I created a Google Form Survey and asked my peers to please take the time to answer the questions honestly. I received 28 responses from high school, freshman's, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. They needed to be brought to the discussion as well. I tried to get as many responses as I could to collect as many perspectives as I could.
The responses my peers gave are important because there is a mixture of different schools and perspectives here. Not every student experiences or needs the same things as the student next to them, but that is almost never accounted for. The understanding is that, yes, we do not live in a utopia and we cannot reach the definition of perfect at its capacity, but we can make it the best we possibly can, and that, the end of the day, is all the students and teachers in this state are asking for.
These are their responses:
This question was the most interesting to me. I didn't expect that many people to respond "No". This graph was also daunting because it shows that the students do, in fact, recognize their experience is more of an after thought than a priority.
School is designed to not be a fun thing, but it should not be a complete drag and feel like a chore. In other questions in the survey, a lot of students mention the fact, that, a big part of the appeal of school is the social life they have curated there. The prospect of learning is only mentioned once in all responses. School is no longer whether or not you gain something out of it, it has become more of a survival game. Can you, an unequipped student, be one of the 81.3% of students that walks across the stage in May, or will you fall beneath the cracks and be deemed a "lost cause"? A lot of these students probably don't know the exact statistics, but experiences in the system have painted the picture with enough color and detail to understand.
Though the sample is small, this chart shows that students understand how important advanced placement classes are when thinking about college. Below this, if they had selected any answer besides "No", they had to explain why they take these classes.
Lisbeth Guzman, a Senior said, "Honestly I like the people that are in those classes I feel as if they take education seriously and want to succeed. I feel comfortable and therefore I take those classes." Lisbeth has been taking advanced placement classes ever since the school allowed her to. She's one of many students, including myself, that sees the difference between on-level and advanced placement classes. A lot of responses had to do with the disservice on-level can provide.
Another very common reason was due to the fact they open more doors for college opportunities and it looks very good on paper. Vincent, a Sophomore, said, "I take these classes in order to improve upon my future whether it be for college or a resume."
This shows that there is a desire instilled in a lot of students to further their education.
Samantha, a LVHS Junior, also said, "I take them because they give me a GPA boost and AP's are a cheaper way of earning college credit."
This further proves it. Nevada is not a lost cause, this can be helped. Acknowledging that students are aware of what they want is key to a fruitful discussion.
All of the responses below are from the survey conducted:
Yes and no, education is low in Nevada and it sucks but if I’m being honest I don’t mind it and accept for what it is.'
I do not believe so but I feel like Nevada makes the options known
Yes because we are one of the lowest im education out of the 50 states. Our ACT score is also below average compared to other states.
No because you need schools everywhere?
I am not sure, but i do know that Nevada is ranked one of the lowest states for education
I believe that the way the schooling is handled in Nevada is a great disadvantage from the rest of the United States, considering the fact that we are ranked 49th in education out of the 50 states.
Sometimes
Yes because when schools are choosing candidates they’re probably more likely to choose a candidate with the same stats as myself if they go to school in a state where the academic ranking is higher.
No not really, I feel like mostly everyone is given the same opportunity and it’s up to you if you want to take it
Yes, the way the school environment can be can cause students to lack motivation especially if there are teachers who only read off slides instead of actually teaching and doing group projects and activities. Also teachers who do random seating charts can take away from students that work better with people they know.
No
Yes because of the education system
Nah
We are the second lowest school in the nation
I think I am at a disadvantage most because I didn't start to care about my grades until this year and it's not what the school did it's what my friends did.
No
Yes, because it’s Nevada. We are already low in the education system as we are 45-50 in the country, so we are already at a disadvantage, plus we are extremely short staffed
Not really, i don’t really know what it’s like in other states.
I do not think i am at a disadvantage
Yes since we’re one of the lowest educated states in the US.
Not really. School is school, no matter where you are, classes are always going to be hard. But it can be beneficial to your career, college, scholarships, etc.
Yes because a lot of schools only care about the bare minimum to help us graduate
Yes the teachers and staff don't help or think about that the kids have lives outside of schools and we all learn differently
I don't think I'm at a disadvantage because I go to school in Nevada, as long as I try.
No
I believe I am at a disadvantage because Nevada is ranked very low in education and I believe we can and be better than that.
Yeah, Nevada is at one of the lowest ranking for education in the US.
Personally I like going to school and seek a career in education as I view education right now there are possible ways to improve and I would like to be a factor in improving education.
Although school may be hard it has taught me to not accept things you get the first time and just keep trying until you get it right.
I plan on going to college and I feel like my school doesn’t really show or give me option that could help me get to a college or anything of the sort
No I don't plan I’m going to college schooling has made me not want to go nor has it done a good job of keeping it interesting. However I do see now that secondary education is still needed.
I think school has not changed my view of the work because they only want to teach me what they want to teach me not what I need to know
I feel like anywhere can make college feel like a step of a future but for students that’s not the case. I’m going because i want to enhance my learning and hopefully I can get a career out of it but because of my own interest and not school
Going to school has given me an idea somewhat so that school is an enjoyable yet necessary process to go through including college.
It hasn’t affected my views on my secondary education because high school and college are very different. as a senior in high school, I'm taking many duel enrollments I can to get my degree early. the school overall is very disorganized. The affects my perspective of nevada as not an educational state. comparing to east coast, they have a higher rank of education.
I have sort of a mixed opinion on school. Post-secondary education has almost always been forced upon me and it feels like I have no other choice if I want to be successful which causes tremendous amounts of stress as well as a fear of actually pursuing further education because of the expenses that come with it.
I do plan to go go college and i dont like i could have an affect on the world but I don’t think I would make it worse I’m just here to enjoy life while I can I feel like school can teach us a little bit more about life like how to do our taxes what’s the best ways to invest etc.
I do plan on going to college, I may be able to affect my community with the career I want to pursue. School makes me realize that not everyone has the same way of learning things or that some people can never fully understand others well.
I don't wanna go to college but i can definitely affect the world
You don’t need education if you want to make it anywhere in life.
The education system has heavily pushed me to attend college saying things like it’s necessary to receive a good playing job.
They got me thinking about joining the army.
No.
I think the way the education system has affected me is just to be more independent because they're not going to give me resources I need to help me succeed I had a friend show me a program that can help get me to where I want to be and all they have given me is stress
By changing our behaviors.
I would want to go to college, but the way my experience at school has been is making me second guess that, school is so emotionally and mentally draining to the point where it feels like a chore.
The education system has prepared me and made me stronger for challenges up ahead. I don’t plan to go to college though because there’s other opportunities outside.
I do plan to go to college, but the way the education system has changed my views on the world as a whole is that i won’t be able to make it in life if I don’t study hard enough or i won’t be able to make it into college because i’m not good enough. I know I'm not the only person who feels this way even though I am trying my best in school and doing everything I can to be as good as I can be. it’s hard for me to talk about going to college because school has made me think that I’m just not good enough to go and that’s it. if I find it hard to talk about, I know there’s a tremendous amount of people who haven’t talked about it and just decided they’re not going to college for this reason. I know this because last year I didn’t want to go to college at all because school made me feel like I wasn’t going to be able to accomplish anything so the “why am I going to try” mindset started, and I still have it to this day.
I plan to go to college. School makes me feel like I will not affect the world.
I feel that it could be better. More discipline in some areas. Schools should be understanding at times when it comes to situations like at home, etc.
I don’t want to go to college because I feel unprepared and I don’t want to waste money on classes I won’t understand.
School has made me feel like I can't do anything I'm not prepared at all i have no direction and no one can help.
Yes and no because the school system can show me a lot of things.
I believe this education system has made me not want to go to college because of the stress they have already applied on us. We have no freedom or time for extra curriculum activities, hobbies, or mental breaks. I believe this system has a lot to do with money as well and most education now in high school is not useful for the future.
School definitely affects my way of thinking because I was always told that I need the best grades to get into a college and that without college I won’t be successful and that is why I plan on going to college, to become a change in my family.
I think I can affect the world by possibly speaking for animals and global warming.
All of the responses below are from the survey conducted:
I think better supplies including technology and books and having a happy feel to it.
Just more Involved teaching for my ap class it’s like he just shows us how to do it once then after that it’s up to us to make full sense of it
Later start time and more teachers that actually care about your future.
By teaching us stuff that actually matters like how to start a business or how to manage money efficiently
There could be more better emotional support and better counselors i feel sometimes the counselors don’t care as much or don’t put people on the right paths
I believe the school experience can much be improved with simple quality of life changes such as the removal of strictness when it comes to the rules(Dress code for example). As well as better educational support outside of the class.
Trusted adult (counselors), better teaching skills for students that have different ways of learning, better lunch, etc.
Better and even funding to all the programs that are offered at school (such as the arts). As well as providing a better system to combat racism, homophobia, transphobia, etc.
Like I said before just a class or a couple of class to help us with the outside world maybe start at a little later start time but other than that I like school.
Later smart times, better communication, less seating charts
Better start times.
Better lessons.
If I had more options for electives or ap classes.
If school started more later I could be mentally awake for my first period.
no I can never improve.
The way I think my and others experience at school can be improved is by helping with actually problems like suicide we don't want a man riding a bike and doing tricks we need resources and people we can trust because students won't go to the school counselor.
Later start times, less strictness.
I do think it can be improved, but teachers won’t do anything about it, well at least the teachers I have. It’s known that students are scared to speak up when they have questions, especially when they think the question is stupid. I just think teachers should be more considerate when students are scared to ask questions.
There can be better emotional support. A lot of us are fighting our own demons per say. Coming home to homework and test the next day can just be tough.
better emotional support. there are a lot of kids out there who are feeling worse about these problems than i am, and they don’t have anybody to talk to. i understand the counselors are there but in these kinds of situations, they aren’t much help to the majority of students
Later start time which the slightly later end time we had last year.
I believe it could be improved by the teaching styles of some teachers and the way they lead their classes.
Better emotional support, more opportunities to learn about different careers.
There needs to be help when your high school years are almost over and it needs to be told to all kids and the teachers need to make more ways off learning than reading a powerpoint
It can be improved by computers and different software.
Better emotional support and understanding, focus on what we really need in the future, take the time to make sure students understand the curriculum.
I think schools should focus on the well being of kids, because it’s just a daily routine of just going to school and most of the time kids don’t have the energy or the hopes of learning something new when thinking about something else, their mental state , whether they need to better their mental health.
Not sure.
All of the responses below are from the survey conducted:
No
Try and do better
It has been getting worse and worse more and more kids are trying less and instead of raising the standards so we can aim higher they lower it making us lazy and making it seem as if everything will be easy when in fact it is completely wrong
They should put more money into the school system and make schools better by teaching us stuff we actually need
It’s alright. I feel like more people have more issues but to me it’s not something I have complaints or compliments.
In my experience of the education system of Nevada it has become relevant to me that the greatest thing about it is the social interactions in which they provide, in which even those can be greatly improved upon.
The educational system in Nevada is the top 49 for education. Teachers are lacking in teaching their students with the subjects that they need to graduate. CCSD hasn’t been focusing on improving teaching skills and mainly been targeting on phone, bathroom, and lunch issues. The safety for all CCSD schools is very low with how the staffs are taking care of their campuses and students. Overall, it’s mostly about money and politics.
Not really. I’ve enjoyed my school life.
It needs improvement, there’s no reason why it should feel draining.
I hate it.
No.
I notice that I have a lot easier time at school here then I did in Chicago.
Nah
I hate it.
It’s okay.
No
No.
Honestly, education wise I’ve been doing good. There’s no flaw to what I learn. The only flaw is how I learn and understand what I am learning about. Sometimes, I don’t really get what is going on and majority of the students as well have that same experience in class. So I believe it’s just the teaching styles that some teachers should improve on that can actually benefit the students learning.
It sucks
It needs to get better
It's a good experience.
School now has become very draining for students and something should be changed
Though our education system is not great, my school definitely tries to find different ways for kids to learn instead of just having them sit down and write on a piece of paper.
No.