<p>After watching the documentary "Waiting for Superman," I'm wondering: what do you think is wrong with the education system in the US? Who or what is to blame and how would YOU fix it?</p>
<p>My guess is that parents who care about their children’s education will take measures to ensure their kids get good K-12 education, and as such, don’t really have too much of a problem with the status quo. On the other hand, parents who don’t care about their children’s education per se aren’t going to complain about bad schools… so there’s no problem. If society is essentially saying that all kids need to get a good education, then you have to make this automatic… e.g., not something the parent has to ensure.</p>
<p>Another dimension probably has to do with the fact that talented educators are pursuing other opportunities due to the pay differential. If I could make $60,000 starting with good quantitative skills in industry after a BS or $35,000 as a K-12 teacher… assuming that both jobs would produce similar levels of job satisfaction, most people will take the job with more money. In other words, many talented people are not becoming teachers who might otherwise.</p>
<p>If the government subsidized teachers’ salaries to be competitive with what similarly-abled people might do elsewhere, education would suddenly be very different… with possibly smaller class sizes, more capable teachers, etc. Teaching is something that society needs but nobody wants to pay for.</p>
<p>I love that documentary. Teacher need to be held to higher standards. In finland, the country that currently has the best education system, each teacher is required to have a masters degree</p>
<p>teachers need to be more respected. and less general education requirements and such. seriously, if someone is really interested in maths and science, and odn’t care about a foreign language, why should they have to take it?</p>
<p>The education system needs to be reworked. There is massive disparity, mostly according to socioeconomic factors which are largely correspondent with race. Teachers should be held to a higher standard (2.7 GPA in the area you’re going to teach?). I disagree with requiring as Master’s because that would provide another financial incentive (although if salaries were raised as well, wouldn’t be so bad). For some reason our system is incredibly inefficient. We spend more than any other country but are getting middling results.</p>
<p>Standards in MATH definitely need to be raised. I knew a girl who was still doing Algebra when she was a senior like me, except she was 19… There are many cases like this. Math education needs to be advanced and earlier ! It should be the longest and most fundamental class. Or perhaps, kids start in school earlier (age 5). Definitely higher standards starting from earlier on…students will adjust to it, especially if it is upon entering school. </p>
<p>Science and English/language arts is also seriously lacking structure, and is too abstract or “hands on” activities when really it just takes a while to get everyone organized enough. They have this theory that everyone is a different learner , “visual” and “hands on” and “audio” and all that, and so go off in a ton of different areas just to exercise it but none of it has structure or meaning, just activities to keep the kids busy like a babysitter. It’s only good in theory and not good with large classes. What shocks me is that it’s even present in high school. I noticed it is in unacademic classes like ceramics, fashion design, woodshop, etc
I think those kind of things needs to be cut…some electives are truly pointless and disorganized and the teachers are lax too.
Everyone should be required to always be taking an English, math, science, and social study year long throughout 6th to 12th grade and less of the electives should be allowed, and if so they should be real electives, like a secondary math class, business, science, foreign language, grammar, literature, etc rather than artsy and activity classes used to fill up credits. </p>
<p>Math, reading, writing need to stressed incredibly in elementary school. Science needs serious reform…</p>
<p>Simple thing like teachers should dress more formally to command respect from the students, and so there will also be more allure associated with this field for people to actually want to become a teacher. Once it begins to be more professional, can salaries be raised and the field seen as more honorable. The Master’s degree idea also seems (in Education, especially if it was required for the ones who would become Math, English, Science, Social Studies teachers), or perhaps seperate and intensive schools for education created (like as in dental school, medical school, etc) from the beginning as undergraduate. In college, it leads to being wrapped up as a liberal art, and so not as effective.</p>
<p>School systems do too much about “envisioning the future” and not actually making changes. Toying around with making “fun teaching strategies” is also detracting from traditional style learning. Again, just the basics of math, reading, writing is what needs to be focused and not making it “fun”…school is not the purpose to entertain a child, or especially, a teen…but to educate and challenge.</p>
<p>Naokifresh, can I get an amen brother! I teach primary now, having worked my way down from secondary science (gotta go where the jobs are!) but I believe that there is WAAAAYYY too much time wasted on fluff. We have no time to waste, in my opinion, having seen what they need to be able to do by HS. </p>
<p>Those who have noted the disparity in outcomes due to parental involvement, that too is very true. But you know parents can also be the loudest chorus against high expectations and rigor in school. Those who hold their children accountable and who are involved and supportive have children who do well. Those who make excuses for bad behavior, lack of work ethic, etc. wonder why their kiddos don’t do well. </p>
<p>In the schools the teachers all know who the dead wood is. It is so frustrating that some people skate, get by and get paid the same as the hard workers who are trying to teach well. What is equally frustrating is when you have to teach the grade level after that teacher. You can tell which kids came from what class. I would welcome ridding the system of tenure for just this reason.</p>
<p>So, what happens is that the parents who want more rigor request the more academic teachers, and those who don’t know better or who aren’t as aware of the process don’t, and their children are placed in the less requested teacher’s classes. Repeat. </p>
<p>And yes, I do have a Masters in Education and Human Development from the George Washington University, and my GPA was well above 2.7. The Ed programs I am affilliated with all require a 3.0 to even enter the College of Education, so I am not sure what that is about.</p>
<p>Oh, and I do believe we need far more rigor in preservice programs. Some of the candidates who make it to student teaching have no reason to be there. Notable exchange: “You need to change that word on the Word Wall.”
“Why?”
“It’s spelled wrong.”
(Dismissively to mentor teacher, with no move to fix the problem) “Oh, I always spell that word wrong.”</p>
<p>Also, some of the kids coming out are GOOGLING lesson plans. Really. Not creating their own, not synthesizing, just printing out worksheets. </p>
<p>They have great self-esteem, though. :{</p>