The American Education System Is Failing The Generations Of The Future

I don’t get the education system. Science has proven, “the brain isn’t fully functioning until 10 am.” Studies have shown how the pressure to get into college and to do well in school have caused mental illness such as depression and anxiety. You don’t learn stuff unless you have enough sleep but it’s hard to do that when you have homework to do and tests to study for. The brain needs a break in order to fully comprehend things however the brain can’t do that if it’s overwhelmed. Many documentaries, books, and articles have stated how messed up the education system is and yet no one does anything about itt. Instead, it continues to get worse and people wonder why the rate of mental illness and suicide rises.

Education is an integral part of society, School helps children learn social norms as well as teach them to be successful adults. The school systems in United States, however are failing their students. In the world as a whole, the United States is quickly falling behind other countries in important math and reading scores. The United States ranked thirtieth in math on a global scale and twentieth in literacy. This is even more true in more urban, lower socio-economic areas in the United States. In West Trenton Central High School was only 83% proficiency in literacy and only 49% of the students were proficient in math. These school have lower test scores and high dropout rates. Many of these students come from minority backgrounds and are often form low income families. There are many issues surrounding these urban schools. There is a severe lack of proper funding in these districts, and much of the money they do receive is sanctioned for non-crucial things. Schools also need a certain level of individualization with their students, and in many urban classes, this simply does not happen. While there are many factors affecting the low performance of urban schools, the lack of proper funding and distribution of funds, the cultural divide between teachers and students in urban districts, along with the lack of individualization in urban classrooms are crucial factors to explain the poor performance in these districts. Through a process of teacher lead budget committees and

“Still Separate, Still Unequal”, written by Jonathan Kozol, describes the reality of urban public schools and the isolation and segregation the students there face today. Jonathan Kozol illustrates the grim reality of the inequality that African American and Hispanic children face within todays public education system. In this essay, Kozol shows the reader, with alarming statistics and percentages, just how segregated Americas urban schools have become. He also brings light to the fact that suburban schools, with predominantly white students, are given far better funding and a much higher quality education, than the poverty stricken schools of the urban neighborhoods.

America’s school system and student population remains segregated, by race and class. The inequalities that exist in schools today result from more than just poorly managed schools; they reflect the racial and socioeconomic inequities of society as a whole. Most of the problems of schools boil down to either racism in and outside the school or financial disparity between wealthy and poor school districts. Because schools receive funding through local property taxes, low-income communities start at an economic disadvantage. Less funding means fewer resources, lower quality instruction and curricula, and little to no community involvement. Even when low-income schools manage to find adequate funding, the money doesn’t solve all the school’s

“When we can predict how well students will do in school by looking at their zip code, we know we have a serious systemic problem” (Gloria Ladson-Billings 20). When we are able to forecast how a child will perform by where the child resides, then how can we say that every child is receiving quality education. The unsuccessful educational system infused into the United States is affecting the majority of minorities. In the United States students due to their race and social class, suffer from underfunded public schools, inexperienced teachers, and housing segregation, which in turn inhibit their opportunity to succeed through education. These difficulties plaque students from the very beginning of their public school experience and follow them throughout their academic life. There are a few solutions to these issues but they have to be implemented and enforced with a slow integration.

Statement of Issue: Many minority children and children from low-income families enter kindergarten without the academic skills they need to succeed. Math and reading abilities at kindergarten entry are powerful predictors of later school success. Research shows kids who start school already behind are unlikely to ever get caught up to standards. Hispanic and African American children are anywhere from 7 to 12 months behind in reading and 9 to 10 months behind on math when they enter kindergarten. Access remains extremely low to high-quality early education do to a couple of problems. First, rates of access to early education vary widely as a function of children’s socioeconomic backgrounds. Secondly, the quality of most early education programs is not high enough to substantially improve academic readiness. Considering the tremendous potential for high-quality preschool to improve children’s outcomes, this policy brief will consider how a universal publicly funded pre-kindergarten program in the United States could decrease both disparities in access to early learning and achievement gaps at kindergarten entry.

The essay “Still Separate, Still Unequal”, by Jonathan Kozol, discusses the harsh truth of public school systems, and how they have become an isolation and segregation of inequality that students are subjected to; as a result, to receive an education. Throughout the essay, Kozol proves evidence of the inequality that African American and Hispanic children face in the current school systems across the country. Kozol supports his testimony by providing the reader with factual statistics and percentages, of how segregated the public school systems have become within many major cities. He exposes the details and statistic of how wealthier schools received better funding and opportunity than the low-income and poverty struck school systems throughout the major cities across the country.

After reviewing the Government laws and policies that have been in placed and replaced in history and more currently to contribute and correct the issue. The most important question of all remains. Why does the Achievement Gap still exist? According to former Secretary of Education John King (2016) “Black and Hispanic students continue to lag behind their White peers in achievement and graduation rates.”After so many attempts made by the Government to close the Gap and create equality, clearly there is something that is not being addressed across American Public Schools. Frederica Wilson (2013) former state senate member stated in the Brown vs Board Documentary There is such a difference in going to one school in one community and going to another in another community. Why don't we tackle that problem instead of testing the students predicting they will fail, watching them fail and denying them a good life?”The question now that remains how exactly are the schools different in different communities?

There are many reasons as to why the U.S. education system is failing. First, the U.S. education system is failing because the parents’ involvement in their children is not enough. There is simply not enough time for teachers to instruct every student and what they need to know. Because of this, there must be parent involvement outside of school. Students who are at a socio-economic disadvantage tend to struggle more in school, especially parents lacking higher education levels. Students who come from middle and upper class families have the same risk because of the demands of careers and an over-dependence on schools. Another reason why the U.S. education system is failing is overcrowded schools and classes. If a class is smaller, a student

While in high school, many students complained about standardized testing and how ridiculous it was our education standards were on the line for it. How we never learned anything long enough to remember it. Students are supposed to enjoy learning. Instead students dread their mornings and hours spent in a classroom. Pass the OGT or the new PARCC testing in order to graduate. Being taught at an impossible pace that many cannot remember the information for the next year but instead just remember for the moment. There are teachers who are sitting fancy, but don’t even do their job to the core standards.

From the statistics shown above, early child care closes the gap between lower and upper social classes. Having an earlier education can address the inequality of socioeconomic statuses. Prior to this trend, there was a huge discrepancy between the lower and higher income families. The parents in the lower income families evidently had less time or were less competent tending to their child’s basic cognitive skills, especially if they had to work or had only received a limited amount of schooling. As academic opportunities became more accessible to

(Kozol, Jonathan. Savage inequalities: Children in America's schools. Broadway Books, 2012..)(Ladd, Helen F. "Education and poverty: Confronting the evidence." Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 31.2 (2012): 203-227.)(U.S. Census)(Alexander, Karl, Doris Entwisle, and Linda Olson. The long shadow: Family background, disadvantaged urban youth, and the transition to adulthood. Russell Sage Foundation, 2014.)(Rock, Donald A, and Judith M Pollack. "Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K): Psychometric Report for Kindergarten through First Grade. Working Paper Series."

In the midst of discussion of the effectiveness of early childhood education for children prior to entering kindergarten, the question of approach comes in terms of who will benefit from pre-k class time. Kristen Mobbs’s dissertation focuses on the differences between different learning settings and socioeconomic statuses of the students attending state/private/federally funded preschools. An excerpt from Mobbs’s research was deemed quite appropriate toward the reasoning for this study: “Disadvantaged and traditionally marginalized students are at an incrased risk of developing behavior and social problems (Bulosky-Shearer & Fernandez, 2011), and girls demonstrate higher approaches to learning (Dominguez et al., 20100, perform better in school

There clearly is a problem right now in American schools. The gap in educational outcomes between students of different races and ethnicities is fairly substantial. Although there could be numerous explanations of why this inconsistency exists, I have chosen to focus on one issue stemming from an economic obstacle.

The socioeconomic status of a family and their ethnicity has a substantial effect on their child’s early learning and determines how much their child will accomplish through life. Life events from before birth to three years old will have significant impact on brain development (Nelson, 1999). Socioeconomic status limits how much a family could provide to aid a child’s development. Middle-class families can better prepare their children with opportunities for success than families with low household income. Families with low household income will be reluctant to spend money on daycare because they have other priorities. Credentialed daycare providers increase children’s cognitive and critical thinking skills (Barnett & Belfield, 2006). The