On Fixing American Education

Over the last couple of years of teaching, I've noticed some things about the current educational paradigm that might be changed to improve overall outcomes. I am by no means an expert, but everyone's entitled to their own opinion, right?

Over the course of the last 40 years, there have been several pieces of legislation that have changed the face of schools to make them more accessible to all people, both physically and educationally. I believe that every person should be given a chance at a quality education. And that is the basis of all of my views: EVERYONE is entitled to a quality education. It is relatively easy to provide a quality education to those willing to learn or those with a talent for learning. It is much more difficult to provide it for those not willing or for those who don't have as much of a talent for learning. This legislation has been aimed primarily at these students, from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

The unintended consequences of these acts are, in my opinion, the biggest thing that has damaged the educational system. Teachers have been required by law to accommodate the needs of classrooms filled with students whose abilities range so greatly that in a single period they would be hard pressed to address all of their needs. For instance, in a single classroom, I have students with (based on lexile scores) a beginner's reading level all the way up to students with a 6th grade reading level. They obviously don't all have the same needs. Traditionally, teachers would teach to the middle and try to find ways to enrich the curriculum for higher achievers and provide added scaffolding for lower achievers. This approach, however, often resulted in the bottom of the class never really reaching grade level performance. Thus NCLB put pressure on teachers to help students from the bottom to pass state tests and reach grade level. Is this something that should be done? Absolutely! Everyone should be given the chance at a quality education. But the unintended consequence has been the those higher achievers get less attention and begin to stagnate and/or have behavioral problems due to boredom.

What's my solution? While in Japan, I was acquainted with the education system, particularly for secondary education. Things were very competitive, and students spent long hours studying. Why? Because 8th grade is the only thing that's guaranteed. There are many levels of high schools, each with a different emphasis and academic standard, and each has an entrance exam. Every student will end up getting placed in some sort of high school. What I like about this system is that each student is getting an education that is at their level. Additionally, students work extremely hard to get into as good of a high school as possible because it matters what high school you graduate from. I'm not saying this system is perfect, but I believe that something like this is better than what we do now, and it better provides for the individual needs not only of the low achieving students, but of the high achievers as well.

American Education

I've been thinking about the education system in the US and why it has been turning out students that are less prepared for college compared to their foreign counterparts. There are of course those structural arguments that the way we set up our education system is completely different than the way they do in most countries. We try to educate everyone, even those who will have no hope of living independently and holding down a job. However, I've been concerned lately with cultural factors more lately.

I may be teaching in a school that represents the extreme for this, but it seems that students in the US don't take their educations seriously. Going to school is something they have to do, for most of them. If they weren't forced to be there, they wouldn't be. Contrast that with some other countries, where students take their educations very seriously, going early, coming home late, and going to a tutor in between. By the time they get to college, they have spent more time on scholastic achievement than the average American college graduate. It's no wonder there are far more students overseas that are interested in math and science, because they have lived and breathed it for the previous 12 years.

I heard the results of a troubling study recently. The study said that the rising generation will likely be the first generation in US history that is less educated, less successful, and poorer than the previous generation. I don't think this has much to do with the teachers being trained, but more with the students' willingness to learn.