541. In science, America scored an average of 502 which placed them at 17th. Once again Finland was a leader on the scoreboard. Finally, in language arts the U.S scored a 500 putting them in 14th place. Finland still ranked higher; they were in the ranks with places like Shanghai. “The brutal fact here is there are many countries that are far ahead of us… this should be a massive wake up call”, says U.S Education Secretary Arnie Duncan (Hechinger). So why is education so important?

One of the biggest problems Americans face today is a US student’s underwhelming academic performance. When compared to other countries, the United States comes in 18th place in math literacy and 25th place in reading literacy. The problem is not just a standard problem throughout the country, as there is much variation between graduation and subject literacy rates, with huge differences also between schools alone. These statistics are disappointing because the US is considered one of the largest world powers. The disparities in American students academic achievement is also detrimental because they are less able to compete in the global market place. Many things have been used to explain this disparity but race has often led as the main

For instance, in Korea their “pressure cooker”(24) style of education “school never stopped”(57). In comparison, Korean student typically went to school from 8am to sometimes 10-11pm, while in the United States generally school is from about 8am to usually at the latest 4pm. With this style of schooling the Koreans never use excuses found commonly in the United States such as, “the test was unfair or not everyone can be good at math”(57) instead their mindset was “You didn’t work hard enough”(57). While Ripley and Korean Education minister Lee Ju-Ho think this method is extreme she uses this comparison to show that their is no denying that working harder in school whether it be more rigorous or lengthy improves scores tremendously. In Finland the utopia of education, many comparisons were linked to the teachers as well as students. In Finland “all education schools were selective”(85) meaning that most finnish teachers had received “the highest levels of education in the world”(85), in comparison to the United States where an Oklahoma algebra one teacher’s college had “low standards and little rigor”(88). This comparison also shows how seriously foreign countries take teaching compared to the United States where “jobs were protected by powerful unions”(84). Many finnish kids also were

Since the release of the annual report by Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in December of 2010, many in the government and community are searching for ways to reform the American education system to give American students a greater opportunity to succeed. According to the report, one cannot ignore the fact that American students are not testing as high academically as other nations in the world (Duncan, 2010). There are many contributing elements that have brought America to her knees in the education system, however, the obsession with standardized testing is found to be more of a stumbling block than a stepping stone in the education system. To understand how to rectify the problem, we must look at all the facts

While the U.S. has shown minor improvement in the PISA science test scores from 2006 to 2009 there is still a large margin for improvement needed in all areas. But questions still remain to be answered as to why there is such a large gap in comparison between the U.S. education and other countries. In his remarks regarding the release of the PISA results, Secretary Arne Duncan quotes the fact that the OECD has concluded in their study that the primary issue is not directly related to diversity or disadvantaged backgrounds of public school students but that "Socio-economic disadvantage leads more directly to poor educational performance in the United States than is the case in many other countries." (Secretary Arne Duncan’s Remarks at OECD’s Release of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 Results, December 7, 2010)

American education system does not compare to other counties. Students are not expected to meet high standards. American students do not possess the communication and computational skills they need today to succeed in college or in the working world. The American school system has no answer to fixing what a continuous problem we face in this country. Schools are overcrowded, lacks the tools and funding to educate our children. Meanwhile in other counties like China, Korea, and other parts of the world thrive on sending our productive individual into this world. I think if you want your child to have a better education either home school them to insure they are receiving the proper education or send them to a foreign country where sure to get an education, because the American school system does not compare to other counties.

Sometimes, Americans tend to think that they are the best at everything, no matter what. However, if one looks at the facts, he would see that they aren't. In education, America is trailing behind many countries. In America there is much stress with schooling, and how it is so important to be successful. Things such as the length of school, cost of schooling, and the early ages of schooling, will show how countries such as the U.K. are surpassing the United States in education.

As a result of this, the system is constantly receiving criticism concerning the quality of the American system. (U.S.D.E. The Educational System in the U.S…) In fact, a recent study done by the National Institute on Student Achievement, Curriculum, and Assessment, states that in fourth grade math, Japan ranks third out of twenty-six countries while the U.S. ranks only twelfth, and that in eighth grade math, Japan keeps the ranking of third out of forty-one, while the U.S. drops to twenty-eighth. As result of these criticisms, sets of voluntary guidelines and standard achievement tests have recently been introduced as an effort to “catch up” to the other