What Happened To Education In The U.S How is it that one of the most powerful and advance countries in the world can be doing so poorly when it comes to something as important as it's educational system. The United States seems to be falling further and further behind when compared to many other countries of similar or equal stature. According to the Kapi'o Newspress, "researchers ranked the United States No. 18 out of 24 nations in terms of the relative effectiveness of its educational system"(The Kapio's Newspress). Obviously whatever forms of education teachers are using to teach their students are clearly not working when statistic's are showing that the results are only getting worse year after year. Two major parts of the US education system that are weakening the most are the mathematic and science fields. According to the Kapi'o Newspress, "the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, shows a steady decline in the performance of American students from grades 4 to 12 in comparison to their peers in other countries"(CBS News). There must be more emphasis on educating children in these subjects from a younger age so that by the time they are in high school they have a solid foundation.
Overall, the American educational system has many problems that need attention. Whenever there is any type of problem, the first thing that the government does to try to fix it is throw money at the problem. "Even the Bill and Melinda Gate's Foundation gave over 2 billion dollars towards public high school to try to improve education levels"(Bill and Melinda Gates). Although more then 2 billion was spent on education, the results were minimal. Some say that money is not the solution to this problem and some say that not enough money is being used or is available . However, "since many states are facing budget shortfalls, the federal government needs to provide more money to help them meet the law's requirements, said CEP Director Jack Jennings"(CNN Education). The money being provided is not nearly enough to reach the expectations of the state. Students are still not learning what they should be even though money is being forced into the equation. To make matters worse, most students are not learning as much as they use to and are continuing to learn less. In order to raise test scores and overall performance in class rooms all around the nation, teachers need to introduce even the most basic subjects from a younger age. Not only must the subjects be introduced from a younger age but teacher must slow down and teach these subject step by step. This is in the sense that students would have time to really grasp the concept's.
Especially when it comes to teaching a subject such as math, teachers must pace themselves in a way that students understand what is going on in the present before advancing to more difficult topics. It seems that teachers these days are so worried about sticking to the lesson plan's enforced by the government. As a result, teachers don't have the time to go back and explain topics that the students don't understand because they are worried about falling behind each day. The idea of moving on is pointless since all they are doing is adding more on top and only making the students more confused when they didn't understand it to begin with. Students who need further help can receive there help through the Obama and Biden plan. "Obama and Biden will recruit math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession and will support efforts to help teachers learn from professionals in the field"(Obama Biden). This will give students additional help with the subjects they have difficulty with.
Although there is a steady decline in the overall status of education in the U.S, there are some idea's for how to make all this change. "The Obama-Biden "Zero to Five" plan seem's like a step forward toward introducing children to subjects such as math and science from a earlier age"(Obama Biden). Other countries have been able to rise to the level they are currently at education wise since they have always use these means of teaching their children. If the United States wants to raise test scores in subjects such as math and science, they must first make them their number one priority. Not only is it the matter of encouraging students to work harder in these subjects but also to stay in school in general. "A recent study by the Department of Education found that 31 percent of American students were dropping out or failing to graduate in the nation's largest 100 public school districts"(ABC News). More and more students are dropping out of high school. "Some 1.2 million high school students are dropping out before finishing their 4 years of high school"(World Socialist Website). When you take a look at the literacy side of education, there is no real difference there either. "Studies have shown that more then 32 million people in the US cannot read anything more then a childrens picture book. That comes out to about one in every seven people cannot read any more advance peaces of literature"(World Socialist Website). Hopefully the new President's plan's for education will be able to regenerate the education system as a whole in the United States so that the entire country can get back in the game. By introducing gradute students and other advance personnel from the fields of math, science and literature students can get a better understanding in all subjects. It is to the benefit of everyone that we help all students around the U.S to do better in school.
Work Cited
Wu, Elaine. "U.S. Falls In Education Rank When Compared To Other Countries," The Kapio's Newspress, 17 Jan. 2009. http://kapio.kcc.hawaii.edu/upload/fullnews.php?id=52
Lagorio, Christine. " US Education Slips In Ranking." CBS New, 17 Jan. 2009
www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/13/national/main838207.shtml
Wallis, Claudia." Bill and Melinda Gates Go Back To School." 15 Jan. 2009
http://publication.samachar.com/pub_article.php
"Group Gives Education Bill a C," 2003. CNN Educaiton. 15 Jan. 2009
http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/01/03/education.funding/index.html?iref=newssearch
"Education" 2008. Obama Biden. 15 Jan. 2009
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/education
Pierre, Thomas. " Students Dropping Out of High School Reaches Epidemic Levels," ABC News, Jan 14. 2009. http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2667532
Grey, Barry. "High school drop-out rate in major US cities at nearly 50 percent," World Socialist Website, Jan 15. 2009. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/apr2008/scho-a03.shtml |