Why is the American education system so dreadfully inadequate?

Question

It's shocking to see how kids in other countries are learning things in the 6th grade that American kids aren't taught until high school! Will the U.S. become a second rate country due to its horrendous educational deficiency when compared to other countries? I know people will say 'America has the greatest military in the world' and 'the U.S. has the greatest economy in the world'. These things may be true for NOW, but what about in a few decades, especially when Asian and European countries produce far more engineers, scientists, mathematicians, etc? Will nations like China and India become the new superpowers?

Answer 1

There are two answer for this:
One. In our country we sadly are still so segregated by economics that we only expect the best from one group. We expect that the lower classes to do the worst and our country has set up institutions that generate the same results year after year. If you expect someone to do poorly that's what you will get. In psychology it is called self-fulfilling prophecy.
Two. Sadly, our education system is the same model for the last century and although it worked in the 1920s it can no longer stay at par with the education of other industrial countries. This country is still receiving and using old frameworks of education to dictate how we educate our children.

Answer 2

It is interesting to note that because most people have gone to school, they each think they are an expert on education. But, the problems are much more complex than each of our personal little experiences.

Some have pointed out that a model for education was set up when the country was mostly agricultural and industrial. But it goes back even further than that. Our constitution did not address education. It is left to the states. As a result, there are as many different educational programs, philosophies, and funding for such as there are states. There is a tug-of-war within many states as to funding. For example, the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled 4 times that the system for funding is unconstitutional, yet the legislators still have not come up with a fair program. There is a huge discrepancy between rich districts and poor districts in the amount of their school funding. That's what happens when funding is tied to property tax. This problem is occurring in many states and each state has its own constitutional definition of what an appropriate education is.

There is a breakdown in society that contributes to the problem. Factors such as drugs, broken families, poverty, a sense of entitlement, fanaticism and extremism, unwillingness to delay gratification, loss of work ethic, racism, elitism, entanglement of church and state, torte law, parenting, value systems--all these factors and more contribute to the problem.

Business stands to lose a great deal, but instead of working with a sense of national pride with an eye to the future, many hook onto methods for quick profit and immediate return. There are a few organizations that are trying to see the big picture. Let's hope their visionaries aren't fired.

There are negative comments on this answer board about teacher quality. There are poor quality people in all professions including business, medicine, and law. There are also stellar examples, so blaming the educational problem on teachers is a ludicrous as blaming all disease on doctors or all crime on lawyers. If we value education, then why aren't programs and efforts being made to bring the absolute brightest and best into the profession?

We as a nation have failed to bite the bullet and do the hard work that is required both for a personal education and for a successful educational system. Until such time as people in the country pull together and see it as a national crisis that must be solved by people working TOGETHER on a national level as well as a personal level to address the factors, we will continue to have an inadequate system. At some point, critical mass will be achieved and we will implode or create what is necessary.

Answer 3

Three words: TOO MUCH BUREAUCRACY. Because of the way the education system is set up to be so intimately connected to the amount of money that exists in a given area, funding for many schools is woefully inadequate. It's an extension of the "haves vs. have nots" that's so pervasive in this country...and so it pulls everybody down to some degree.

I also think it bears connection to the states having too much clout...every state has their own agenda, and their own standards for what should be part of the standard curriculum. If we could NATIONALIZE a decent school curriculum, that might very well help matters. Our schools need serious help refocusing their curricula more towards the "hard" sciences and less towards the "humanities". (If kids aren't learning the kinds of things that lead to critical thinking, scientific curiosity, and intellectual stimulation, they're not going to be able to be true innovators, and we will be left in the dust of countries where they ARE...)

Another aspect is just purely cultural: we are surrounded by so much garbage in the mass media and elsewhere, that we get wrapped up in meaningless status symbols and forget about the true value of education...you don't see kids from India or China running around with fancy clothes, cars, gold jewelry, etc. ...they are more concerned with getting ahead academically so they can do something interesting, productive, and useful to society. It's that "me, myself, and I" problem that's so pervasive in this country...that "instant gratification" problem that's an extension of it and makes a quality education virtually impossible. You can't learn all the important stuff if you're concerned with what kind of clothes you wear, what kind of car you drive, or at the other extreme, what you're going to eat or whether you're going to be shot if you just walk outside.

I could say plenty more, but I'd be going off on a wild tangent...

Answer 4

Our education system fails because parents and educators insist on holding kids back from their potential. Small groups complain that expectations are too high or that their children's self-esteem is being damaged by being told they need to work harder in order to succeed and the school boards listen. The curriculums are so impaired by poorly implemented inclusion programs (I'm not saying inclusion is a bad thing, just that it is typically hindered by poor policy and planning) and "character development" classes that are supposed to take the place of actual discipline in the school. Add to this the fact that athletes are given free rides through high school and college, filling seats that could be given to students that have an interest in performing well. Colleges have become status symbols for their administrators and athletes as they waste tuition funds on facilities and programs that only benefit a minority of students and the research of a handful of professors. In short, nobody is focused on educating students anymore.

Answer 5

You're just now finding out about this? Didn't you know that the trend for the last 7 years has been the high tech, high paying jobs are being A) Farmed out to other countrys,ie outsourcing, or B) Recruiters for these jobs are sent to other countrys to find suitable applicants. The percentage of Americans in the last 7 years taking these high tech jobs has dropped while the percentage of foreign workers doing these same jobs is escalating.

Answer 6

In student performance scores, usually the scores from the college bound track kids in other countries are compared to the ENTIRE student population in the United States, including those kids who in other countries would be voc/tech or clerical tracks.

No other country IN THE WORLD tries to educate all their children exactly the same way, regardless of the child's skills and challenges. Most countries track kids into vocational/trades, clerical, and college bound schools based on their strengths.

Equal and equitable are two different things. We are trying to force kids to all meet college bound requirements, and dumbing-down the college bound curriculum and instruction in order to try to include everybody. This is because legislators seek equal treatment for all, rather than equitable treatment for all.

That's why college bound 7th graders in other countries are learning their third year of 2 foreign languages, trigonometry, and lab science. In the United States, it is rare to have any foreign language instruction, trigonometry and advanced algebra, or lab science until high school, even for most gifted students. After all, coursework has to be within the reach of most of the students in order to be acceptable.

Answer 7

My opinion is that the trend is to "dumb down America." If people cannot think for themselves, they will follow whatever ideas that are presented to them.

Also, many parents do not view education as important. Parents need to take an active role in their children's educations. Ask them questions or ask for their opinions. Six or seven hours a day five days a week is not enough to be competitive in the world!

Answer 8

The problem is that funding that should go to the classrooms gets tied up in the beuracracy of districts, lawyers, and such. Also, because the US doesn't like to pay taxes (as they have one of the lowest tax rates in the world) we don't like to put more money into the system to make it better.

Answer 9

I believe it has alot to do with our methods of teaching in public schools(besides the obvious lack of money). The school system is not set up for free thinkers,only conformers.It stems from when United States was mostly industrial based. We are going to be in big trouble if we do not overhaul our public school systems..Problem is when you get a free thinker in public classrooms, they automatically want to medicate them before it spreads.My son does not attend public school. I actually enjoy how he thinks for himself. He is only going into the 5th grade , but when he was younger and was sent to public schools he was always in trouble for arguing with the teacher. He would point out how he thought she was wrong and why. The final straw for me was when he came home one day and told me how his teacher had told the class that MLK was an evil man. When he spoke up on it, he was in trouble..Thank God I had also been teaching him at home..

Answer 10

That's why Arizona has so many charter schools. My daughter won't set foot in a public school where I live. She's getting an amazing education at her charter school.