I believe that the United States should change the education system the country has now. The country is falling behind, in 2008 the United States ranked 18th among the 36 nations examined. The top of the heap was South Korea where ninety-three percent of high school students graduate on time compared with the United States where seventy-five percent receive their diplomas.
Some blame our failing system on Bush's No One Gets Left Behind Act. Lets face it, could it be because of our one size fits all tests? The truth of the matter is that everyone learns differently, and some schools have been doing their best to help the children who need it. Germany for instance has trade schools and two forms of high school. One high school is for the kids who are average and the other is for the ones who are really intelligent. If a person gets into the one that is for the average student you can go to a school that a person could become something thats not to up there. They can still make alright paychecks, but not as much as the students who worked hard and who got into the upper school. This system works for Germany, but I'm not saying it is right. England you go to school until your sixteen or seventeen then you have the choice of work or higher education.
Different countries have their way of educating. In the past two years president Obama started to push this education bill through. It is said to try and boost United States test scores. My issue with education is that it seems to have people thinking bigger is better. That leaves schools like Deuel and Groton out. Two schools who happen to be doing really well, but they are just being judged on size and not how much a student is actually learning. Deuel is trying out this new program this year called the SOS program. It basically tries to stop kids from failing. I think it is something that all schools should have. It instills that failing is never the answer, and it encourages students to do their best and if they don't they have to do it all over again, depending on the teacher they have to show that they know it. I mean its a great way to make sure that students are learning. It shows that failing is not an option.
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Lena,
ReplyDeleteDo you think that we should change the American school system to be more like that of Germany? How do you think that would effect the country?
I like the idea of the two schools, an average one and higher learning because not everyone learns at the same levels. Great idea!
ReplyDeleteI don't think we should change what we do, so much as making what we do work for everyone. It is a good thought process, but at the same time every country has its way of doing things.
ReplyDeleteNot to be more like Germany. I don't agree with the way they do things. It seems that they are eliminating students with potential who haven't found it yet. I find Germany to be a bit of an extreme.
ReplyDeleteI like the fact that of the two school idea,But how would you know if you where learning the same thing?
ReplyDeleteThe test scores show that our rate aren't as high as they should be. Which means something needs to be changed.
ReplyDeleteDo you think the SOS policy will help students who are failing later in life?
ReplyDeleteSir Ken Robinson agrees that one-size-fits-all tests are bad. He sees the industrial/assembly-line model of education as a serious problem. Watch this pretty remarkable animation of one of his speeches and see if it fits with your thinking... and if it does, how you would change a school system to carry out Robinson's ideas:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U
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ReplyDeleteIt is there to push us along and guide us. Basically it is suppose to teach us how not to fail, and it is up to each person if they want to take that. If a person doesn't do very well in life, they only have themselves to blame, because they decided not to think back to the skills they have learned.
ReplyDeleteI don't like the idea of two schools. I think that if one student didn't make it into the intelligent school it could hurt their self-esteem.
ReplyDeleteYeah plus there are other factors. I agree that it isn't right.
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