Major Issues of The US Education - Case Study Example

U.S. Education: Underfunded s, Underappreciated and Underpaid Teachers, and Rewarding Underachievement is Just Part of the Problem Your Name Instructors Name Course Name Due Date INTRODUCTION The pursuit of knowledge is an innate part of the human experiencing; our ability to learn is part of what has made human beings as successful as they have been as a species. As humanity began to develop into greater and larger societies shared education on some level was beneficial to individuals and communities on historical, civic, and social levels. While educational Institutions in the U.S. can range from very expensive, private, and quality educations to the most run-down underfunded public school throughout America. There was a time when education was a privilege, today, by many students, it is perceived as a punishment. Over the decades American school’s statistical data have continued to plummet in relation to attendance, graduation rates, and student success. There are a number of factors, including lack of funding, lazy students and underpaid teachers, lack of fairness in grading system, and lowering of student expectations that have all contributed to the decreasingly poor qualities of the education in the United States. HISTORY The history of American education began many years ago with the educational options of religious schools or private institutions. The public school system that we are more familiar with today was not developed and legislated until the large populations of immigrants from multiple lands, religions, and cultures, brought droves of children. In the early years in the U.S. the imbalance of education between those of elite birth and those who were considered to be common people only added to the intolerant mentality between the “haves” and the “have nots.” (Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute 1). The government also believed that by providing free education to all, regardless of background and income would empower parents due to the opportunities being offered their children. Experts explain that there were a number of different “educational eras” adhered to as the country continued to grow and change. The “Permissive Era” embodies the earliest approaches to education, beginning in 1642 and continuing the 1821, it reflected the government’s allowance of public education but it was an institution that was completely at the discretion of parents. 1826 to 1851 the “Encouraging Era” was personified by the government establishing the first “school districts” that would include raising of the tax revenues to support their upkeep; however, again, the government did not require the establishment of schools and parents were not forced to enroll their children. From 1855 to 1980 the “Compulsory Era” established the government control of schools, the enforcing of tax revenues, and the requirement that children of a certain age must attend a certain amount of schooling. Parents control was incredibly reduced. Starting in the 1980s and has remained the standard to present is the “Freedom or School Choice Era,” which personifies the extension of educational options, like public, home, and internet schooling, however, education remains enforceable by the government there is not an option that supports any children not being enrolled in some sort of education. (Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute 2-4). DISCUSSION There are many wonderful things about living in the United States, unfortunately the educational system is probably not one of them; at least not as it presently exists. Statistically speaking American students are scoring incredibly low on comprehension, reading, spelling, and mathematics. There are an underwhelming number of high school graduates receiving diplomas every year and even fewer ultimately attend higher education. On an international level the statistics are not much better. According to Gary Jason, in an article for “American Thinker,” we continuously rank far behind and below other comparable nations, like China, France, and Germany, in the most basic and elementary of academic subjects (1). In general, American students tested are ranking at 32nd place in mathematics, 17th place in reading ability and comprehension, and 5th in the number of higher education degrees earned by American students (Strauss 1). In parts of Europe education has a higher value than it does in modern America. For example the opportunity to go to college is something that a student has to earn. They are tested and those students who excel are considered college material and those that are not are directed to consider trade schools. This benefits the intelligent, competent, and capable in that they will never have to limit the complexity of what they are learning because the less successful student needs an oversimplified explanation. Unfortunately, these statistics are not improving and there are no simple solutions because there are contributing factors that all must be addressed in order for effective improvements and reforms to be successful (Jason 1). Lack of Educational Funding One of the most serious issues with the education system in the United States is the quality of the learning environments. American schools themselves all across the United States are not equal in what they can provide their students. Certain schools receive more funding than others and other schools suffer. This lack of funding impedes the quality of education, the morale of the students, and the investment of the teachers and staff. It is no surprise those schools with the most limited funds, the most need of improvement, and those located in economically depressed communities are the very schools whose statistics are at the lowest. There is a direct correlation between the success of the students and the quality and opportunities available with the educational environment. American public schools have been struggling all across the country for a long time and the situation was only made worse, during the most recent economic crisis from which the country has yet to recover, when funding normally intended for public education was decreased. We were one of only five countries that sacrificed and already struggling educational system and created even more hardship and only contributes to the continually lowering statistics to embarrassing new lows (Strauss 1), Lazy Students & Underpaid Teaching When children 30, 40, or 100 years ago attended school learning required memorization, real research, and schoolwork was written out by hand by each and every student. We live in the technology age where the answer to any question can be found at the click of a button, copied and pasted, and requires little need to remember as the information can always be retrieved again when needed from computers. Information is so common and easy to come by that many children have no real respect for the value of knowledge and education, in fact, many school age children perceive school as a punishment and burden. This lack of interest and concern has tainted children’s ability to view school as something important, especially when many are attending public schools with incredibly limited funds and poor quality of education. Unfortunately the teachers in American schools, also, have lost the drive to teach and inspire students to achieve; students do not appreciate them, respect them, and their efforts are hardly rewarded by the salary they traditionally receive. In fact, teachers are one of the lowest paid professional fields in the United States; on average non-professional laborers are actually making a better living the majority of the teachers in the United States. To add insult to injury many of these underpaid instructors find themselves purchasing needed classroom supplies out of pocket in order to give the children a better educational experience. Between the disinterest of students and the under appreciation and underpayment of teachers within the public school settings only continues to perpetuate a vicious cycle that will never help to improve the current condition of American schools (Strauss 1). Lack of Fairness in Grading Systems In many schools of different educational levels have long incorporated the concept of grading students based on a class averaging or based on a predetermined grading goals; like I will only award 2 As, 3 Bs, and 1 C. This kind of grading approaches is completely unfair to strong students and far too forgiving of students who do not do nearly as well. This ideology has been strengthened by the ideas that children who are not as successful at school academically should not receive the poor grades that they earn and the students that excel academically achievements are diminished in favor in grade equality. This is causing terrible trends in the mentality of many students in junior high, high school, and even at the University level (Shattan 1).The students who work the hardest to achieve the highest grades are being punished in order to make the students who do not bother to study or may not academically belong in a class due to a lack of comprehension of the material will not receive grades that may make them “feel bad.” It becomes even more of an issue when gifted children, who are capable of far more than the average intellectually capabilities of other children of their age group, higher age groups, or academic level. These children are often separated into classes than offer a greater challenge to the children most capable, however, children who fall behind their peer groups, show low test scores, and limited comprehension are not separated, but the strong students are expected to compensate for the short comings of others (Subotnik, and et. al 1). So not only are the students who are too lazy or educationally not capable of handling the material not putting in any effort, those dedicated students are being taken advantage of. Eventually even the overachievers start to stop trying when they are unable to relish in their academic successes. Lowering of Educational Expectations The curriculum of public schools in the United States has also been continuing to plummet over the last several decades. Today we simplify and oversimplify information so that it requires little complex thinking, advanced vocabulary, or independent interpretation. Which translates into less and less expectations placed upon the students to retain or interact with what they are learning. In fact, modern studies are starting to reflect the economic cost of the lowering of educational expectations is presenting itself at the college level. Universities and college campuses are paying larger and larger per student costs in order to educate them on the subjects that they should have learned in high school (Subotnik, and et. al 1). Students at the high school are graduating with the equivalent knowledge of an 8th grader 30 years ago. (Jason 1). This lowering of expectations is making it harder and harder for American public schools to produce successful students. This lowering of “the bar” favors an ideology of meeting the requirements of providing the education but caring little about the quality of that education being offered, which means allowing students who are less successful to graduate when they have do not deserve the reward and making eager students feel underappreciated and are sacrificed to benefit underachievers. This will never create positive learning environments for anyone involved. ISSUES & SOLUTIONS There are a lot of contributory issues that all require addressing before tangible improvements and reforms can be made. If America wants to salvage its schools it needs to restore their support and funding in order to address the needs of the schools that have suffered the most. In order to rekindle the eagerness and inspiration in the educators is to increase the pay; that reflects their value as teachers and the importance they play in the future of your children (Dawoody 9). If the United States hopes to elevate the statistics and join other countries in providing the quality education that every student deserves to have in this country, regardless of race, gender, and economic dispositions. Education must be reinstated as something of value and that challenges the youth to think, critically evaluate, and problem solve instead of continuously lowering the bar making the level achievement easier and easier to achieve; if there is not challenge then how can we hope for the youth to learn anything. Finally it would be beneficial to reevaluate the how students are assigned to the classes they are assigned and how the work completed is graded and attributed (Stansbury 2). It may be necessary to segregate the gifted students from the average students and students who are unwavering under achievers so that the challenges are equal to the individual intelligences of the students, by doing this the concern of upsetting underachievers by awarding them the poor grades they deserve would be eliminated. (Subotnik and et. al 1).This way the overachievers are not penalized for those who are intellectually less, while students who struggle more is never rewarded for achievements they did not actually achieve. CONCLUSION In the end the United States remains one of the most amazing countries in the world to call home, however it is far from a perfect country for a lot of reasons. The educational system in the United States has the potential to provide all American children, teens, and young adults the most progressive, innovative, and inspiring educational opportunities of any nation in the world. First, however it must acknowledge and attend to the flaws that are plaguing the education system and reevaluate and reform from the ground up and create something new that has the right funding, the right goals, a real investment in the educators, and the ethical interest of every America student from every walk of life. That is the ultimate and most important goal. We can relieve ourselves of the contributing factors that are bringing down and continuing to decrease the quality, success, and statistics of the reality of the educational system in America. Ultimately, making these changes, addressing the flaws, and improving the education system in America is an incredibly essential and worthwhile endeavor. WORK CITED Dawoody, Alexander R. . "A Complexity Response to Funding Public Education." Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal. 13.3 (2008): 1-9. Print. Jason , Gary. "The Continuing Disgrace of U.S. Education." American Thinker. 10 Sep 2011: 1. Web. 6 May. 2014. . Shattan, Michael B. "Moving Past Grading on the Curve – The Right Way." United States Military Academy. (2010): 1-6. Print. Stansbury, Meris. "The pros and cons of U.S. education." ESchool News. 18 Jan 2013: 1-2. Web. 6 May. 2014. . Strauss, Valerie. "Where U.S. stands in education internationally — new report." Washington Post 25 June 2013, 1. Web. 6 May. 2014. . Subotnik, Rena F., and et. al. "Rethinking Giftedness and Gifted Education: A Proposed Direction Forward Based on Psychological Science." Association for Psychological Science. (2011): 1. Print. http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/journals/pspi/rethinking-giftedness-and-gifted-education.html Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute,. "A Brief History of Education in America." Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute. (2014): 1-2. Print. 6 May. 2014. Read More