Shocked an appalled at the level of American education?

Question

to the extent that I seriously wonder, if Americans didn't go to school, if they would be smarter.

Does American education make Americans dumb?

In response I will add, that America should pursue quality rather than quantity.
I see elsewhere in your culture where quantity is attached to prestige i.e. bigger is better; bigger than Texas, super size me etc as opposed to places such as Japan, where small is considered beautiful, or Russia where great things are achieved with meager resources.

I stick by that thought. Perhaps Americans would be smarter if they didn't have formal education.

Imagine that. If you needed to know something, you would have to research and study to find out the answer.

I notice here, that even with a spell check function, the spelling is often poor.

Thanks Matt for your post. I think you missed my point. I was comparing the average American to anyone who makes Internet posts. US people come out at the bottom; last; for both content and spelling. US might have every great and good university in the world but it has not changed the average American’s spelling ability or their understanding, or their thought processes. Perhaps those universities are full of foreign students? I believe that the schooling that they are getting is actually making Americans dumber.

Answer 1

There's a lot of variety in education in the US, as you might expect actually. After all, the US doesn't have one culture (Starbuck's be damned!), but a pluralistic array of cultures, frankly much more so than the vast majority of the rest of the world.

K-12 education in the US, admittedly, doesn't test at the top of the world, particularly in the sciences. We're handicapped by a rampant desire to have more personally, which leads to a desire to minimize one's contribution to the collective. In other words... anything to pay less in taxes. So as a result, our schools are underfunded, but worse, are under appreciated. Why is that?

Well, in my opinion it has a lot to do with the *availability* of education in the US, which is far greater than in most countries, particularly at the college level. This availability has, to some degree, decreased how much people value that education. Eligibility to attend college in many European countries, for example, is determined by standardized testing (at fairly early ages actually...). Do poorly, and you're off to trade school, but do well, and you're on the medical track, for example. But in the US, if you do poorly on standardized tests you won't get into the best schools, but if you believe in yourself and are willing to take the risk, you can find a college to go to anyway.

The costs and benefits of the US system are significant of course. Some number of "unqualified" students venture off to college and fail. So as a result, they wasted time, money, and likely experienced a lot of heartache. But they gained peace of mind. They don't have to go through life thinking that some administrator made a decision *for* them and that the decision was wrong. ...that they *could* have done it. What's that worth? At the other end of the spectrum, I can't tell you how many times we've gotten students with poor test scores in, only to have them excel well beyond expectations, and sometimes near the top of the class! The benefits there are obvious, both to the individual and to society.

Lastly, I'm always taken aback a bit by criticism of the US educational system, particularly from colleagues of mine from overseas. We provide greater opportunity for learning than do most other countries to be sure, but we also provide the opportunity to fail. That's the choice of the individual. But we have more international students in school in the US than any other country in the world. So one has to ask why that is... Is it just because of a desire to live in the US driven by a perverse belief that life here is "as seen on TV," or is it because of those opportunities? At my institution we have an abundance of international students (well above average in the US), and I love having them around. They don't stereotype Americans, they bring new perspectives and backgrounds, and they help our students gain greater perspective and understanding. Years ago, I was shocked when a couple of them told me that the only reason they came to the US was because they weren't tracked for college in their home country (Germany). I'm proud of the fact that we gave them the opportunity to pursue their own personal goals. One of them is now in medical school, and the other one is back home in Germany working for a biotech company, neither of which would have happened for them back at home.

By the way, I'm with you completely on the spelling on Y!A. It's awful. But that said, most of the folks spelling poorly on Y!A are looking for quick answers to questions of a superficial nature. I *think* that the more sincere, serious questions tend to be accompanied by better spelling and grammar, but that's just my impression.

Answer 2

If you check the international rankings of world universities (that is, the ones created by non-Americans outside the USA) you will see that American education is VERY highly regarded outside the USA. In the Shanghai Univerisity rankings something like 40 of the top 50 ranked colleges in the world are US schools. This kind of international respect leads to more than 500,000 international students a year coming to the US to study. The eight Ivy League schools and Duke, Stanford, MIT, UChicago, Caltech, etc are routinely listed among the most highly respected of all the universities in the world for the quality of their undergraduate education and the productivity and creativity of their research and scholarship.

There are over 4000 colleges and universities in the USA. So, everyone who wants to attend college can attend, unlike nearly all other countries where only a small % of children can go on to college. You can't compare an average American college student to an average student in another country. That is apples to oranges, comparing average Americans to elite foreigners. Instead, you have to compare the average 25 year old in the US to the average of all 25 year olds in the other country where the vast majority of people have had no college at all. That tells you what the level of education is.

Answer 3

These days, they are, especially where I came from. Don't get me wrong, there are some great school systems here, but in Ohio, the inner city schools are facing teacher cutbacks, so the student/teacher ratio is going up, the education is not as good now as it was back in the day. And the older teachers who have been teaching 20-30 years are retiring, and the new generation of teachers don't have what it takes to provide quality education, but in time, they will. Everybody can be smart, but the decisions they make, i.e. getting pregnant, dropping out is very dumb. I was not the smartest, I was not in Student council, or the National Honor Society, etc. but I did manage to graduate and live a very productive life. Thank you!

Answer 4

American education has a unique challenge. This is the only country in the world that is asked to provide 12 or more years of education to EVERY person living in it. In most other nations, school ends sooner, or a career path is chosen by the system that society has in place there.

We are graduating more people, more scientists, more doctors, more engineers than in any time in our history. We are also losing more students because our society seems to demand that everyone go on the college track.

It used to be that there was college and trade school. Unfortunately, we've put a stigma on good honest work that doesn't require a B.S. or a B.A.

Are we dumber? No, because we are setting the goals higher and are seeing more fail to reach them. We're becoming blinded by the numbers on standardized tests.

Before you look at American Education, look at the family. Everyday, I come to school ready to teach. Does every student come to school ready to learn?

I only wish it were so.

Answer 5

Well, American education is pretty good for the most advanced students.

Answer 6

an education is only worth the amount of effort you put into it. If you dont value your education, it is a reflection of your personality.

Answer 7

Not really... as a student I find that I'm getting a good education. What statistic made you so flustered?