Thoughts on the education system in the U.S.A. and any suggestions for imporvements???

Question

Thoughts on the education system in the U.S.A. and any suggestions for imporvements???

Answer 1

you could write a whole book about what needs to be done ; in addition to the things that could be done.  The dream would be smaller classrooms, but that's expensive and hasn't actually been proved to be cost-effective.  I guess the nation's founders did the best they could to get the main goal accomplished...."universal education".  It's true that everyone is America gets to go to school for free and that's pretty cool.

Answer 2

trackign an different types of courses like in europe. not everyone goes to the top colleges to do subjects- there should be colleges for other industries- if u ar interested in non academics that should be fine

i was brought up in britain and even for high school we have several types of exams  to graduate.

the 3 levels of gcses at 16.

1/2 advanced leves and whole a levels

streaming needs to happen at middle school like in germany. i have  known several students who wont get to precalculus to graduate so they should be offered an alternative.

I currently work at a school that focusses on differentiation - we are a small rigorous school and thats the key as you feel as though students are contributing ot society and not just a number.

Answer 3

1) On average a US student will spend significantly less time in the classroom than their European or Asian counterparts.

For example, European students spend at 30-40 days more per year in school based on shorter holidays alone, and they have longer days. While students in China and Japan go to school 6 days a week and have much shorter summer vacations and longer days, too (Chinese students study from 8am to 5:30 PM not including extra classes), they also often attend private classes after school or on Sundays. This puts US students at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to competing on the world stage.

When Europeans and Asians say that they think that American's are less intelligent they are not being Anti-American, by the time an Asian student is about 15 they've had the equivalent education to a US student at 18. While a European student 16 at is about equivalent to an American student has at 18. It's no joke, An English student graduates at 16 and can go to college at 16.

2) American schools also put too much emphasis on individual learning (private study, term papers, etc), this means that students can have widely varying levels of knowledge. Especially for children who can't get to libraries or don't have access to the internet. More time needs to be spent learning in the classroom.

3) The US education system is too focused on the US. Children grow up with some really weird ideas about foreign countries, cultures, and customs.

4) US schools also need to stream students based on ability. As it is bright students and not so bright students share the same classroom. This means that the material taught must be targeted to an average level, leaving brightest students wasting time waiting everybody to catch up, while the least bright students are pushed forwards too fast and miss out on an educatio for want of a bit more time.

Answer 4

Great question: Honestly, I think it's horrible if it's not already it will be. At least from my experience. The teachers had no control of the students. They ran the show. You have no idea what we got away with. I think I spent more time watching movies at school than at home, than learning. The funny thing is we didn't even watch different movies..usually the same ones over and over and over again.

Looking back it ANGERS ME. Because I had all that time in school to learn and to better myself and be prepared for college and for the world out there and I left school feeling unprepared like it was a waste of time. I wish I had been homeschooled. My dad is very smart and I know he could have done a better shop teaching me than the teachers there. It was a small school maybe small budge but JAMES OLMOS had worse conditions and taught a lot more!

Suggestions: First, I think teachers should get paid more. Why are celebrities gettting paid thousands with 5-10 cars and big mansions...thier entertaining for gods sake. Their not doctors saving the world or teachers educating children...aren't we wrong here....paying more for entertaining instead of paying our heroes or TRUE LEADERS? The other thing is I think teachers need to be more strict, almost military style not mean but have things in order and prepare students with subjects they need and real life situations. They should learn in High School the basics of EVERYTHING...they should learn accounting, typing, programs like EXCEL, ACCESS, the basics what you need to get a good entry job. There also needs to be better physical education and I don't mean dodge ball and hitting each other I mean talking to them about health, about their bodies, and putting them in groups by weight and then letting them work out with their own weight group so they won't be made fun of or feel out of place at least until they reach a target weight or everyones about average. There are a lot of things that we need to do and I think we need to start thinking about changing the way our students are being educated. Specially in small, low-budget schools.

Answer 5

The public education system in the U.S. has failed. It has failed catastrophically and completely.

However, the problem with the educational system really lies outside of the system itself. The root of the whole problem is the deterioration of the society, beginning with the family. We will always have the educational system that parents demand. Unfortunately, the majority of parents don’t make their kid’s education a priority. Hell’s bells, most parents today make their child’s well being a distant second to doing whatever “fulfills” the parent – we are a breathtakingly selfish generation. Witness the outrageous divorce rate today. Do what’s best for our kids? “Screw ‘em, I’m not happy, so I’m leavin’”.

I could (and others have) write a book on the subject, but when kids come from broken, dysfunctional, utterly screwed-up homes and enter a schools filled with politically correct, under-educated indoctrinators (instead of teachers), why are we surprised with the result?

We once had the greatest educational system on the planet, truly the envy of the world. Stop all the progressive, neo-nonsensical educational theory and get back to what once worked wonders not so long ago. Strong families sending well-adjusted, well-disciplined children into schools whose priority was teaching the skills necessary to think critically.

Answer 6

I agree....I think the problem lies in the breakdown of the family.  some of this breakdown comes from the fact that it now often takes both parents working full time to make ends meet.  So then who is there, with enough energy left over, to make sure the kids are doing their homework etc.?

Parents used to support teachers without question.  As a kid, I can remember being terrified if the teacher said they were going to call home.  The punishment there would have been far worse than what that school could have done to me--and no they didn't get physical.  Nowadays, the parents support the child's every action, it seems, without question.  I can't tell you how many times I have had parents argue with me because Little Johnny says he didn't do it.  Ridiculous.

I once had a student hit me in the arm, which in Illinois is aggravated battery (teachers are authority figures according to the law, just as are police officers,etc.)  The 8th grade boy was suspended for 10 days, and rightly so.

At the next school board meeting, I had to go and defend MY actions, as the mother demanding a meeting.  What were my actions?  Not allowing it to happen to me without consequences?

It was just a perfect example of the breakdown of the authority of teachers, which is rooted in the breakdown of the family.

Answer 7

We need to get the politicians out of the education business and turn it back over to the people who were trained to educate.  The assumption that a person who went to school knows how to run one is basically as flawed as the idea that someone who has flown on a plane should be the pilot.

Secondly, there needs to be a return to holding students accountable for their learning.  Teachers teach, and students learn.  It is time to hold the teachers accountable for their teaching and the students accountable for their learning.

Answer 8

NCLB law has made education in USA horrible. Even though this law mandates that all kids in schools are to be at grade level in reading and math, there are more kids than ever dropping out or graduating illiterate. Why??

Because instead of schools actually teaching the kids how to do math and read, they are cheating and changing the kids state tests scores, and other things just so they can get the money from NCLB.

Get rid of NCLB.

Answer 9

Give more scholarships and give more second chances. I can't believe that if you mess up in high school and do good in college that isn't very good, you can't really get into a medical school.