Assignment 17 - Jonathan Tungate

Education in American Schools

Jonathan Tungate

America has always been fighting to be at the top of the world. We strive to lead other countries and nations in technological and cultural advances, however, if we are to continue to be competitive in the world scene, we need to depend on the next generation of Americans more than ever. While this makes sense that we need our students to excel in the classroom in order to do this, is has become apparent our school system hasn't gotten the memo on getting students prepared for the increasingly competitive and challenging work force. Our education system in America is not keeping up with the world in preparing students for a productive future, and it is starting to show compared to other world powers.

Law professor Marino Cuellar from Stanford News says it best with "We have a staggering Achievement gap at home - The achievement gap between children from high and low income families is 30 percent to 40 percent larger among children born in 2001 than among those born 25 year earlier." Clearly, we are heading in the complete wrong direction. For a country that prides itself on equality and freedom, we are not giving very much of that to these children from lower income areas, that aren't getting the same education as students from higher income bracket schools are. Our public education was set with the intent of setting an equal stage, to show what every child can do and allow them the opportunity to go as far as they can go. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said, "In Illinois, for example, high-poverty districts typically spend one-third less than low-poverty districts." Telling us, that there is a huge disparity between schools, and this is just one example. Think of all the schools around the country we think are all on an equal platform of learning, that really are extremely behind. If we cannot uphold this value of an equal learning platform between our schools, then the system we have now needs some real change in order to function properly, for the sake of the students.

Everyone in this room has been working hard all year to get good grades. Spending a whole day at school, and a few more hours at home on homework and studying. As a student our days fly by just being focused on school, except for a day or two a week. Unless you have finals to study for and a speech to write. All of these hours are being put towards a number. But what is that number actually representing for you? How many assignments you've turned in this semester, or maybe how smart you are in that subject area. But the number is fickle. Having students learning just for a grade is not beneficial to students success. Butler and Nissan from the Journal of Education Psychology conclude that "Grades, may encourage and emphasis on quantities aspects of learning, depress creativity, foster fear of failure, and undermine interest itself." Think about your own motives in being a student the whole year, do you go to class and turn in every assignment, and ace every test because you really enjoy learning something that you can use for the rest of your life? Or because you need to learn enough material to get an A on the next test, to bump your class grade, then to bump up your GPA. If students are to take pride in their work, and take on harder tasks instead of easier ones for the grade, big change needs to happen.

The world Economic Forum ranks the U.S. 48th in math and science education, an unacceptable standing considering our place. The realization of being this far behind the world might just be the kick start we need to get us moving in the right direction again. Education is the place to start if we want to catch up to the rest of the world. Students now will be the future of the nation later, and what students do you want running the country in just a few years? Smart and educated ones, confident in the knowledge they've received and ready to put it to good use in the real world.  A few changes will make a big difference in how students learn, and what they can do with their education. Rather than just securing a grade in a class, we need to be securing knowledge for a future career. Firmly establishing equal funding between schools, and giving every student the resources they need will push us into the front of the pack, making the U.S. a world leader once again.

Bibliography

1) Klein, Joel. "The Failure of American Schools." The Atlantic. N.p., 26 Apr 2011. Web. 7 Jun 2013. <http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/06/the-failure-of-american-schools/308497/>.\

2) Berlin, Steve. "The U.S. Education System Is Not Failing."Learning First Alliance. N.p., 8 Mar 2013. Web. 7 Jun 2013. <http://www.learningfirst.org/us-education-system-not-failing>.

3) Donald, Brooke. "Inequality in schools threatens U.S. prosperity, Stanford scholars say." Stanford News. (2013): n. page. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. <http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/february/education-equity-report-022013.html>.

4) Kohn, Alfie. "GRADING The Issue Is Not How but Why."Educational Leadership. n. page. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. <http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/grading.htm>.

5) Reeves, Richard. "Funding Gaps in Public Schools Real Problem for Social Mobility, Not Parents’ Giving."Brookings. (2013): n. page. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. <http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/social-mobility-memos/posts/2013/09/06-funding-gaps-public-schools-problem-reeves>.