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Joseph Daniels

Prof. Freeland

English Composition II

29 October 2020

What can be done to fix the U.S. School System?

Imagine yourself a student in high school, you've been told to take one of those Myers-

Briggs personality tests. You learned that you would be classified as a more creative individual

which perfectly matches how you've known yourself to be. Unfortunately for you, you're stuck in

an education system that will proceed to fail you for years to come. The current U.S. Education

System is a one size fits all implementation of learning. Designed around 150 years ago,

Students were taught to sit in rows, don't talk, do what you're told, and not fall out of line.

Though it might have been acceptable then to teach students in factory style conditions, the

system must be updated. In our current society we need creative individuals, not factory workers.

We need reform, to change the way we teach our children. The United states school system must

be adapted to our current society and must make changes that focus less on gaining numbers, and

more on the personal health and success of the individual.

One step that may be taken is first fixing where our classes are held. Our education

system is not perfect by any standard. According to a short article on New America, currently,

about 3% of the total United States federal budget is spent on Education. (New America) Though

that is nearly 79 billion dollars, that is still short of nothing in the long run. Currently, students in

public schools all across America are suffering from horribly poor learning conditions and over a

century old outdated teaching practice.

The New York Times posted a compilation of short excerpts written by students about

their schools, and many of them describe the conditions their schools are in. A quote from

Theodore Loshi, a student at Julia Reynolds Masterman School in Philadelphia, PA talks about

how his school sits with holes in the walls, even having mice and cockroaches everywhere. He

says, "I believe that students could perform better if we were in a better environment to learn."

(The New York Times) Many of the buildings our students are being taught in are run down, pre-

World War II buildings. This is inexcusable, much of the budget should be put into renovating

these buildings to better suit the current, more modern times. If we allocated even just up to 8%

of the federal budget to education, that would raise the budget from 79 Billion to 361 billion

dollars. That's billions more that could be used to repair and erect new school buildings better

suited for the modern age. Giving students a much needed, more comfortable environment to

study.

We need to change the way we evaluate our students. Currently, student progress is

measured by numbers on test scores. Assigning children letters to grade their academic

performance. Not only has this been proven to simply come down to getting the best numbers on

exams instead of actually "learning." It puts too much pressure on students to do well, if the

student receives a bad grade or poor testing scores, they are labeled as less than, or shamed for

"not putting in enough effort." This puts too much stress on the students' lives and even leads to

many cheating on assignments and exams to get the numbers, that is not learning, what can be

done is throw away the old practice of grading students based on performance and more on effort

given. Far too many students are cast away and labeled failures simply because they may not

understand a topic.
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As stated by Professor Linda Darling-Hammond in an article on Edutopia, testing is the

pinnacle of proper education. Without testing, we have no gauge of progress, no idea as to if you

need to relearn information again. As she states, "You can't know where you're going unless you

know where you are." But the current weight and the stigma associated with testing is just too

strict. Everyone believes if you fail a test you fail the course, or that you just didn't try hard

enough. (Darling-Hammond) As of where it stands, the government grades the school system by

the schools based on student performance and student numbers. Meaning to meet the standard,

many cases stand where teachers will cut corners at the expense of properly teaching students,

just to meet the numbers. Necessary skills needed in the modern workplace are not currently

taught in our outdated form of schooling. Many skills being indirect that cannot be simply

lectured on but must be taught through example. Skills such as problem-solving, teamwork,

learning to learn, creative thinking, etc.

Finland has proven to succeed in the elimination of standardized testing. The only

"standardized test" students in Finland must take is given to them at the end of their senior year.

The general model for modern standardized tests was first invented in 1914 by Fredrick J. Kelly.

He brought the standard multiple-choice question format to the spotlight around the time of the

first World War where teachers were in limited quantities and the need to quickly bring new

students into the working force was at an all-time high. (Davidson) Kelly wrote in a dissertation,

"If Henry Ford can turn out Model Ts for the great multitude, why can't we do the same for

education." To this day the same format of standardized testing is used in schools across

America. Here's the catch, Kelly himself did not expect the use of his tests to become so

widespread according to his papers at the University of Idaho. He stated shortly after developing
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them "These tests are too crude to be used and should be abandoned." (Kelly) Standardized

Testing is a cruel and unreliable way of judging students' ability to learn.

We must also consider the extreme factor that teaching is laughed upon in the

professional world. Maybe not directly, but very much indirectly. Being a teacher is one of the

more underpaid jobs in the workforce. According to Business Insider, the average teacher salary

in Ohio is $57,799 per year, with some states even sitting as low as $45,574 per year. (Perino et

al.) In many cases, you'll find teachers completely neglecting their true worth as instructors,

because not only are they underpaid Their hands are often so restricted by those in the corporate

seat who form the curriculums we use for our children, that they cannot truly teach how they

need to. Prince Ea. is a motivational speaker who has grown in popularity within the past few

years on YouTube for his incredibly inspiring and well-produced spoken word videos on his

channel. In his video titled, "I Sued the School System!" He mentions that teachers should be

paid as much as doctors, for a doctor can save a child's life, but a teacher can shape it. (Prince

Ea) Not only that, New and uprising teachers to the field are constantly berated by so many that

will tell them to not become a teacher, that it lacks benefits and is low wage.

The average teacher salary in Finland is 66,840 Euro per year, in comparison that is about

$77,826 U.S. Dollars. (Salary Explorer) Finland is doing remarkable things in their school

system. Their instructors are given high bars, only 10% of the nation's graduates to receive a

master's in education are selected. From that 10%, 62,000 Teachers are placed in various small

community-based schools where the individual is prioritized. The Instructors live by a "whatever

it takes" mentality where they closely monitor their students. If something is failing, they consult

and try a different approach. This has led Finland to be one of the world leaders in its student's

reading, mathematics, and science skills. (Hancock) Quoted from Pasi Sahlberg, a former math
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and physics teacher in the Finland school system states, "We prepare children to learn how to

learn, not how to take a test."

Much of our nation's school system is not focused on catering to the individual but

towards the masses. Often leading many children to believe that they are inadequate because of

their performance in schools. While failing to help them succeed in what they are truly gifted in.

Everyone is different, every student is built to succeed in something different. Once quoted by

Albert Einstein, "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it

will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." (Einstein) This is a very true statement, in this

age, Students are expected to fulfill the age-old role of a "Renaissance Man." Which is defined

by the Oxford Dictionary as a person with many talents or areas of knowledge. Though this is a

good way to look at things. The second you start critiquing an artist and calling them a failure

because they don't understand the Pythagorean Theorem, you are making that fish climb a tree.

Also quoted from Prince Ea, "Not only does the current U.S. school system make fish climb

trees, but it also makes that fish climb down and do a ten-mile run." (Prince Ea)

As we know of right now, there are seven different types of learning styles that have been

identified. The seven include Verbal, Aural, Visual, Physical, Logical, Social, and Solitary.

(Learning Styles Online) Since elementary school, students have been told these are the different

ways of learning. In most cases even taken tests where they are told which style category they

fall under. That's great but what good is the identification of learning styles if they are not used

in teaching. Teaching should be dynamic for both the student and the teacher, the way the

curriculum is formed should follow the student and how they learn. If a student learns auditorily

then it would not benefit them to be taught through reading a textbook. The same rule applies

vice versa. A solution to this would be implementing different forms of classrooms. Assigning
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children to teachers whose teaching style matches the student's learning style. Imagine a

classroom environment for students who might be on the sociable side of learning, who work

best in groups. Where instead of having to sit for an hour and either read from a textbook or

listen to a lecture that well wouldn't interest them. But instead was able to work in teams,

interacting hands-on with historic documents and even intuitive games that offer rewarding

outcomes.

Currently around 46% of schools have start times that range earlier than 8 am, while

others hover safely around 8:00 to 8:30 am. This leaves many students struggling to stay awake

through their first-period class. This brings forth a lack of sleep and a less proactive start to the

day. As stated by Andrew Schatzman, a student in the public schooling system in Fairfax county,

"I fell asleep on the bus and usually wasn't really awake until after the first period ended."

(Costigan and Orleans) Having proper sleep is a staple for proper development in a child's life.

Most notably, a proper, well-maintained sleep schedule can decrease the likelihood of

depression, diabetes, obesity, and even thoughts of suicide says Tracy Costigan in her article

titled "Three Reasons to Consider Later School Start Times." Tracy also goes on to state that

Later school days allowing for more sleep can have a drastic positive impact on a student's

academic performance. Stating that "Many studies show that later school starts are associated

with better grades, higher test scores, and improved focus and self-regulation among middle and

high school students." (Costigan and Orleans) Students would benefit from an extra hour of

sleep, enabling schools to start at 9 instead of 8, as opposed to starting their education early

before the sun even rises.

On that same note, traditionally schools are held within a 6-hour period where students

switch between multiple classes along a schedule controlled by bells without any room for
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wiggle except maybe the one hour allotted lunch period they are given. This tradition has to go,

students would benefit so much from a mental health standpoint if we stopped making school

such a forefront point of their focus. They spend most of their day in classes and the rest on the

hours of homework assigned every night. So much so that it often pushes the social aspect of

students' lives out of the picture. Currently, it is recorded that most students in U.S. schools

spend between 900 - 1,000 hours in school per year, which can equate to more stress in student's

lives. As opposed to students in countries such as Finland who spend only 770 - 870 hours per

year in school. In Finland, students receive 15-minute breaks between each class to clear their

minds and prepare themselves for their next class. (Yazdi) Shorter classes would lead to less

stress and increased productivity for students.

Unfortunately, the school system may make students constantly stressed and not help

them succeed as much as desired. During the school year, children are forced to cram

information into their heads for the sole intent to hopefully pass a test. These high standards

placed on students are unreasonable and could lead them down the path of mental illness such as

anxiety and depression when they are unable to succeed on a given assessment. Many programs

have been developed to help students learn the material in a less stressful fashion such as Khan

Academy. Khan Academy is a free online resource in which teachers and other educators create

videos and assignments to help the student feel more encouraged when tackling a difficult

subject. Katrina Schwartz who is a well-known journalist for the company KQED states how

Khan Academy has helped students by explaining "Khan Academy helped students in three non-

academic areas: it reduced math anxiety, improved their belief they could do math and improved

academic efficacy -- students' belief in their ability to succeed academically" (KQED). This

proves the point that Khan Academy can fill a void that regular school is unable to fulfill on its
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own. Other programs similar to Khan Academy can help students become more efficient and

confident during their busy and challenging school career.

In the same regard, the topic of homework has historically been controversial as many

people have different views on it. Homework can be a great way for students to practice and

master challenging concepts they face at school. However, if the teacher mindlessly assigns too

much homework, the students can face adverse effects such as less sleep and potentially being

crippled socially. According to Rachel Basinger in her article titled, "Giving Less Homework

May Actually Produce Better Results," she talks of students being able to focus on building

themselves in many other areas of life, and in some cases, homework can even hinder them from

doing that. She says, "Students should be well-rounded individuals; If they're overloaded with

homework, they won't be able to develop in other areas." (Basinger) The point of school is to

teach our students the course material. But far too often Teachers are found giving absurd

amounts of homework to students simply because they didn't get to teach it. This should not be

the case. Eliminating homework would also increase the ability of students to learn through

instruction and not on their own.

There are so many reasons against our current nation's school system that cannot simply

be brushed aside. We need reform, from early mornings to excessive homework, to not allowing

students to truly learn the way they were designed to. The traditional form that our schools have

taken is long outdated and must be updated. Teachers are underpaid and underappreciated, and

too many are given easy roads to abuse their roles. We need to allocate more of our nation's

budget towards our schools. We need to fix the buildings and provide optimal learning

environments for our students as well as do away with unnecessary practices such as
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standardized testing. As it stands, Students are often cheated out of quality education and often

have to push themselves at the cost of their mental health.

Works Cited

"Average Salary 2020." The Complete Guide, www.salaryexplorer.com/salary-survey.php?

loc=73.

Banker, Courtney, and Ted Gournelos. "TED Talks and the Need for a Changing Education

System." Florida Communication Journal, vol. 41, no. 2, Fall 2013, pp. 39–56.

EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=ufh&AN=91760328&site=eds-live

Costigan, Tracy. "Three Reasons to Consider Later School Start Times." RWJF, 1 July 2020,

www.rwjf.org/en/blog/2018/02/three-reasons-to-consider-later-school-start-times.html.

Darling-Hammond, Linda. "How Should We Measure Student Learning? 5 Keys to

Comprehensive Assessment." Edutopia, George Lucas Educational Foundation, 25 Mar.

2015, www.edutopia.org/comprehensive-assessment-introduction

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Institution, 1 Sept. 2011, www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-

schools-successful-49859555/.
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King, John. "What Will It Take to Fix Public Education?" Yale Insights, 26 Mar. 2018,

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