Why is America’s Education Failing?
The United States is often referred to as the best country in the world in many areas. It may be, but far from it in education. Out of a total of thirty-four countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, it ranks just fourteenth in reading, seventeenth in science and twenty-fifth in math (Walker). Despite America's status as a country, America's education is failing because of the large emphasis on standardized education, and the flaws of the students, parents, and teachers. How to fix the education system remains to be a problem. Impoverished children are partially at fault for the failing education system in America. Poor children are ranked well below the national
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Professor Friedman says, “If you leave a low value-added teacher in your school for 10 years, rather than replacing him with an average teacher, you are hypothetically talking about $2.5 million in lost income.” Schools need good teachers, but firing unqualified teachers has proved to be a difficult task.
Too many teachers lack the ability to educate their students, and prepare them for the future, and too few of these ineffective teachers are losing their jobs. Firing an incompetent teacher requires getting the union, the school board, the principal, and the judicial system involved, followed by thousands of dollars in legal fees. It is seldom that a teacher is ever fired. One California school spent eight thousand dollars to fire one teacher protected by tenure (Stephey). The trouble that schools must go through to fire an inept teacher deters schools from firing the teacher. The teacher will keep his job, and continue to poorly educate students and prepare them for the future.
In 2002, the No Child Left Behind act was passed, a government program that required states to regularly give out state-run tests. Children are put through many of these each year. After the law was passed, the United States fell from eighteenth to thirty-first place in the math section of the PISA (CON Standardized Tests). The No Child Left Behind act created a
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.
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.
America is viewed as the most advanced and developed country in the world. It owns some of the largest businesses and companies known to man. It is on top of every new technological advancement that has touched the Earth. It is the country that boasts of having the best and most efficient military in the world. The list goes on and on. And although a lot these claims made by America is true, none can doubt that this country has its fair share of flaws. A flaw in the American system is the lack of education many people receive. I am making this claim because the number of people I see in the street that are poor. These people don’t have access to quality education which prevents them from getting jobs. In the essay, I will dissect this issue
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.
The United States of America used to be known as one of the greatest countries to be apart of. From the jobs to the economy to education people loved to be apart of the American culture. The problem many Americans are facing today is poor education. Since America is viewed as a high profile country many people have prominent expectations on what they are receiving, specifically the education. The fact is that there are major problems with all levels of the education system today. Starting with early education, teachers are quick to say children needs to be medicated or put into special education. Proceeding to the general or high school education where kids are graduating but not prepared for what’s after. Lastly how higher education or college can hardly be afforded in today’s society. As a result of the failing education system, many parents blame the child or society when in actuality the failing system is corrupted by some teachers, lack of preparation, and lack of affordability in higher education.
The American Education System is not meeting the needs of current students. If anything, the system is not building a sturdy foundation for the future working class. Schools have existed for many years and every period they have worked differently. However, every school’s main purpose was to educate students to be efficacious later in life. Modern day schools are corrupting students with added pressure, standardized tests, making less accommodations for special education students, not following laws, and take away individualism from the students’. The students of modern times are the people of our future and the future does not look too bright with the current American Education System.
The United States is one of the best country in many areas such as technology and health care or education, but compared with other develop nations, the united states education system is still behind many country including United Kingdom, Japan, China. America’s standards of education are far lower than several other countries, because the American public education systems is less effective, students are lack of motivation to learn. According to Michael Moore, in the book Idiot Nation, and John Taylor Gatto in Against School, they argue that the education system in the United States is deeply flawed. America’s schools having a poor curriculum, many facilities are in bad conditions and lack of resources that students need to learn. The
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
The low pay for our educators is causing many negative effects. New York Times shows that the low income is causing sixty-two percent of teachers to have a second job outside of their teaching jobs. Just to have enough money to support their families and make ends meet. Most everyone decides to college to prevent having these struggles with money, and to avoid having to work multiple jobs, when they get older; however, not when it comes to living off of only a teacher’s income, the struggles to have enough money are interminable. This low pay is also causing most teachers to retire, and find new jobs. New York Times states, “every year 20 percent of teachers in urban districts quit. Nationwide, 46 percent of teachers quit before their fifth year. The turnover costs the
What is it that’s making our country suffer from excelling in education? Very few would argue about the importance of our education system today. Issues such as lazy teachers, lack of parent involvement, and teaching useless information in class may hinder progress in today’s education system. An education plays a crucial role and is an essential tool, unfortunately, with all the jaded judgments; our students are not able to value their education. A proper education can open the doors to many opportunities that would have never been possible if it had not been for the knowledge and preparation that one received while in school. With the growing economy and desperate times, it is more important than ever for our country’s children to receive the proper education and training that is needed to allow them to acquire a good job and produce the revenue needed to live. Today's education system is flawed in many ways, and these flaws should be eliminated to ensure a good education for our future generation.
There is a consensus among the concerned stakeholders that the quality of teachers is the leading factor in determination of student performance. In the case of United States, the student performance can only be given an impetus by the efforts which the state can make, under all costs, to develop and retain high quality teachers. The measures undertaken determine the level of turnover of the school teachers. Lazear (2009) similarly argues the length of employment is a critical factor in averse risks of employment a trend contrary to teachers treatment. The turnover of public school teachers will refer to the rate at which the state, which is the teacher’s
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, President George W. Bush's education reform bill, was signed into law on Jan. 8, 2002. The No Child Left Behind Act says that states will develop and apply challenging academic standards in reading and math. It will also set annual progress objectives to make sure that all groups of students reach proficiency within 12 years. And the act also says that children will be tested annually in grades 3 through 8, in reading and math to measure their progress. The test results will be made public in annual report cards on how schools and states are progressing toward their objectives.
When analyzing the problem with college students and their lack of vocabulary there are noticeable problems with the attrition rate, percent in reduction, of teachers due to either retiring, stopping teaching, or transferring to other schools. When teachers stop teaching, it greatly impacts the students who lose the ability to be taught by experienced teachers. This impacts the education high school students receive. According to Alliance for Excellent Education, “…the single most important factor in determining student performance is the quality of his or her teachers” (Issue Brief 1). If the quality of the teacher is the most important factor in a students education shouldn’t states and school districts focus attention on helping new teachers stay teaching and become experienced rather than spending money to hire and re-train new teachers every year? Since experienced teachers are not teaching students the results are detrimental on high school graduates. “Only about 30 percent of high school students read proficiently, and more than a quarter read
Have you ever wondered why our country is ranked low in comparison to other countries when it comes to education? Our country is said to be the best country in the world; yet when one takes a closer look on our system, defects are bound to be found. Take a look at our education for instance. We have the least productive schools in the nation. The truth is that the board of education has dumbed down the system due to a decrease in testing averages.