Root Cause of US Education System Failure

[kyzr]

Just watching Meet the Press showing that the US is at the bottom of developed countries' for education. The top US 5% of students are still in the lower half of the world's kids.

Why is this? Who has ideas how to improve the US kids' performance?

Is it the teachers? The teacher's unions? The parents? The apparent lack of discipline in schools? The kids are too distracted from studies? The drug culture and societal changes in younger sexuality (i.e. the kids get sexually active younger and studying takes a back-seat to fun in the back-seat)

Could it be that politicians penalized having kids so professionals had fewer kids and only the welfare queens had large families, then did not have the skills to educate or care for their large families?

Lets take a poll....

 

[CrusaderFrank]

U.S. Department of Education

And it's intentional too.

 

[fyrenza]

My sister-in-law is a teacher, and I know for a fact that the schools are Teaching The Tests, i.e. TASP.

When you STANDARDIZE a Performance Test, and base funding upon the results,

you get exactly what we're stuck with ~

students that ONLY know The Answers to those tests, and haven't the vaguest idea of how to THINK nor DEAL in the real world.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Progressives have controlled our educational system and unions and they make sure American students have no connect with their past, no ability to think or act independently and a love for all things big gubbamint

The DoE needs to be burned to the ground

 

[rightwinger]

Could it be that politicians penalized having kids so professionals had fewer kids and only the welfare queens had large families, then did not have the skills to educate or care for their large families?

Idiocracy at work

 

[chanel]

All of the above?

You could include information overload as well. Kids need to learn fractions in 1st grade now so the are ready for pre algebra in the 4th grade. Consequently, half of them can't tell time. We are demanding too much; too soon and if the kids don't get it - oh well. Have to move on.

 

[kyzr]

All of the above?

You could include information overload as well. Kids need to learn fractions in 1st grade now so the are ready for pre algebra in the 4th grade. Consequently, half of them can't tell time. We are demanding too much; too soon and if the kids don't get it - oh well. Have to move on.

The rest of the world's kids are not having capacity issues. Is it that the US education system is broken, or we simply need to make smarter kids?

 

[rdean]

Just watching Meet the Press showing that the US is at the bottom of developed countries' for education. The top US 5% of students are still in the lower half of the world's kids.

Why is this? Who has ideas how to improve the US kids' performance?

Is it the teachers? The teacher's unions? The parents? The apparent lack of discipline in schools? The kids are too distracted from studies? The drug culture and societal changes in younger sexuality (i.e. the kids get sexually active younger and studying takes a back-seat to fun in the back-seat)

Could it be that politicians penalized having kids so professionals had fewer kids and only the welfare queens had large families, then did not have the skills to educate or care for their large families?

Lets take a poll....

It's the right wing.

They want to end the Department of Education.

They don't want to pay for schools.

They don't see the value of education. This has resulted in an enormous drop out rate. PROOF: How could anyone vote for a vice presidential candidate whose daughter is a drop out un wed mother and who rolls her eyes at the teaching profession?

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9lA1s4LUYA]YouTube - sarah palin rolls eyes at teacher[/ame]

Last Saturday, I watched the widow of Carl Sagen get shouted down by two conservatives on a talk show. Apparently, scientists are liars and fools who are not only lazy, but on the take.

When you have half of the country undermining and delegitimizing education, is it any wonder people stop? After all, education is hard work. Calling it a "worthless piece a paper" only makes the situation worse. Rewriting textbooks in Texas is a disaster.

We are seeing the fruits of 30 years of Republicans fighting education and winning.

 

[chanel]

Bullshit. The best schools in NJ are in Republican districts. Gee - I wonder why.

 

[Baruch Menachem]

All of the above?

You could include information overload as well. Kids need to learn fractions in 1st grade now so the are ready for pre algebra in the 4th grade. Consequently, half of them can't tell time. We are demanding too much; too soon and if the kids don't get it - oh well. Have to move on.

Part of social promotion.

In my parent's time, you moved up when you knew the material. Period. End of discussion.

This meant my mom had 16 year old kids in her third grade class.

Also promotion was done twice a year. If you knew the material, you went up. They didn't keep you hanging around folks who couldn't hack the material, so you were wasting your time.

A lot of the times it is the really bright students who are the discipline problems. Kids who are bored are in the mood to create their own excitement.

Rose Friedman, Milton's wife, moved to Portland from Russia when she was 8 or 9. ESL help was only available for a very short time, then you were thrown in to the population at your grade level. It was expected that if you were in America, you spoke the American vulgate because you wanted to be part of this experience. Despite going to kindergarten at age nine, she graduated high school by 16.

The classes really need to be student centered rather than unions centered.

 

[rightwinger]

Actually our schools continue to turn out some of the best students in the world. There is more to education than taking tests. There is creativity, initiative,communication skills, leadership, teamwork....all lead to a productive citizen.

American students have historically done very well when they get into the workforce

 

[jillian]

First, I don't think schools are a failure. I think that is a fallacy that people who want to de-fund education like to repeat incessantly. That said, it could be better. Yes, teachers who don't have to teach are a problem. But I think most teachers DO want to teach. Some just aren't as good at it as others.

I think teaching to the tests is a problem. But a bigger problem is that kids at the extremes of the educational spectrum get the vast majority of resources. If your child is in a G&T program, then he or she gets a huge amount of attention... writing programs, science programs, math programs, regents classes for high school credit even while in middle school.. and constant reinforcement that they will have the best of everything in high school and college and on. To be fair, though, these children also have super-involved parents. They're the members of the parents' association, go to parent/teacher meetings, know what their kids are studying and work on projects and homework with them as necessary. They have usually been reading to their kids from the day they were born.

At the other end of the spectrum are the special needs children. In many cases, these kids don't benefit from any educational programs at all, but receive paraprofessionals and specialized instruction. Often, this is no more than baby-sitting. I don't necessarily have a problem with that, but it's reality. Also, there is a huge amount of money put into special ed programs for kids with educational deficits and things like ADHD. I am all for this because these kids do benefit massively from specialized programs.

However, the kids in the middle and not-quite-the-bottom then fall through the cracks. This is a huge problem. It's also where I think teachers close their eyes and parents aren't involved. You see these kids not graduating from high school or, if they do graduate, not going on to higher education.

Finally, I think the fact that some intentionally try to blur the line between religion and science is a huge problem. When 70% of this country doesn't believe there is such a thing as evolution, we cannot possibly compete with other countries.

 

[jillian]

First, I don't think schools are a failure. I think that is a fallacy that people who want to de-fund education like to repeat incessantly. That said, it could be better. Yes, teachers who don't have to teach are a problem. But I think most teachers DO want to teach. Some just aren't as good at it as others.

I think teaching to the tests is a problem. But a bigger problem is that kids at the extremes of the educational spectrum get the vast majority of resources. If your child is in a G&T program, then he or she gets a huge amount of attention... writing programs, science programs, math programs, regents classes for high school credit even while in middle school.. and constant reinforcement that they will have the best of everything in high school and college and on. To be fair, though, these children also have super-involved parents. They're the members of the parents' association, go to parent/teacher meetings, know what their kids are studying and work on projects and homework with them as necessary. They have usually been reading to their kids from the day they were born.

At the other end of the spectrum are the special needs children. In many cases, these kids don't benefit from any educational programs at all, but receive paraprofessionals and specialized instruction. Often, this is no more than baby-sitting. I don't necessarily have a problem with that, but it's reality. Also, there is a huge amount of money put into special ed programs for kids with educational deficits and things like ADHD. I am all for this because these kids do benefit massively from specialized programs.

However, the kids in the middle and not-quite-the-bottom then fall through the cracks. This is a huge problem. It's also where I think teachers close their eyes and parents aren't involved. You see these kids not graduating from high school or, if they do graduate, not going on to higher education.

Finally, I think the fact that some intentionally try to blur the line between religion and science is a huge problem. When 70% of this country doesn't believe there is such a thing as evolution, we cannot possibly compete with other countries.

 

[chanel]

All of the above?

You could include information overload as well. Kids need to learn fractions in 1st grade now so the are ready for pre algebra in the 4th grade. Consequently, half of them can't tell time. We are demanding too much; too soon and if the kids don't get it - oh well. Have to move on.

Part of social promotion.

In my parent's time, you moved up when you knew the material. Period. End of discussion.

This meant my mom had 16 year old kids in her third grade class.

Also promotion was done twice a year. If you knew the material, you went up. They didn't keep you hanging around folks who couldn't hack the material, so you were wasting your time.

A lot of the times it is the really bright students who are the discipline problems. Kids who are bored are in the mood to create their own excitement.

Rose Friedman, Milton's wife, moved to Portland from Russia when she was 8 or 9. ESL help was only available for a very short time, then you were thrown in to the population at your grade level. It was expected that if you were in America, you spoke the American vulgate because you wanted to be part of this experience. Despite going to kindergarten at age nine, she graduated high school by 16.

The classes really need to be student centered rather than unions centered.

So true. I attended a fascinating workshop a few weeks ago that claimed that referrals for special ed. testing in K-3 were almost exclusively based on lack of literacy skills. In the upper elementary level it is because of apathy and lack of motivation and in high school - defiance and substance abuse. There's a connection. Kids who are promoted and cannot read at grade level get bored, angry, and sometimes self destructive. It is criminal to pass these kids along if you ask me.

 

[Baruch Menachem]

Part of the problem is we all agree education is a good thing in itself, but we don't know what the goals are, or even have it sensibly defined.

Much of the higher establishment follows the theories of John Dewey, who believed the goal of education was to produce useful robots.

Soviet education was built around mechanical competence and conformity to the model of a soviet citizen. Hence, the emphasis on uniforms and maths.

As to teaching to the test, the Japanese and Koreans take that to a whole new really awful level. Everything in Japanese education is geared to tests, rather than to understanding. It is one of the really appalling things about watching Japanese or Korean media, is the total reliance on standard tests to the exclusion of knowing the material.

 

[uscitizen]

Why do you hate Anmerica?

This education thing is due to Obama, once the republicans are back in power things will be fine.

 

[Samson]

Just watching Meet the Press showing that the US is at the bottom of developed countries' for education. The top US 5% of students are still in the lower half of the world's kids.

Why is this? Who has ideas how to improve the US kids' performance?

Is it the teachers? The teacher's unions? The parents? The apparent lack of discipline in schools? The kids are too distracted from studies? The drug culture and societal changes in younger sexuality (i.e. the kids get sexually active younger and studying takes a back-seat to fun in the back-seat)

Could it be that politicians penalized having kids so professionals had fewer kids and only the welfare queens had large families, then did not have the skills to educate or care for their large families?

Lets take a poll....

I'll throw my two cents in, then see what poll option comes closest.

My two cents:

The root cause is AFFUENCE:

Affluence - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Definition of AFFLUENCE
1a : an abundant flow or supply : profusion b : abundance of property : wealth
2: a flowing to or toward a point : influx
Examples of AFFLUENCE
<this affluence of new students is straining an already crowded school system>

Although Merriam-Webster gives two definitions but only one example, I'll give another:

"Americans have so much affluence, that they don't see any need to be educated."

 

[uscitizen]

Perhaps our problem is all those Texas generated School Books?

 

[rightwinger]

At the other end of the spectrum are the special needs children. In many cases, these kids don't benefit from any educational programs at all, but receive paraprofessionals and specialized instruction. Often, this is no more than baby-sitting. I don't necessarily have a problem with that, but it's reality. Also, there is a huge amount of money put into special ed programs for kids with educational deficits and things like ADHD. I am all for this because these kids do benefit massively from specialized programs.

If you can take a special needs kid or a kid with behavioral problems and teach them the skills they need to go out into the workforce and support themselves, you have accomplished as much as if you took a bright kid and gave him the skills to get into Harvard.

We need to help kids at all levels. If a kid is considered a failure because he can't pass a standardized test it does not mean the school has failed. If you can take a kid who otherwise would have been a burden on society through welfare or prison and put him on a path where he can get a job and contribute to society....you have still succeeded as a school

 

[uscitizen]

Just watching Meet the Press showing that the US is at the bottom of developed countries' for education. The top US 5% of students are still in the lower half of the world's kids.

Why is this? Who has ideas how to improve the US kids' performance?

Is it the teachers? The teacher's unions? The parents? The apparent lack of discipline in schools? The kids are too distracted from studies? The drug culture and societal changes in younger sexuality (i.e. the kids get sexually active younger and studying takes a back-seat to fun in the back-seat)

Could it be that politicians penalized having kids so professionals had fewer kids and only the welfare queens had large families, then did not have the skills to educate or care for their large families?

Lets take a poll....

I'll throw my two cents in, then see what poll option comes closest.

My two cents:

The root cause is AFFUENCE:

Affluence - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Definition of AFFLUENCE
1a : an abundant flow or supply : profusion b : abundance of property : wealth
2: a flowing to or toward a point : influx
Examples of AFFLUENCE
<this affluence of new students is straining an already crowded school system>

Although Merriam-Webster gives two definitions but only one example, I'll give another:

"Americans have so much affluence, that they don't see any need to be educated."

spoiled and lazy.
Yep the American way.