Evolution and Challenges of American Education System

“The function of high school, then, is not so much to communicate knowledge as to oblige children finally to accept the grading system as a measure of their inner excellence,” Jules Henry, a regarded American anthropologist once said. He believed that the American school system was flawed, that the basing intelligence of its students of the marks he or she received in class. The grading system of our school’s today is one of many problems that plague our education system. The issues of today can be shown in different forms in the 1800s, a time where the education of American citizens was forming. Though our education system has changed drastically from the 1800s, problems still litter our youth 's education that is comparable to the 1800s, from issues with teachers, students, and coursework.

Who was your least favorite teacher? Was it the subject that made you hate them, or the personality or the fact that they always seemed to assign boring classwork? In the early 1800s, many frontier schools were run with a single male teacher, who became a teacher simply by passing school themselves, and proving to be literate. After many men decided to move on to higher paying jobs, women began to dominate the profession, and teachers soon became trained in the 1820s. Though most towns living in a more country landscape found themselves with only one teacher per school, forcing older students to often help to teach the younger students. Though today there is higher levels of education for teachers and more than one teacher per school, teachers still struggle with issues of lack of funds or often support from children 's parents. If a teacher wants to an activity outside of the school-mandated education, they must pay for this out of their own...

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...sue of class work teaching is still a prevalent issue. Many today feel as if the coursework is only to be taught to help a student pass an exam or standardized test, not to learn. The focus no longer seems to be to give children the education to help them forever but to memorize what equations will appear on the SATs. Without the lack of goals that are respected by all, students often become discouraged and less motivated on the path to higher education.

The issues of 1800s education have shifted and changed over time, helping to lead to the modern day education system and the many issues littering it. Issues are still based on the teachers, students, and coursework. Even with its similarities, education has grown into something wildly different from its origin, creating more issues but blooming into a system that allows for more chances for the children of the US.