Failing The Children Of Success

“Your county has some of the worst literacy rates in the state. According to your test scores, most of you can barely even read or write. I will be honest with you; I think that the current curriculum breeds stupidity and is only appropriate for people who aspire to complete mediocrity. I may only last one year, but I am, from this point forth, deciding not to follow the curriculum. You can leave your books under your desk, because you will not be needing them. In this class, we will dwell on our ability to think and

The American education system has many flaws. It is becoming more and more ineffective. To society, school is a competition especially in colleges and universities. People care so much about the grade they get that they forget the real reason why we even go to school; to learn. All everyone cares about is the grade that we receive. It has become so bad that we have lost sight in what’s really important; our growth as humans. We are taught that we need to get good grades in order to go to a good college, we are constantly judged on how well we do on tests using a grading, and most of the material being taught to us doesn’t even prepare us for what’s in store in the real world.

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.

As Laurence Powell Jobs once said, “It’s not that our high school system was not designed well, but that it was designed in 1906 when the country was just out of the industrial era. There hasn’t been a substantial systemic change the way we do high school since then.” It’s no secret that the current school system used in America is outdated and problematic. With a plethora of obvious issues in need of fixing, there are noticeable differences between America and other countries. Steps needed to improve the system can be implemented. Although times have changed, the American education system has become outdated and thus is riddled with faults. When compared to other education systems, it is clear that the American schooling system is in need of reform.

A high school education sets the pace for the rest of an individual's life, whether or not they attend college, receive the perfect job, or are able to function in the fast pace of society. The material taught in high school nowadays is not preparing students for life, or college, but rather feeding and exhausting their minds with tedious information they will forget in a matter of weeks. These “scholars” who are supposed to be the next generation of geniuses are not being taught the knowledge needed to be as successful as possible in our always developing and unforgiving world. In Kim Brooks essay, “Death to High School English” she explains her thoughts and personal experiences with college students who were improperly taught the fundamentals

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.

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.

Three out of four graduates are not fully prepared for college, because of this they are almost certain to take remedial classes in which they can prepare to be “freshman,” in their second semester of college. ACT’s have tested 50% of these graduates, and it was measured that only 25% of that was actually prepared in all three areas of testing. So what is wrong with this picture? The problem is American high schools are not preparing their students for a college environment, and college work. Students aren’t receiving the key work and lessons needed for college. With all the method that teachers have, which aren’t working to the extent they should be, they are honestly forced to help these students out when they should have been prepared to begin with. With that said, High School teachers are not preparing their students academically for college. Colleges are forced to do studies in consideration of improving the United States Academic reputation, and the overall education for America.

In today’s society students aren’t pushed in high school to pursue their full potential, which makes students think they don’t need to put hard work into school making them lazy. The outcome of this is bad grades and upset parents making them believe they aren’t smart and that is why they are getting the grades they are receiving. In actuality these students aren’t being pushed and the teachers aren’t tapping into their talents to show them the full academic potential they have.

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.

Our educational culture only satisfies a select group of students who are at the top and leaves others behind. These book smart kids deserve to go where they are going, however, what happens to the kids who are not as book smart as others? Many students are having a hard time because they are not book smart even if they may be good at something that is not educational. As stated in Jack Schneider’s article, America’s Not-So-Broken Education System, “The education system simply stopped working. It aged, declined, and broke, but we can fix it by first ripping it apart” (Schneider Par 2). As of now, the education system is very unsupportive of some students and teachers. Backed by the government, public school pay does not support teachers in America while in other countries, being an educator is considered a privilege. By not supporting teachers, it is hard to find educators who are willing to put in the work to help their students. As a result of not having good teachers who are motivated to teach their students, it is also likely that the students that they end up having to teach are also unmotivated as well. In this cycle, some teachers and students gain practically nothing from going to school, which demonstrates the broken education system that we have at this time. The ever aging education system is not up to date with either

In an article from the Chronicle of Higher Education titled “What Our Education System Needs Is More F’s”, Carl Singleton argues that the key to American education is giving out more F’s. Singleton believes that giving out a greater amount failing grades will motivate students to learn the required material and push them towards achievement. He argues that the more failures teachers give out, the more students will have to deal with the reality that their lack of knowledge on the subject is the reason they failed to earn the passing grade. He also states that increasing the number of failing grades will force the students’ families to play a more active role in their child’s education. Singleton also believes that a rise in failure would result in more school funding to accommodate the failing students.

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.

According the most recent national assessment recorded in the Washington post, “the nations high school seniors have shown no improvement in math and reading performances since 2009.” In the most recent years, education has taken a huge downfall. Since 2010, over 45% of students drop out. Many students have problems with the grading system, so many different testing programs and having to follow a set of rules and not expand on those rules. The education system needs to induce more creativity, enforce the ways on how education is important and elaborate more on the rules of grading.

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