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Anh Nguyen
Wilson
Bl. 4
18 February 2016
Key to Success: Education
"America isn't the greatest country. Theres absolutely no evidence
to support the statement that were the greatest country in the world. Were
seventh in literacy. Twenty-seventh in math. Twenty-second in science
(Sorkin). Education is a vital part of growing up, but why is Americas
education system lagging behind other countries? Society has made
education the major gateway to the next important events in our lives, but
how can we get there when the quality is so poor? As Malcom X once said,
Without education, you are not going anywhere in this world. America is
failing behind other countries in competitions like literacy, math, and
science. America is not going anywhere because of the education system
and its flaws. Flaws like the quality of the education, the respect and pay
teachers are given, and the way students have been taught, is not enough to
make America the greatest country again.
The quality of Americas education system is decreasing by the day as
the number of students entering schools increases. It is quality, than
quantity, that matters. Seneca the Younger spoke the truth behind the word

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quality. Schools around the world can graduate as many students as they
want out of high school, but they did prepare them well enough for what
theyre about to face next? Americans need better, more timely information
about student performance, not only at the national and international levels,
but also for individual schools, pupils, and teachers. We need more and
clearer data about what schools do, where they spend their money, and what
results they're producing (Peterson). Schools in America need more
information on the education that their students are receiving. Based on that
data, they will be able to improve their schools. Finland, one of the smartest
countries in the world, approaches the problem with a simple situation.
Teachers in Finland teach 600 hours a year, spending most of their time in
professional development. Teachers in the United States teach 1,100 hours a
year, receiving little feedback (Choi). Finland graduates many students, but
at the same time provides them with high quality education prepping them
for whats next.
What American schools fail to do that Asian and European schools are
required to do is showing teachers respect. Recently, a research took
students math and science scores and the results showed that the top 30
smartest countries in the world were mainly Asian and European countries,
with United States ranking 28. The data proved that Asian countries were
rank so high because they place great emphasis on picking and training
teachers. Finns share one thing with South Koreans: a deep respect for
teachers and their academic accomplishments (Choi). In Asian countries,

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being a teacher is one of the highest jobs to have and many respect and
honor comes along with that title. As the teacher enters the room, students
are required to stand up and greet the teacher. If teachers in America were
presented with this type of respect, they would teach with a better attitude
and would do it with a higher quality. Corresponding along with topic of
respect is the pay that teachers are receiving. To foster successful
reorganization of schools and more effective and efficient use of teachers,
school systems or even individual schools must be able to employ their
teaching staff as they see fit and pay them accordingly (Hood). Teachers are
individuals who are educating a group of future doctors, lawyers, and more.
Yet in the long run, they will be making less money than that group of
students. This concept needs to be looked at so that teachers are receiving
the right amount of pay that they are putting their effort into.
Out of all the flaws, the biggest flaw of education system is the way
students have been taught. A research conducted found that on average,
American students are taking eight standardized test a year. To add up all
the years in total, starting from pre-K to twelfth grade, students would have
taken 112 tests or more (Strauss). America focuses too much on testing and
puts time off to exam students, instead of using that time to thoroughly
teach the concept. To put this another into perspective, if a student is only
learning to earn a good grade on a test or only learning to earn an A in the
class, chances are they are not actually learning the material. Students
nowadays are learning to maintain an average grade in school. Theyre

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learning and studying because they have to, not because they are interested
in the subject itself. This goes on to affect their learning process because
once the concept has been taught they are bound to have forgotten the
material later on. Finland on the other hand, assigns less homework, less
tests, and instead uses that time for creativity (Khazan). The education
system can switch up this point of view by teaching the students with more
effectiveness. Students stay up late studying and stressing, and therefore,
they dont grasp onto anything. If students had more time to learn the
concept in school and there was less of a stress or emphasis on the subject,
students would be able to learn with a positive attitude letting them take in
more information.
Many would argue that the education system is not at fault when asked
why America is behind other nations in education. Instead they would put
parents on the spot or the students themselves. Today, the American
culture of choice puts the onus on parents to find the right schools for our
kids, rather than trusting that all schools are capable of preparing our
children for adulthood. Our obsession with talent puts the onus on students
to be smart, rather than on adults ability to teach them (Choi). Why
exactly is it the parents responsibility to teach their children what the
education systems are supposed to be teaching them? Or why is it that we
blame the students for not being smart enough? America needs stop
pointing fingers, and look for ways to regulate the education system. One
thing we can do is make the roles of the parents and students a bigger part.

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Parents should be encouraged to play a meaningful role in the education of


their children. This will also ensure that they are constantly informed, are
aware of their children's progress at school and discuss issues that might
affect their children and take action as soon as possible (Africa News
Service). Students should play their part by paying attention in school and
trying their hardest and asking for help when needed and not giving up when
they cant figure it out.
Lets make America great again by improving our education system.
The first step is finding ways to enhance the quality our education. From
there, teachers should be trained and payed appropriately, and shown with
greater respect. Most importantly, the technique that America is using to
teach their students needs to change so students can have positive results
on their tests. All of this is possible once we regulate our education system
and change it up. Aristotle once said, Educating the mind without educating
the heart is no education at all. With this education system in place,
students will want to learn with better attitude and receive better results. We
can become the greatest country again if we put our hearts and mind into
regulating the education system.

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Works Cited
Africa News Service. "The Country's Education System - Who is Failing the Nation?" 11 March
2011. Global Issues In Context.
Choi, Amy S. "What the best education systems are doing right." 4 September 2014. Ideas.TED.
Hood, John. "Failure of Amereican Education." 1 February 2013. Foundation of Economic
Education.
Khazan, Olga. "Here's why other countries beat the U.S. in reading and math." 12 December
2012. The Washington Post.
Newsroom. Dir. Aaron Sorkin. 2012.
Peterson, Ed. Paul E. "America's Education System Must Be Improved." 2006. Opposing
Viewpoints in Context.
Strauss, Valerie. "Confirmed: Standerized testing has taken over our schools. But who's to
blame? ." 24 October 2015. The Washington Post.

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