The United States is currently ranked seventeenth in the developed world of education. (The Huffington Post) Finland is ranked one of the highest on this scale which raises the question as to what the United States does differently to fall so far behind. One of the key differences is homework and the lack thereof. Finland believes that large amounts of homework are detrimental to a student’s education. (Doyle) Why would the United States choose not to emulate this tested and proven system? That is what I am to discover. Through analysis of stakeholders such as students, teachers, prospective students and the United States Board of Education I plan to evaluate what it is that is keeping this system in place. The United States used to be …show more content…
Everything the homework attempts to teach us has already been taught by the professor.” (Ahmad) Another student has a similar stance, “Homework often keeps me up until four or five in the morning. It’s not because I’m lazy, there is just so much of it!” (Galaviz) The third student I spoke to had an interesting stance of the value of homework. He believed that, “In all of my classes, homework is worth very little. If it were worth extra credit, rather than a grade, I believe that it would be more beneficial to the student body.” (Richards) The general census from the college student body seems to be that they have a negative attitude towards homework. These students fail to see the value that homework has which is ironic seeing as how this is the same view that created one of the greatest educational systems in the world. The teachers and professors seem to both agree and disagree. I asked a previous teacher of mine what her opinion was on homework and she gave me a list of pros and cons. “Homework helps to reinforce what it is that I have taught them. Many of the students that have more free time will not study if I do not assign the homework. There are the few students that will study outside of class and this reflects on their test scores.” I then asked her what she felt about the ones who did study. She replied, “I could not show favoritism,
Education in America is one of the most important issues that face our nation. If the education in America is not thought of one of most serious issues we face, our nation as a whole will fall. There are many debates and they seemly extend to all walks of life. The debates range from the decline in education, school vouchers, and the no child left behind law. As a nation, the United States is ranked above others. We must search for that solution to all of the pro’s and con’s in education. The solution should allow all walks of life to excel in the education realm. After all, the children of today will be the leaders of tomorrow.
Homework was a necessity because it was the only way the students were prepared for class the following day. By the 20th Century the PTA began to push their opinion in the battle of homework. They sought to have it irradiated as it was a distraction from the students learning process (Gill & Schlossman, 2004 pg. 175). There were pediatricians going as far to say that homework was the reason for the rise in health issues and the death toll. At this time educators, doctors, and scientists were all in agreeance that is was essential to educate the “whole child”. Thus, allowing time for distractions, play, and a life outside of school that was enriched. This would develop the child’s well-being in every aspect of life (Gill & Schlossman, 2004 pg. 176). During the Cold War, the issue of homework became a cause for concern. The Russians had achieved more than the American children. This began the achievement for excellence. As the curriculum in school changed homework was reinstated because the students needed to learn outside of school in order to prosper in academics (Gill & Schlossman, 2004
We all view the benefits of homework differently. Homework can have many effects but it’s not as helpful to everyone as one may think. It can prove to be more stressful than beneficial, can confuse you more than help you, and doesn’t 100% help standardized testing. People need to understand what homework really is and how beneficial it actually is. They need to understand that homework doesn’t always help and that it can prove to be less helpful than
I believe, as a student, that homework is just a tool that teachers use to keep us busy. Being a student who has received homework for various years, I have found that homework causes me a lot of stress (Ethos). Homework causes kids to get very stressed out, it causes stress in their families, and studies show that it does not improve test scores. Harris Cooper, a worker at Duke University (Ethos), found out that, doing more than 60 to 90 minute of homework in middle school and more than 2 hours in high school is associated with much lower scores (Logos). This just shows that homework is a useless item that students are forced to do. Firstly, students have to wake up from seven until two o'clock everyday,
In his article “Kenneth Cole Gets Schooled” David Sirota writes, “Taking an honest look at America’s education system brings up queries about why other less economically stratified nations have unionized teachers and far better academic results than here in America (761)” Students in other countries such as Korea, Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, and Canada have far better academic results than those in America, yet the teachers are not the one who need to be accepting all the blame for the failing academic standards. I am an elementary education major and have grown up as a teacher’s kid and have always found this statement and fact somewhat interesting. Now attending college I understand this statement, and
Is the United States education system the best system in comparison to the rest of the world? There are positive aspects to the system, but there is also negative ones that can be improved if the United States took in consideration the way other countries run their education system. Students should be taught life skills that will help them make the right decisions and help their life be less stressful and keep their mental state healthy. Instead of allowing students to have the mindset that the subjects they learn are useless, schools should be teaching them the way their studies will help them with their futures. The U.S. education system is problematic and needs improvement in terms of students’ preparation for their future, student
I am going against homework because I don't think homework is good for students. First of all, homework is just adding to the schoolwork that you just did in school. If you add up the schoolwork and the homework that's like 7-9 hours of work in all for 5 days. Once you get that extra homework you will be tired, stressed, won't have much time with your family and it could be totally useless. Next your relatives could do it for you because you could persuade them to do it for you or they might realize how stressed out you are and do it for you. Finally homework can just be useless you could no inside and out stuck in there forever but you still have to do homework.
One would think that as a World Superpower the United States education system would be producing exceptionally high caliber young men and women to become contributing members of society upon graduation. However, in many ways, the opposite is shown to be the case, with declining test scores, with a 19% dropout rate among high school students, with a 41% drop out rate of college students, and 40% of the graduates unprepared to either continue their educations at universities or become worthwhile members of the workforce. These declines can be attributed to many factors including lack of parental involvement, teen pregnancy, rising tension in world affairs, drug use, and many others, however, our government 's involvement in the school system is another major factor and is the current focus of this paper. In it I intend to show how many of the government 's policies with regards to education are proving to be a major hindrance in the preparedness of our youth once they 've completed their requisite milestones for graduation. (U.S.A Department of Education, 2012)
Education: America vs IndiaWhat is education? What is the educational system? And is education taught the same everywhere? Education according to Dictionary.com is “the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university.” Educational system according to edglossary.org is “generally refers to public schooling, not private schooling, and more commonly to kindergarten through high school programs.” However, education is taught differently everywhere. For example, high school education in America is vastly different then high school education in India. But they do have some similarities such as a diverse population of students in classes especially high schools and both countries value greatly education and academic success, therefore both countries put a great emphasize on education. Although High schools in America do display some similarities such as a diverse population ofstudents in classes and a great emphasize on education and academic success, they however differ dramatically in teaching methods, student aids, teacher evaluation system, and grading system. PersonallyI feel as if the American educational system is far more superior to the Indian education system. Emigrating from a foreign country to America is a very big change, especially educationally. I spent a decade of learning in India and when I came to America, I continued my education. When I came to the states I was a high school student, tenth grade and what is commonly
Everything in life has its flaws but it’s when and where those flaws are that counts. The United States educational system is no exception to this and it shows the most through both test scores and statistics. This problem is easily noticeable when you take into account of how well the other countries around the world have been doing in comparison of the United States. Like most things however you can fix a problem by going to the source of it and many sources are saying the that the sources of this problem is at home. They believe that this is the source due to how much it affects kids both mentally and psychologically. Other problems like teenage dropouts and pregnancy are also major problems affecting school. Teens that dropout say that
The general arguments given by teachers and some parents are that homework increases the overall grade averages, sharpens study habits, and helps students become more prepared for college work. Along with that, it helps students learn responsibility for life in the work field of the real work. Although these arguments are valid, there are arguments against homework as well. Homework causes students to be stressed out when there is too much to be done by a certain deadline and takes away the free time of students. Some of the work that students are assigned isn't relevant to what they are studying. Worst of all, it causes that struggling student to lose interest in the study of that subject ("Students and Homework"). While it does have negative outcomes, homework also has it's perks.
Today in this day of society K-12 education is free to every child in the United States, it is difficult for us modern Americans to imagine a world where public schools have not existed. Although, 150 years ago in many places throughout the country, not even elementary education was provided publicly; in fact, even by the turn of the 20th century, some young individuals still did not have entry to free public high schools. To our effort every American can get a free education and obtain a high school diploma, thanks to the efforts of our civic-minded predecessors. Let’s look at the developments that made this possible. Americans have believed for a long time that to completely participate in their government, citizens need to be educated.
In the two hundred forty-one years since the founding of the United States, few have seriously argued the importance of education to society. Although education was left out of the United States Constitution in the interest of states’ rights, Thomas Jefferson was not alone in believing that “the most important bill in our whole code is that for the diffusion of knowledge among the people… [which is necessary] for the preservation of freedom and happiness.” (251). Despite a consensus on the necessity of education, its actualization has a storied past, one riddled with intense ideological debates, landmark court cases, petty politics, and, at times, military intervention (e.g. during desegregation). While lawmakers and judges have addressed
Education is one of the most important tools a human being can possess, and it is said to be the best inheritance parents can give their children, but that is just one way of approaching the reality. That is the perspective society has, the one our parents have. What about us, youth? How do we see this subject?I was born in Panama, a small country in Central America. My country has made big improvements in many areas during the last few years, but one of them still remains troublesome. According to our Constitution education is compulsory and free to everyone under age eighteen. So far this seems to be a good statement;nonetheless, it is far from the truth. Public schools are cheap, but they are not free.In a nation with great inequality in
I support the use of homework as a valid instructional practice. As a teacher, I have had the chance to meet professionals who teach in a variety of educational settings, such as private and public schools, language centers, and universities. Some of them have restricted beliefs, either supporting that a great amount of homework is what ensures rigor to the school; or that if a class is really effective and the teacher delivered a high-standard lesson, students have no need to complete tasks outside school. To me, homework does not reflect any of these assumptions.