Essay On Learning Curve

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Edges on the Learning Curve
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.
The best way schools can help improve our academic standing is by investing in high quality teachers. In doing this, teacher salaries will have to go up. As a direct result, there will be more competition for the job position, and people with Ph.Ds. will be motivated to teach. Higher quality teachers will possess more knowledge about the subject than other candidates for the job position, and they will be able to teach at a faster pace. Looking to China and Japan, for example, teachers get paid salaries equivalent ...

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...ing simply by emulating Asia’s procedure, why should we not do so? By placing a higher value on teachers, enforcing discipline at home, and reforming the American curriculum, schools and parents can cooperate to ensure higher test scores than other countries. All of this can be done by changing our mentality regarding all aspects of education, as well as by enacting reforms politically and economically to provide more funding to schools and make it more challenging. Would it not be great if we could look competing countries in the eye instead of looking up to them? As the saying goes, “if you cannot beat them, join them!” Let us join Asian countries and finally share the spotlight by doing what they do best. That is, caring. We need to care about who teaches us. We need to care about what we learn. We need to care about success. And education is the catalyst for it.

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