The Decline of The U.S. Education System Essay

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.

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.

These gains have resulted in extra funding, enhanced teacher training and even tutoring. Bush was quoted as saying, “The era of low expectations and low standards is ending; a time of great hopes and proven results is arriving and together we are keeping a pledge: every child in America will learn, and no child will be left behind….” (Bush, par. 5). President Bush has placed great enhances on testing. It is believed that frequent testing in the classroom can be used as a guide to help individual schools build academically. Also, each school would receive a grade for its achievement level and be required to post it for the public to see. The bill insists on higher standards and higher achievement levels for all school. It joins the teachers, principles and education chiefs together in the fight for high education. It encourages great value and instills hope for our country.

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.

The education system in America has a long history of struggle and change, as we have grown as a nation we have experienced an ever-increasing rise in diversity. This diversity has caused rigidities between groups and all stratus of society and has been a major impact in debates concerning the educational opportunities in America.

The human mind is perhaps the greatest object on the earth, animate or inanimate, but without the proper training, the mind is a relatively useless tool. Through the development of formal education systems, humans as a whole have tried to ensure the training of all minds so as to continue prosperity for the world. Most of the time, though, education systems do not realize the harm they are doing to developing minds and the subsequent negative consequences. Among the largest of these inadequate education systems is the American primary schooling system. The American education system is in fact failing; it continues to deplete children of their natural creativity and thirst for knowledge while preaching conformity, which in turn creates an

Over the course of the last 35 years, traditional public school student achievement in the United States has been stagnant, despite the reform efforts and the doubling

The United States may be looked upon as a land of freedom and opportunity, yet today we live in an era where education is still a persistent struggle for minorities in a white privileged society. We live in a country where the educational system puts greater emphasis on training students to tackle standardized tests than on development of self and character. The American educational system is in crisis and has been in this situation for decades now. The solution to this problem goes beyond better teacher performance and school infrastructure.

The education system has been the cornerstone of freedom and equity for economic success in The United States. However, the history of education has never been so crucial to the collective future of our nation and to the young people. The public schools must struggle to provide equality in educational system as never before. The demand for education has become necessary and growing to provide education for all students to comply with the rigorous academic standards on a global scale (Baker, B. D., Sciarra, D. G., Farrie, D. (2010, p. 1).

Today’s educational system faces a questionable success in relation to the advancement of society. Bob Herbert, an op-ed columnist for the New York times, created the educational essay titled, “Our Schools Must Do Better” He began working there in 1993 and spent his career writing mainly about issues facing race as well as poverty in the U.S.. Two men, Arne Duncan and John Chubb wrote articles that mirror ideas discussed by Herbert. Duncan, who wrote “U.S. Education Reform: ‘This Truly Is a Moon Shoot’”, is the former United States Secretary of Education and often linked a student’s academic performance to their teachers and school. Similarly, Chubb researched education topics and eventually became the president of the National Association of Independent Schools(NAIS). His article,“Our Schools Our Future Are We Still At Risk” expresses problems that today’s educational systems present. Herbert, Duncan, and Chubb conclude that changes or reforms in educational systems as well as teacher quality must be done in order to ensure future academic success to students.

Since the beginning of global standardized testing, American students have been less than impressive. Numerous other countries consistently score higher than students in the United States. While comparing the test scores from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), two major cross-national studies of students’ scholastic performance, it is true that the United States is nowhere near the top, and is instead merely mediocre. An exhaustive list of reasons could be compiled in attempting to explain this phenomenon, but at its core the problem is not that complicated. The prominent issues that cause American students to lag behind are a result of the nation’s multiple separate education systems, parenting, the curriculum or specifically how it is taught.

In We’re Number Umpteenth (2013), author Alfie Kohn argues that the U.S.’s constant need for comparison is nonsense. Kohn’s argument is supported by deconstructing the myth that U.S. schools are lagging and disprove that comparison is helpful -in this case. In order for us to see the nonsense behind this education comparison Alfie Kohn shines light on the ugly truth that by having a need to be number one the U.S. is basically wanting kids in foreign countries to do bad. Because the myth that U.S. schools are lagging is so widely accepted this argument can be directed to just about anyone living under this notion; educators, college students, and so on.

The quality of education given in today's schools has declined since the idea of schools began. Currently students are graduating without being able to read or write. The blame lies on the teachers, government and every American citizen for not speaking up to bring change sooner. Only in the most recent years has there been any will to change the system.(Sharma)

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

In this day and age, the United States, leader of the free world, is not leading. Our economic system is failing. Even worse, our educational system falls short compared to other nations. Consequently, our literacy rate and mathematical abilities are far behind; and even more embarrassing is the fact that education is not doled out equally despite our rather relentless fight against inequality. When academic achievement is examined on the basis of race, class, and gender, widening academic gaps are evident. * If this continues, there will be nowhere to go but down, economically and educationally.