Why Is The Overall Quality Of Education In America..Plummeting?

Question

An old Chinese prover says, "There is no such thing as a poor student only a poor teacher".

But........Here in America students grades or plummeting.
There is no reason why a normal young person who is not brain damaged or mentally impaired can not score at least a 1400 on the SAT.

Yet we in America have atrocious SAT scores placing America far below their average international counterparts particularly in Asia and South East Asia which excels in similar scoring tests.

Why?

There is no reason why a normal young person who is not brain damaged or mentally impaired, who comes from a stable family background with an actual mother and father in the home, can not score at least a 1400 on the SAT.

Yet we in America have atrocious SAT scores placing America far below their average international counterparts particularly in Asia and South East Asia which excels in similar scoring tests.

Answer 1

One of the big problems is that education is not respected in the United States. Neither are teachers. I am highly intelligent and I will tell you I only scored a 1220 on my SAT. Many have issues with standardized tests especially if you have a different cultural background. Many questions are worded where if you have not experienced life in a certain way- you will not get the correct answer. But truly the overlying problem is that the entire country expects teachers to work miracles. We can only do so much. If a student does not want to learn or doesn't see the point we can't MAKE them learn. We can hope to inspire but if they go home and parent says "What are you doing that for? That's stupid. You won't need that." How do we overcome that. Parents (not all) seem to think it is ONLY the job of the teacher to inspire their children to be successful. If kids hear parents bad-mouthing school or teachers, do you really think the kids are going to be open to learning and exploring?

The general attitude in America is PLAY FIRST- learn later. Just the other day some people were complaining that they got too much homework and should be out playing instead of doing that.

Until the United States' PEOPLE'S top priority becomes education- things won't change.
And this means they encourage their children to want to learn - not they make unreasonable demands on teachers and schools.
Education has to become respected and an acceptable thing to be. Why is that the "brains" are made fun of? If in fact we want all of our children to be intelligent well-functioning people - perhaps we can teach them that this love for learning is a GOOD thing- not something to be ashamed of.

Answer 2

First of all .. more and more children are coming from broken homes, one parent families, and/or many other problems that were not as prevelant when I went to school in the 60's. This places the teacher in a multi-task role since they are not only "teaching" ..but also dealing with kids that may have emotional problems, or unable to concentrate in school due to problems in their everyday lives at home. Another factor is "No child left behind" . This program forces teachers to target specific goals in the classroom. The kids must be able to pass these specific goals before they are allowed to go on to the next grade. This forces teachers to focus on getting their kids through the "hoops" of government regulations, instead of teaching in the more natural and traditional ways. Another factor is that teachers are being treated worse every year in our society. They are not respected as they once were. Teachers always seem to be spoken of in negative terms... and the pay is not that great. For this reason many people who could have been excellent teachers are now chosing other fields of employment where they are appreciated for their efforts. There are several other reasons that the kids are not scoring well.. but those are a few. :)

Answer 3

In my opinion,
2 reasons
1. Lack of parental guidence at home, or general "homework: support
2. Too much TV

I am a teacher in an international school in Taiwan where children excell in all subjects, and they are fully bilingual in Chinese and English by second grade.
But, parents here are pushy. They sit down with their children and help them with their homework for HOURS every night. They value education above everything else.
This culture has its benefits, like having a high place in society as a teacher. But on the other hand, their social skills and emotional maturity level is way below their western peers becuase of a lack of social interaction.

Answer 4

On a international extensive scale the U. S. already ranks below some third international international locations =( the 1st element to take a fulfillment on funds cuts is practise, then the two aspects turn around and blame the different for the failing practise gadget contained in the U. S..

Answer 5

Every problem in American public education can be traced back to a damn lawyer. Research that one and talk to teachers and principals and you'd find that to be correct. We can't have high standards without someone falling short of the bar. Failure is not allowed in American schools because it's "too damaging to the self-esteem of children". Screw that. If kids fail, they fail. We are forced, because of the lawyers, to accomodate the pansies.
Secondly, parents do not demand enough from their students. I teach at an excellent public school in Ohio, we are consistently in the top 10 schools in the state on our standardized tests. But I am seeing more and more parents doing their kids' homework for them and pressuring teachers and administrators for good GRADES for their kids. The emphasis has slowly shifted from getting a good education to getting good grades. I am seeing more and more students, with their parents' blessing, dropping courses such as chemistry and physics and taking easier courses so that they can maintain a high GPA with little effort. EVERY problem in a school can also be tracked back to a mediocre community and mediocre parents. We can only demand, in a school, as much as they'll give and let us. We work for them, they are our bosses and our school boards. If the school sucks, it's because of the community running the school.
Lastly, FAMILIES are spoiled rotten, parents want it convenient and easy. They don't want anyone pushing their kids too hard and causing them stress. They'd much rather that Johnny is captain of the football team and Susie makes the cheerleading squad. They will fight, scream, and bully board members to get their way for those sorts of things, but they wouldn't take time out of their busy schedule to go to parent-teacher conferences to see how their kid is doing in chemistry class. They will pitch a fit to the principal and NHS advisor if their kid doesn't make it into the National Honor Society, but they won't check to see how they can encourage their kid to better understand chemistry.
I'm a teacher, and I also have kids. My daughter is 17, and is bright and a hard worker. She carries a 4.0 average and is focused on LEARNING. That's a value the PARENT has to instill. We need better parents in our society, not just ones that are focused on reliving their high school days vicariously through their children.

Answer 6

because the federal government has complete control over it!