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Miah Leonard

Carey Perkins

English 101

08 March 2022

The Short Fall of the American Education

Having an education is one of the most important concepts in any culture. One learns

how to read, write, and become well rounded individuals in society. According to Drew DeSilver

in the U.S. Students’ Academic Achievement Still Lags that of Their Peers in Many Other

Countries, “One of the biggest national tests is the Programme for International Student

Assessment (PISA), which measures students' educational scores within developing and

developed countries. In 2015, the U.S. measured 38th out of 71 countries for math and 24th out

of 71 for science.” Americans are not getting the proper education and it is detrimental to our

society. Most blame the pandemic for the lack of an American’s proper education, although this

is not actually the case. The American Education System is promoting failing students due to the

political pressure, grading process, and low standards.

The pandemic was blamed for the decline of American students getting the proper

education, yet studies show that it was declining long before then. Sources have said that since

students were forced to do online school at home, they were not able to properly learn since they

were not doing in-person learning. Teachers have complained that students would not show up to

their online class, nor would they turn in their coursework and yet the teachers were not allowed

to flunk the students. Parents may have a different opinion on the matter since they did not notice
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the issues until it was more evolved because of the pandemic. If a reader did their proper

research, they too, would see that the educational issue started long before the pandemic.

The federal government has put political pressure upon schools which has caused schools

to promote failing students. “The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB law) was passed by congress

in December of 2001. States were required to bring all students to a “proficient level” on state

testing scores” (Klein). If schools did not meet this requirement, then they were at risk of losing

their federal Title I money. The government tracks a school’s yearly progress for all of their

students. If a school was not meeting their scores after two consecutive years then students were

able to transfer to a better performing school. However, after three consecutive years, the school

has to offer free tutoring for the students. The free tutorials are taken out of the school’s Title I

money by 10 percent. If the achievement target is continually missed then the state interferes

within the school and they could be turned into a charter school or worse, shut down. In order

for schools to not lose money, they had to set high standards for teachers. This in turn has put a

lot of pressure upon teachers to pass the majority of their students, even if that meant they should

not have. Overall, the No Child Left Behind Act has been problematic to the American education

system

Another reason the American education system is prompting failing students is the

grading process. Teachers are pressured to pass their students since it must make the school look

better and to not lose Federal Title I money. If too many students fail, then it looks bad upon the

school because of the NCLB act. In turn, this could cause a teacher to have to be fired. They

would then be more afraid of losing their careers for too many failed students. Teachers were

already overwhelmed, then once the pandemic hit, they were strained to their peak. “The new

system, competency-based learning, was introduced due to the pandemic to help reduce the
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stress and give students a chance” (Alexander). California state believes giving students D’s or

D’s drives the child to give up on trying and does not help students know what they did wrong. It

appears to hurt student’s mentality. The state agreed to completely get rid of D’s and F’s to

replace them as N ‘needs improvement’ in the gradebook. If a student fails a test, they have a

chance to make up the test with a 70 or higher; not lower. If a student has a missing assignment,

they wouldn’t be given a zero or a grade if they did not try to make up. “Grades also will not be

increased or decreased over behaviors, attitude, tardiness, and whether the assignment was

turned in late or on time” (Alexander). This system is spreading to other state schools. The

school districts saw a high percentage of passing students through 2020-2021. With no F’s or D’s

mandate helping students get through the pandemic, the state's school districts are going to keep

this action in progress. They see this system as helpful when others see it as failure to hold kids

accountable.

This system is detrimental to our society and intensifies the lack of a proper education for

students. With the school district not letting students receive a failing grade it creates laziness.

Not being able to fail students, schools are implying the idea for them not to worry about doing

their work. The new system was intended to help students during the pandemic. Unfortunately, it

is creating laziness for the students' mentality to achieve more, study hard, and fix their mistakes.

They see this action as helpful when I see it as failure to hold kids accountable.

The last reason schools are promoting failing students is having low standards for them.

The pandemic was the final straw for thousands of teachers. The pandemic made it worse for

teachers and students. When the pandemic hit, schools nationwide shut down. Students were

expected to attend school virtually, yet many were not always present. With the many absences

and homework not being turned in teachers had to pass them anyway. “NO F & Missing Grade
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MANDATE” (Wall 2021). A previous teacher of mine enlightened me that he quit teaching at a

high school because the school board thought it was unfair for him to fail students. He was

flabbergasted and was upset with this unethical process. He believed that his teaching was not

appreciated or welcomed. He was not going to teach at a school where students did not care to

learn when they know they will always have a pass from failing. Another teacher that I know

who is struggling with this system is an aunt of mine who teaches at an elementary school.

During the pandemic and now, her class was failing. She was told to pass her class with high

grades. They realized that this system does not help students learn but lies to them. But by

speaking and not complying to the school's new system standards, their jobs were on the line.

Schools give students low standards; therefore, our society as a whole has become lazy.

Schools are not pushing as hard for students to have higher standards and care about their

grades. The NCLB act required schools to have high standards for teachers but not for students.

This system is lying to students and preparing them to fail their future. This causes a chain

reaction for them once they enter college and the workforce. Our society then slacks for

Americans to have better knowledge in the world as a whole as well. For example, in other

countries Americans have consulates. Other countries would look at us as if we were a joke since

many Americans cannot spell properly, nor can they do basic math without technology.

Graduated students are not being properly educated for the workforce or the world.

Promoting failing students is detrimental to our society due to the political pressure,

grading process, and low standards. The NCLB act created a domino effect upon the American

Education System; the government put pressure on schools, which put pressure upon teachers,

then caused teachers to pass failing students. Americans are not getting a proper education
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compared to the rest of the world, which statistics have proven. If we let this continue, our

society will continue to decline and other countries may intervene.

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Works Cited

DeSilver, Drew. “U.S. Students’ Academic Achievement Still Lags that of Their Peers in

Many Other Countries.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 15 Feb.

2017, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/15/u-s-students-internationally-

math-science/.

‌Klein, Alyson. “No Child Left Behind: An Overview.” Education Week, 11 Apr. 2015,

www.edweek.org/policy-politics/no-child-left-behind-an-overview/2015/04.

Alexander, Harriet. “Woke California School Boards BAN Teachers from Giving D and

F Grades.” Mail Online, 14 Dec. 2021, www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-

10306303/Common-sense-fail-Woke-California-school-boards-BAN-teachers-

giving-D-F-grades.html.

Wall, Patrick. “No Fs Allowed: Newark H.S. Urges Teachers to Pass Everyone during

COVID.” Chalkbeat Newark, 4 Feb. 2021,

newark.chalkbeat.org/2021/2/4/22267330/newark-failing-grades-pandemic.

‌
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