Benjamin Franklin said “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Education opens the door for everyone to excel in life. To become a strong nation, its people, especially children, must have a good education so the nation can continue to excel and become stronger. Nevertheless, America is suffering through an education crisis today. The current statistics show that the United States is falling behind in education compared to other countries. The illiteracy rate is high, and the graduation rates for inner city children are low. The causes of this crisis are everyday problems such as lack of interest in school, poverty, and standardized testing. There are many solutions to the problem, but one solution, Professional Learning Communities, is more effective because teachers, administrators, and parents come together as a whole, to help the children. Despite the child’s background, the school community comes together to help the school. The method used to test Professional Learning Communities is a previous case study of PLCs in Twin Falls Idaho school district. The entire school district consists of mostly white middle class families. The school created a Quality School Committee to create and implement new ideas to improve the school district, and standardized the main subjects. In the end, the entire student body improved in test scores and other assessments. Other cases studies have been done on PLCs and other solutions are mentioned in this research paper. Nevertheless, Professional Learning Communities make a difference.
American Education Crisis: Causes of the Problems and Solutions
The United States places 17th in education. Finland and South Korea are first place, while Japan and Singapore are right behind t...
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In The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way, Amanda Ripley investigates the education systems of three of the world’s highest performing countries offering insight into the components necessary to raise education in the United States from its current mediocre place on the world stage. By involving three teenage American exchange students, Ripley gained access to firsthand experience of the familiar US system as compared to the highly competitive systems in Finland, South Korea and Poland. The author proposes that, although the systems vary greatly, commonalities in cultural valuation of education, rigor and teacher quality have made students from these three countries the “smartest kids in the world.”
Education is one of the cornerstones and pillars to the establishment and preservation of democracy. In history, countless scores of philosophers and political thinkers believed that only an educated citizenry can take on the quintessential task of upholding democracy. Thomas Jefferson, the primary writer of the Declaration of Independence, stated that “an informed citizenry is the only true repository of the public will.” A renowned defender of public education, Jefferson proposed plans for an education system that included grammar schools in his presidency. As a result of these relentless policies for education, the United States expanded on the concept of public instruction through the establishment and upkeep of a practical education system. The United States continued this tradition and established a reputation as one of the best education in the world. Currently, this is no longer valid as other countries such as Finland, China, and South Korea are competing for the dominant position through rigorous reforms that aim to boost student performances (“Best Education”). Meanwhile, the American system is inefficient, inhibited by political obstacles and gridlock while Finland, the top ranked country in terms of schooling, is continuing to improve. According to the PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) examinations that tested pupils across a variety of subjects such as reading, mathematics, and science of 2009, Finland’s students were ranked among the top (“PISA 2009”). The American students were ranked below average for industrialized countries in the world, revealing the reality of the educational crisis in the country. Finland’s education system, compared to the Americans, offers major differences that greatly ...
1 - What is a professional learning community? Provide a brief description on how you can create, and/or engage in, a PLC.
The purpose of this case study is to discuss Sehba Ali, superintendent of KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) Houston Public Schools, ability to change the public’s outlook on the KIPP program (Roberts, 2015). Although, KIPP Houston is “a network of charter schools located in Houston, Texas…Charter schools are public, taxpayer funded, and open to all students; however, they operate independently” (Roberts, 2015, p. 232). Additionally, KIPP schools stand by the following five principles: high expectations, choice and commitment, more time, power to lead, and focus on results (Roberts, 2015). Furthermore, KIPP schools are created to assist underprivileged students, living in low-income communities; which ultimately allows each student to receive a quality education (Roberts, 2015).
Annu using test results from each country on how they score, turns out the United States isn’t even close on the ranking in the list. She uses sources from test scores, to college financial problems, examples on how the system teaches their students. It’s quite convincing because as a student who use to attend high school here in the U.S., I can stand by what she says as in she’s right. We are terribly taught and need to be looked as equally regardless who we are, or where we come from
...uture of American Public Education looks grim. A change in allocating money to the proper intuitions and programs is a necessity for growth and a well rounded educational system. This will allow all students regardless of location to receive the same tools and resources to obtain a high success in learning. The inherent assumptions and discrimination against poor, minorities, and special education students must be eliminated to provide a equal and democratic school society, which will enrich and prepare these students in becoming prosperous adult community members. Reform should include high standards from administration and teachers, not just from the students. Most importantly, reform should include giving the students, teachers, and families a voice in how we teach the students.
Education experts have spent many years planning and revising learning material and assessment tools to meet the ever-changing social and economical teaching and learning demands in the United States. Rapid growth in technology means that change is constant in the field of education. Educators learn very quickly that change is one aspect of their position that is inevitable, and that effective transformation by stakeholders at every level is necessary in keeping with these demands. Whether one approaches the crisis in American schooling from the perspective of experience in schools, or from analysis of the market forces in the private sector and the factors necessary for institutional innovation, or from the movement to empower poor and minority communities, it is clear that what we call “public education” must change (Grego, 2011).
Collaborating with the school administration team, I was able to gain suffice information about the needs of the school as well as the needs from the community. I was given information about the academic needs of the students as well as the school’s improvement plan, which consists of the school needs assessment. Analyzing the needs assessment and test score data, there is a need for academic improvement is needed in the content areas of English-Language Arts and Math. The school is in need of strategies to improve scores in these areas, but the community can play an integral part in helping to provide the necessary resources, tools, and materials to enhance student learning in these areas. This could be established by community-school partnerships, if the school effectively communicates to the community their need for academic assistance. This can be achieved at PTO meetings, school activities, and local colleges or universities.
Why would one hypothesize a change is needed? First, international comparisons show the decline in education. Tests show American high school students rank much lower than other nations on standardized math and science tests (United States 66). On a test given in twenty-one nations, American pupils only outperformed Cyprus and South African students. These results seem more devastating when one sees Asian nations, usually ranking high in competitions, did not participate (McNamara 73). Examinations also reveal pupils' performances decline as students climb up the educational ladder toward college. "We seem to be the only country in the world whose children fall farther behind the longer they stay in school" ("Nation" 1). Yet, just comparing our students to international standards does not divulge the whole story.
Students in America are lagging in science scores internationally. The Washington Post described a trend in which 40 of 65 countries and economies has grown relating to the length of students education and increase in workers. The international test is called Programme for International Student Assessment or PISA for short. It assesses students in math, english, and science. America has been ranked around fifteenth in all sections while rivals are at the top of the list.(1) Shanghai is listed with the highest scores in all sections and focuses primarily on the preparation of the teachers and pla...
Each year our affiliates report outcomes, as well as monitor and adjust services. Communities in Schools is an evidence-based organization; delivering the human, financial, and community resources to help children succeed in school and achieve in life. CIS collects their data through Track-CIS, a national database that is customized for CIS. This data is then reviewed by the southern Nevada management team to ensure CIS is on track to meet performance measures. As a quality assurance measure case notes are spot checked for missing information. Data is then analyzed at several ...
"U.S. Students Still Lag Behind Foreign Peers, Schools Make Little Progress In Improving Achievement." Huffington Post. N.p., 23 July 2012. Web. 4 Dec. 2012. .
Education is the catalyst for success. In America, we like to think that our school system is rigorous in preparing students for college and work. Many students struggle to cope with the American curriculum, so it must be intense, right? Those who can keep up are prone to succeed in our society. If the top Americans lived in China, though, things would be different. Some of these “top” students would find themselves working for minimum wage in dead end jobs. Why? It is because America’s school system is not rigorous. In fact, we barely made it to the top thirty in academic rankings last year. So why are countries like China and Singapore beating us to the punch? The answer is simple. They care more. The schools care enough to invest in better teachers and to teach a truly rigorous curriculum. Parents care enough to enforce discipline and to participate actively in their children’s school experience, and the children care enough to listen. Together, American schools, parents, and children can improve the country’s educational ranking by investing in better teachers, enforcing discipline at home, and creating a tougher curriculum that fits our need to become a serious competitor against Asia.
In 2014, United States attracted nearly 740k international students and cemented its place as the number one desired country in the world to receive education. Although the quality of college education has never been an issue here in America, with some American universities like MIT, Harvard and Stanford consistently appearing in the list of top universities of the world each year, the high schools leave a lot to be desired. The standard of the U.S. education at the grade level has been falling steadily over the years as evident by the declining test scores meant to assess international standards, especially in math and science. While an average American student performs poorly when compared to an average Asian student, the disturbing study is about the American students doing even worse as they age. Although the Asian education system might not be inherently better than the American education system, it has undoubtedly produced better results urging other nations to take a closer look at their educational beliefs and methods. While US educational system boasts of strengths like creativity and freedom, there are plenty of weaknesses which could be fixed by implementing national standards, improving quality of teachers while simultaneously emphasizing on discipline and parental influence.