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Zackery Benavidez

Mrs. Burr

English 2010

10 April 2018

Altering The Education System

The modern day education system has been evolving for hundreds of years, being

developed mainly in the country that the education was being performed. Yet, countries such as

China have altered the archaic process of trial and error and replaced it with a process of

selecting top educational programs and instructors throughout the world and putting them into

one program. The United States is currently utilizing a system that has been in place for

hundreds of years and continues to slip lower in its educational rating. The obvious solution

would be implementing a similar system to China and combining globally successful programs.

Although this solution sounds simple, we haven't considered how these changes affect the

overall student body, how these changes will impact educational success, and how revising these

processes impact the applicability of education. Finding the solution to this problem is fairly

simplistic, whereas evaluating the potential impact of these choices could be monumentally

difficult.

When we compare our educational system to foreign systems, it is important to

understand what the other systems consist of. A recent CNN article found that “China spent 2.2

trillion dollars in 2013 on education.” Now if we compare this to the 3.5 trillion the United States

spent in the same year, we see that finances aren’t explicitly in control of educational success (
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Riley). According to WENR, the educational requirements for high school and higher education

is extremely similar within China to the American educational system requirements on paper

(Michael). Yet, there is a series of tests that kids must pass to advance to each grade within

China, along with a test, allowing students to move onto higher education. WENR found, “ The

U.S. is a major destination for these students, with fully ​two-thirds (304,040) enrolled in U.S.

institutions​ in the 2014/2015 school year.” (Michael). This proves that Chinese students are

seeking out an education within the United States and outperforming their American piers by

massive margins.

If funding isn’t the problem, the form of education is fairly similar, and many of these

foreign students seek education in the United States, what is the real problem? The issue is the

discrepancy between United States high schools and comparable schools in different countries.

Public and private universities utilize incredibly knowledgeable professors and educational

techniques within the United States already, yet American high schools neglect to uphold these

same standards within local schools. According to the NCEE, “ Subject knowledge is

emphasized more than pedagogical knowledge (in Chinese high schools) as nearly all teachers

only teach one subject, even at primary schools.”(Williams) This means educators are

specialized in a single subject and can teach this subject phenomenally well. Also, these teachers

are continuously required to take exams to qualify for their highly competitive jobs ( which isn’t

the case within the United States). All educators within the Chinese system are also admitted to

one of two schools in order to ensure the quality and consistency of their training. Teachers.org

found that every state within the United States maintains different teaching requirements, along

with teachers not being required to major in their subject of choice. In many rural areas within
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America, teachers are forced to instruct on multiple subjects they are proficient in. This system

leads to schools with better districts and better communities having better teachers due to

educational standards and their ability to pay teachers. Along with this, teachers aren’t required

to continuously test on their subject ( like China) and teachers within the United States are paid

based on seniority, rather than performance. This pay structure creates (in some cases) career

teachers who aren’t encouraged to teach well.

After interviewing Dr. Briggs ( a highly experienced United States University professor)

I found that despite the differentiation in teaching staff within these countries, teachers

themselves are not the reason for the overwhelmingly poor performance within United States

academics. According to Dr. Briggs, “ we have developed a sense of entitlement, everyone gets a

trophy. It has created laziness because society don’t have to work hard to get the reward.

Homework can’t harm students grades anymore, so they constantly procrastinate. Do less and get

more.” Which clarifies who is at fault for these poor educational scores. The United States

education system, while fundamentally flawed in many areas, is fairly comparable to that of the

best educational systems in the world. Yet, the students themselves aren’t prepared and

motivated to do well.

Education is regarded in a much higher manner there (in foreign countries), it is

an honor to go to school and that is considered your job. They have a family

name to uphold. The U.S students have too much going on within their lives to

excel significantly academically. For them (foreign students), they meet deadlines

without excuses because they know the value of their education. They also value
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their money and time more, why would you waste all this time and money? ( Dr.

Briggs)

This quote shows us that we are underperforming within education because of the a

significant lack of commitment. We shouldn’t be dividing our time and resources so thin, all while

focusing on tasks simply because they will provide us with extensive amounts of money.

Given these circumstances, what is the solution to committing our students and receiving

exceptional test scores? Fundamentally, education is perpetuated by the parents and their

willingness to instruct, push, and inform their children. Parents from China have high

expectations for exams and tests because of their upbringing, which changes the importance of

education socially. This view instills commitment from students and results in superior scores

and academic abilities. It’s not necessarily a question of what system we can implement, but

how we can encourage the next generation to instill the value of a high quality education into

their kids and their lives. Sadly, the importance of education is mainly expressed by those who

are in middle to upper class families and communities within the United States. According to the

Atlantic “Graduates who hailed from households with incomes of at least $116,000—the top

quarter—represented more than half of all the degrees awarded in 2014 among 24-year-olds.

Students from households that earned less than $35,000—the lowest quarter—represented just

10 percent of all the degrees awarded.” What does this mean for inspiring people for higher

educational pursuits and increasing their academic performance? It means that the United

States, unlike many foreign countries, isn’t as focused on academically improving the lower

class. If we are failing to influence the lower class and it’s education, how can we improve our

system? A 2013 study found the “London Effect” where kids within the London school system

began performing phenomenally better through simple policy reforms (Ladd, 42). This study
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recommended, “ States (United States) would be well advised to recognize that individual

schools are embedded in districts and that well funded districts with strong leaders have an

important role to play in ensuring high quality schooling for all children.” (Ladd, 43). If we

gradually implemented London's educational system we would see immediate and positive

changes based on this study and other independent sources.

Funding for education obviously isn’t a problem, and most countries maintain very similar

standards and educational objectives. Our issues actually stem from social discrepancies, class

issues, and lack of effective policies and considerations. In order to improve our modern day

educational system we cannot simply change our instructional methods to match that of another

country, rather we must first alter the perceptions and policies that surround our current

educational system. Education is not all about financial benefit, rather academic excellence that

can be achieved by any student with the proper commitment and time committed to learning the

material. If Americans perceived education as more of an occupation and less of a pain it would

be simple for students within the United States to perform similarly or better to students within

foreign countries around the world, and by implementing programs such as the “London Effect”

we would see positive educational results and perceptions. The day we change our perception

of education is the day that the United States exponentially progresses academically. We

cannot maintain the stigma that education is simply an inconvenience, and instead we must

realize it is the key to succeeding later in life.

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Works Cited

Michael, Rachel.“Education in China.” ​WENR, 22 Sept. 2017,

wenr.wes.org/2016/03/education-in-china-2.

Riley, Charles. “Inside China's $2.2 Trillion Budget.” ​CNNMoney​, Cable News Network, 15 Jan.

2014, economy.money.cnn.com/2014/01/15/china-budget/.

Williams, James “Shanghai-China: Teacher and Principal Quality.” ​NCEE​,

ncee.org/what-we-do/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/top-performing-co

untries/shanghai-china/shanghai-china-teacher-and-principal-quality/.

“High School Teacher | Requirements | Salary | Jobs.” ​Teacher.org​,

Zinshteyn, Mikhail. “The Growing College-Degree Wealth Gap.” ​The Atlantic​, Atlantic Media

Company, 25 Apr. 2016,

LADD, HELEN F. and EDWARD B. FISKE. "The ‘London Effect’:." ​Education Digest​, vol.

82, no. 1, Sept. 2016, p. 39. EBSCO​host​,

Briggs, Cindy M, and Zackery T Benavidez. “Modern Educators Educational Perspective.” 10

Apr. 2018.