Graduation Requirements For American Students

There is no need to be alarmed over education in America. While many critics are quick to point out the fact that American students have fallen behind in the academic realm, they fell to mention that the American students rank high in competitiveness and creativity, giving the American students the advantage (Bracey, par. 1).

In 2007, the school had a change in leadership and had students attend 2 periods per day, mourning class and afternoon class. They would complete a semester's worth of work in 21 days, then focus on 2 additional classes for another 21 days. So that at semester, students would have completed 6 classes like the rest of the building. The only hiccup with this is attendance was so bad, if students missed more than 2 days it was equivalent to missing 3 weeks of school at the comprehensive setting. Students had to have homework logs documenting how many hours of homework they had completed.

Have you ever wondered what the difference between traditional schooling and year-round education is? Maybe you didn’t know that there are more than one type of year-round education. A year-round school schedule can benefit educators, students, and even families. Year-round schooling is where the breaks in school are on a balanced schedule. Instead of having a three month summer break, there would be 60 days off and then the students would be back to school. If on a multi track schedule, teachers could use their off time to substitute at their school on a different track or at another school to get paid more. For students, the shorter breaks away from school increase retention rates, therefore reducing the amount of review necessary at

Adding just an extra ten minutes to each class, the new schedule would create the potential for students to have more homework time, lab time, learning time, and/or valuable free time to read for pleasure, relax with music, draw, etc. (Hadfield). Especially as students get older and more involved in extracurriculars and rigorous academic courses, the need for any spare moment to get assignments done, study, or even sleep increases. When this time is unavailable or extremely hard to get, students are more likely to fall asleep in class, miss school due to illness, misbehave, cheat, hand in incomplete assignments, or drop out altogether. The same is largely true for teachers. The more homework turned in by students, the more grading has to be done by teachers who are already exhausted from a long, often repetitive day of work. Therefore, it is important to emphasize the fact that this extra time should not be used to cram in larger quantities of learning standards or homework problems, but rather to enhance the quality of the already demanding school regulations that are in schools

The educational system in the United States was originally developed using concepts from around the world, created using ingenuitive ideas from countries such as China, Japan, and Korea. However, as the United States quickly moved into position as the leading country for state-directed educational standards, America looked less and less to the systems of other nations and more into how we could improve what was locally and currently being applied in education. Consequently, an improved type of education instruction was officially launched in 2010. These new state standards, practically titled Common Core, were declared to focus on developing a child’s skills in reasoning, problem solving, communication, and competition (Conrad, et al. 52). While the standards are professed to be an extremely practical and beneficial method of teaching today, there are issues which have recently surfaced and raised some concerns. The Common Core State Standards are emerging as the subjects of a provocative controversy in society today as they prompt discussion on global economic efficiency, nationwide academic standards, and the ultimate well-being of school-age children.

Sommerfeld, Meg. "More and More Schools Putting Block Scheduling to Test of Time." Education Week. N.p., 02 May 2016. Web. 24 Mar.

What is your least favorite class, the one you dread most? Picture yourself walking into that class, taking a seat, and watching the clock move slowly as you suffer through the next 90 minutes. Yes, you read that correctly. Imagine being stuck in your least favorite class for an hour and a half! This is a reality that many high school students experience every day. It is block scheduling. “Unlike traditional bell schedules - which typically comprise six to eight class periods per day, lasting anywhere from 45 to 60 minutes - block schedules contain just four daily class periods, with each one lasting an average of 90 minutes” (Block Scheduling in Schools 1). Although designed to increase student achievement, block schedules carry a number of disadvantages that make them an inadequate method for offering high school students a successful learning environment. Despite its few benefits, block scheduling works in direct conflict with most human attention spans, creates more scheduling problems than it solves, and lacks any solid evidence of improving student learning. In a world where educational practices come and go, block scheduling is a fad that should never have arrived in the first place.

In contrast to a traditional school schedule, a block schedule consists of different variations, such as A/B and 4x4 schedules. In an A/B schedule, classes meet every other day for an extended period of time. Students take eight classes throughout the year, taking four classes on A Days and alternating the other four on B Days.“The A days would be Monday, Wednesday, Friday, etc. Each class period

This school year the district implemented Flex Mod schedules for teachers and students. This type of schedules allows students to have ILT, Independent Learning Time, where they can socialize or work on school work. If a student’s grades fall below a 70 they are put into Mandatory Learning Time once a week with the they are having trouble in. After two weeks if their grade is a 60 or below they are put into Sustained Learning Time, they lose all their free time and have to go into the library and do school work. They are in SLT for two weeks, if they bring their grade up they are released from SLT. If they

According to a U.S. News report, the top two schools in California are Whitney High School and Stockton Collegiate International Secondary School. When I looked over their schedules, I found that both of these schools follow a block schedule and, while it may seem like a distant goal, these schools represent the possible advancement of the LCHS district if given the opportunity to explore the block schedule. Dr. Nesa Sasser of the Hearst Newspaper, recently wrote an article about the benefits and downfalls of the block schedule. She wrote that, by starting a block period schedule, teachers will be able to plan lessons more effectively, connect with their students on a deeper level, and there will be better time management. During block periods, teachers become less limited in how they plan their lesson. They are able to go in depth about concepts that are important and are given time to give examples to further the students’ comprehension of these topics. Using these examples, teachers are then able to see where the class is falling short, and reteach confusing lessons, allowing for a greater understanding of the overall subject. By decreasing the amount of classes per day, students would then be able to focus on the homework they are given for their next classes, reducing the amount of homework they have to complete and the information that needs to be learned for that specific night. Students will also be able to go to sleep earlier, increasing overall health and focus during class, providing long term

From the early 1900’s through today, America society as a whole has embraced the nine month general education school year. As we progress into the future, we need to look for more efficient ways to educate the general populous. When we initially went to a nine month school year, there were a multitude of reasons. As we look at the reasons why we began to utilize a nine month school schedule, we need to consider both the advantages and disadvantages of transitioning to a year round school model. While we continue to grow and expand as a nation, we need to reevaluate our current school model. From this, we will look at why schools should transition to year round schools, and abandon the

This paper reviews four important trends in our educational system today across America and discusses the impact of these trends on our future educational system. We live in an ever evolving world with constant changes that are affecting every aspect of our lives daily. Our educational system has not been immune to these changes and shouldn’t be since these changes and our ability to adapt to these changes will determine our future academic success and our place in a global society.

It is October 15th. Normally, students would be at school, working for hours on end at math, communication arts, and science. But this year is different. This year your school has now entered into the year-round calendar system. At home, you can enjoy the season of fall with pumpkins, Halloween, and beautiful weather. The idea of year round school has most commonly been pushed aside because of the misconception that it is too much school, or an on-going cycle of learning. However, those who declare this, do not understand the year-round school concept. Year-round school provides the same number of days as the traditional calendar. The difference, which will change our society and the achievement rate of our students in the future, is that the days are reordered into intersessions. The mechanisms of year round school include students attending school for a nine week period, then following this is a three week break. This rotation occurs year-round with a slightly longer summer break. Consequently, Though many people agree with keeping tradition with the popular school calendar, new evidence and testimony proves that year-round school provides the better avenue because the world is evolving, it benefits low income students, and intersessions are more effective than summer break.

America is a blessed country in numerous ways, and its citizens reap the benefits. Free education is one major benefit that not many other countries provide for their citizens. While it is only a privilege to many, but in the States, people have the right to be educated. However, free education cannot be translated to success for all. For those motivated ones who cherish the privilege to be educated are those who climb up the success ladders later in life. For a certain majority of students in the States, our current educational system may not seem to serve its purpose. In this paper, I will explore two possible adjustments that could be made to improve our system to benefit our next generation. Academic improvement and class size

There are many aspects of block scheduling that allow teachers to reach certain accomplishments throughout the school year. “With block scheduling, a teacher deal with fewer pupils during the day, therefore allowing the teacher to spend much more time with each individual student (Education Up Close).” Due to the classes having less students in them, it provides an easier