Just by looking at it, we have elementary schools all the way up to colleges just like any other nation. But if we were to ask random questions to the American public, they would majority answer it incorrect. In comparison with other nations, we are fairly behind in education and technology. I do admit that both the national and state government is trying to improve our education, but not necessarily enough. The introduction of Pre-AP and AP classes to improve and expand the learnings of students is one of the steps taken, but these classes are only voluntary and are not required. As long as the government attempts to create more ways to improve our education to exceed other nations, then we could possibly increase our chances of leading in education insteaed of being behind of other nations.
So when we think about it, how far are we from other nations? Elaine Wu says "In a 2003 study conducted by UNICEF that took the averages from five different international education studies, the researchers ranked the United States No. 18 out of 24 nations in terms of the relative effectiveness of its educational system." Wow, we're not even at the halfway mark. What nations could have beaten us in education? In many studies, Finland, Australia, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, Netherlands and the United Kingdom beat the United States, while the Asian nations of South Korea, Japan and Singapore ranked first through third, respectively. We are suppose to be a very prosperous nation, but by looking at the results of school. Our future kids might not be able to keep that title for us.
Not that America isn't spending much for education, actually by international standards, the United States spends a lot of money on education, and in terms of class sizes, a lot of countries that do well have larger class sizes than the United States. The United States focuses more on procedure, and we try to teach many topics fast. Other countries tend to break topics up and go much more in-depth. They work on the concept, not just the procedure! Maybe we're rushing things and trying to be the nation with the MOST knowledge, but really in the end our in-dept analysises are weak. Maybe If we were to uptake the methods of other nations and advance their techniques, would could easily eliminate the problem of us being so far behind of other nations.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I could not agree more with your views “Yo.” America’s education is slipping down the drain more and more these days compared to other nations. Your conclusion that America is mostly focused on the “procedure” and not the “concept” like other nations could not be any more true. I would always remember in my classes, my teacher would always show me methods of solving problems but rarely would they ever tell me why we do the problem (assuring me that i would know why later). After completing grades one through 12 a couple of years ago and comparing it to my college experience, I realized that there were many more teachers in high school that were just not as motivated to really teach the students as in college. It seemed as if the high school teachers just wanted to focus on meeting their daily agenda to where college professors really wanted to push the envelope on education and leave students with a new perspective. It also angers me how certain high schools spend their money given to them to increase their student’s performances. I love the way some schools like Pflugerville offered $100 upon completing a three or four on AP tests. Although the students should be compelled to further themselves for their own satisfaction, this method has proven more beneficial to students’ performances instead of building a new track or gym. There are many problems with our educational system and the system is not completely at fault for it’s the parents’ responsibility to help motivate the child. All that is certain is that the system needs to be changed.
Post a Comment