Individualized Instruction

810 Words2 Pages

Since the American public school system has existed, it has mainly served as a

facility that distributes facts in bulk to a wide variety of students. In the past century,

the school system has changed from one-room schoolhouses to diversified curricula

covering hundreds of topics, offering students choice on which classes he or she

wants to study further. However, given the fact that every child learns dramatically

differently from one another (Felder & Solomon), it is obvious that something must be

done to adapt to each child’s individual learning styles. Teachers need to adjust from

teaching for memorization to teaching for comprehension. They need to instill a love

of learning in our youth, otherwise, we will lose the driving force of society.

Many whose oppose this idea have stated that they think the educational

system has improved since the “No Child Left Behind” act of 2001. These opinions are

usually derived from studies showing higher test scores and lower dropout rates (No

Child). These results are this way because schools have been forced to buckle down

on what is to be taught on standardized tests, rather than teach a curriculum around

students’ comprehension and understanding of a topic. As the bearer of such policies,

I find it’s necessary to reform our current educational methodology into one that will

be tolerable from the lowest to the highest on the educational scale.

Many of the problems befalling students are a derivative of the notion that

public schools should be controlled by leaders. Every school has a long list of

restrictions placed on each teacher to make a “safer” learning environment (Glitcher).

I am reminded of the futility during one of my English classes. Our teacher wanted to

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Department Of Education "No Child Left Behind Act Is Working." US Department of

Education. United States Government, Dec. 2006. Web. 13 May 2010.

Glitcher, Susan. "Why South Carolina Ranks Last." Go Inside Magazine. 17 Feb. 2005.

Web. 13 May 2010. .

Schaeffer, Robert. "How Standardized Testing Damages Education | FairTest." The

National Center for Fair & Open Testing | FairTest. 20 Aug. 2007. Web. 13 May

2010. .

Cloud, John. "Are We Failing Our Geniuses?" TIME Magazine 16 Aug. 2007.

Http://www.time.com. Web. 13 May 2010.
Geniuses? - TIME." TIME.com. 16 Aug. 2007. Web. 13 May 2010>.

Johnsen, Susan K. Identifying Gifted Students: a Practical Guide. Waco, Tex.: Prufrock,

2004. Print.

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