How do we create a better education system in the US?

https://soeonline.american.edu/blog/5-ways-policy-makers-can-improve-the-quality-of-education/

According to the American University School of Education, there are five ways that we can help make the educational system better. One way to do this is to address overcrowding that is often present in public schools in low income areas. The issue is that teachers can’t focus on each student the way they need to be, students lose interest in school which may lead to dropout, and both teachers and students feel more stress. We can fix this by building more schools, or increasing the capacity of current schools.

Another problem is lack of funding in public schools. The main issue here is the priorities of how tax money is spent. Almost every state spends more money to house inmates than to educate the average student. This touches on another problem that is fair taxing. According to this article, if the wealthy were taxed their fair share, then public schools could get way more funding, which would make them better. Increasing teacher pay and support could also help solve this problem.

Addressing the school-to-prison pipeline is also very important. According to this article, more than half of men who attend school in urban areas do not earn a diploma, and of those who drop out of school, 60% go to prison at some point in their lives. Unfortunately, many of these issues have had to do with suspensions of African American students, and those of races other than white. To fix the problem, it is important that schools find other ways to help struggling students and build a community that benefits everyone.

Raising the bar for teachers is the last way I will discuss here. There are many unqualified teachers who are in the job, which means that students are getting a lesser education than they should be. Teachers are not adequately trained or ready to be teaching in a classroom upon completion of their licensing. States should put more emphasis on the certification process to ensure that teachers are ready to be teaching in a classroom.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/19/learning/what-students-are-saying-about-how-to-improve-american-education.html#

According to the New York Times, 15 year olds in the American education system are stagnant in reading and math (this article was published before the pandemic, which has had additional effects on academic performance). The NYT gathered responses from students about what is and is not working in American schools. Here is what they said:

Many students wish there was less pressure put on them. This has caused students to focus more on doing well on tests and getting perfect grades than they do actually learning the material. Many students feel pressure to learn things quickly, even though they forget the info so fast. Others feel overworked because they spend most of their time at school and doing homework, while still trying to participate in extracurricular activities and have a social life. Many students also go to schools that are underfunded and therefore have outdated textbooks and poor infrastructure.

Students also worry about technology and many think there should be less of it in schools, meaning more work on paper. Many also agree that learning needs to be more interesting and no subject should be taught 100% out of a textbook. Others worry that school is not preparing them for the real world. They wish that there was an alternative to test taking as they feel that it doesn’t adequately prepare them for the real world. Teachers' pay is another thing concerning many people. Students believe that teachers will be more motivated to teach better if they were paid more, and more people will want to become teachers if they get paid an adequate amount.

DMU Timestamp: November 21, 2024 01:28