The Achievement Struggle of U.S. Schools

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.

This is her best supporting statement because it is the most accurate and easiest to verify, just ask any current student or teacher in a public educated school system, higher test scores equal higher ratings for the school. Furthermore, she not only offers a clear and persuasive outline of the various issues facing public educators today, she offers ideas for how to fix those issues. For example, she explains the importance of how parents need to get involved with where they are sending their children to school and need to be the ones to put their foot down with these test score curriculum school systems. Ravitch suggests, “An educated parent would not accept a school where many weeks of every school year were spent preparing for state tests. An educated parent would not tolerate a school that cut back or eliminated the arts to spend more time preparing for state tests” (Ravitch 108). However, this is the area where the reader may disagree with Ms. Ravitch, as the suggested solution, may be her weakest argument because, it seems that a more dynamic solution would not only include the parent, to change the ways the schools are, but more importantly, it would include the student. This only makes sense, as the students are the most vested in this argument and are the ones most impacted by what is going on in the classrooms, if they want change,

Diane ravitch also utilizes direct examples of laws and schools within her article in order to backup her claims about the new focus in educational systems. Within the first sentence of her article, Ravitch is already referencing a law that was passed in 2001, stating that “since the advent of no child left behind” schools have focused more on subjects that are being tested, in order for the school to be seen as having a more rigid educational system, which will draw more students and more funding. Ravitch then goes on to say explain what an ideal school would look like: a strong arts department, along with extracurricular activities, and also an in depth study of subjects like history, literature, science, and mathematics. She explains that this was once the norm for many schools, both wealthy and non, as well as both public, and private. However, in

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 the year 2001, the United States government passed and established a law called the No Child Left Behind Act. This law created a set of standards for public schools to follow to prepare their students for college. For that to occur, schools must have their students to meet the minimum testing score in Math and Reading. If students do not reach the minimum requirement, that school would not receive federal funding. Diane Ravitch was an original supporter of this law but later changed her mind after realizing that schools became more focused in basic skills like Math and Reading and started to ignore other subjects that were deemed irrelevant since these subjects would not help a school recieve federal funding. In her essay, The Essentials of a Good Education, Diane Ravitch uses effective reasoning and pathos to persuade her audience that there is more to education than just the quality of test scores and that incorporating other subjects can be crucial to a student’s participation in society.

Our education system does seem to be in trouble for the way that it is headed, but also a lack of motivation from the children seems to aid in the problems. It is said that America keeps up well with other leading nations in the early years of education, but as soon as kids start to grow older getting good grades just for that special trip to get ice cream doesn’t seem to be enough anymore and as the high grades begin to “weaken as students move through school.” (Bethell).

Diane Ravitch is a historian of education at New York University. She makes a very compelling, but extremely one-sided argument that educational reforms such as “No Child Left Behind” are causing students to have lesser opportunities in schools. Her argument is directed towards school boards, parents, and lawmakers who have the ability to change school and state policies on education. She wants those people to believe that the current school system is not effective in giving students a quality education and preparing them for life. Diane Ravitch’s argument brings up a question for readers: Is it beneficial for students when schools cut funding to non-tested subjects? According to Ravitch, most of the schools in the country, except for the ones in the most affluent communities base their

Many people know that the U.S. does not rank very high in education. You hear about how they are always trying to improve education, but they still fall short of where they strive to be. In Anu Partanen’s “Finland’s School Success, What Americans Keep Ignoring” she addresses this issue. She points out what Americans are doing wrong, what Finland is doing right, and how the U.S. can improve the education system in many ways.

Since prior to the 1980’s, the American education system has rapidly declined in all areas. The article, “A Nation at Risk,” written by President Ronald Reagan, depicts the many issues in the U.S. school systems regarding the content, standard and expectations, time, teaching, and leadership and fiscal support. This piece, apparently, has led the country into an extreme educational reform to improve all aspects of our school system. Based on my experiences in high school, student test scores, and current school conditions, I believe that while all issues raised by the commission in the report are not necessarily a problem anymore, issues with student growth.

In Reign of Error, Diane Ravitch covers her opinions on American education in public schools. Along with this, she gives multiple solutions to the issues that started in the education system in the 1980 's by the federal government and are still having a consequence on America today. Ravitch focuses in on the ineffectiveness of educational reforms and legislation put in place for teachers and school districts. For example, she states, "When evidence is lacking, we should not move forward with a sense of urgency. The reformers are putting the nation 's children on a train that is headed for a cliff." (3-4)

Eight hours a day, five days a week, give or take forty-four weeks a year, this is a regular school year for a child between the ages of six to eighteen has to endure. Everyday, there are many students and families who struggle in order to get by day by day, and no matter how many times parents try to ask for help, the government turns its back on them. The pleas from the families get turned down because of one reason, they "make too much income." More and more this issue of families having to struggle with poverty grows in the United States, however, this doesn't only effect students between the ages of six to eighteen, but also those who attempt to strive for a higher education. Adults struggle to receive the education they desire, yet aren't

The best way to identify the success of an education system is to look at the country’s infrastructure and ranking on the education system. The United States is 17th in the world ranking of best education success. At first glance it seems a decent placing, but at a closer analysis questions arise. Many rival countries and neutral countries manage to beat the US in education, including Russia, South Korea and most importantly Finland. Finland is of most significance for two extreme reasons; First off Finland ranks 1st in the world, leaving the US in the dust, secondly Finland doesn’t agree on standardized testing, homework or the amount of time spent at school. Besides all the other points, the first step in the right direction for the US would be to rid standardized testing in able to climb the world ranks in education. For some reason the Department of Education finds it necessary to

Many sources such as the famous “The Atlantic Magazine” confirm that America spends billions of dollars on its Public School System and yet it is very far from being at the top globally. In order to improve the final product of all that money spent America needs to have more appreciation for arts education, make testing harder and also adapt students to become less technology dependent.

In a rapid globalizing world, America is not prepared to continue outshining other nations. Year after year, countries throughout the globe are better preparing young individuals in the mathematics, science and engineering fields. Students are better equipped to collaborate at the international level through foreign language acquisition and increased global cultural knowledge. New generations bring new ideas, goals and standards, thus the rational ignorance of American citizens will further prevent the United States from developing at its highest level. Keeping up with the global competition will require a transformation in societal perspectives, with help from the media, as well as different educational focuses beginning at the elementary level. The United States is not destined to fail, but worldwide competition is increasing and adjustments are necessary for the American population and its educational system in order to maintain competitiveness.

The American education system is heavily under pressure. The Globalisation has changed the American society dramatically. Throughout the last decades many, especially low-skilled jobs, have been outsourced to foreign countries. Many low-skilled American workers are simply no longer able to compete with the cheap labour in foreign countries such as China or Bangladesh. As a consequence of the increasing globalisation, the American society has throughout the last decades increasingly focused on education. Even though the American politicians and the society as a whole are aware of the importance of education, the American education system is facing a lot of challenges. For example are many young people,