Hay FFR, I need your input

[mead1]

So, I have a paper due tomorrow on the school system, and how bent out of shape I think it is. obviously, I'll write the whole thing the period before it's due in the computer lab.

So, what are your thoughts on education in the USA in general. I'm not asking for you to write my paper for me, just tell me what you think.

[MCRenaissance]

Highly ineffective and very focused on the wrong ideas. They are penny pinching everything and the teachers couldn't care less on a singular student that's struggling. Sure there are exceptions, but most teachers just don't really have the flair for their job.

[Tokzic]

i can't help you i'm canadian sorry

[PsYcHoZeRoSk8eR]

Trying to make everyone into the same thing. Everyone is a 5 paragraph paper with and intro, 3 main ideas, and a conclusion. No exception.

[Tps222]

I don't think it's "Highly Ineffective".

Sure it has it's flaws, but for the most part, it works rather well.

[JurseyRider734]

If it worked well, people would want to go to school.

No one likes going to school (well a few people do, but hardly). In my opinion, education will be at its prime when kids WANT to go to school and WANT to learn. There is obviously a problem with the system.

[lord_carbo]

Far too many times required classes in the school system focuses too much on trivial things like social studies (I already know enough about history to hold a bit of small talk thanks, it doesn't need to be a damn required class past 8th grade) (what is social studies going to do for 95% of the people graduating anyway?) and not enough on classes like math or English which may matter a bit.

Erm, hope that helps.

[whorlichan]

You're talking about public school systems, right? Because private schools are infinitely worse...but back to the subject.

I went to a high school (in California) that was very good for being a public school. Standardized testing results were high and we learned interesting as well as useful things. But I was in the AP/Honors programs too, so I don't really know what they were learning in the non-honors.

I do know that the biggest problem is teachers are paid nowhere near enough to deal with the crap that they go through.

I never liked going to classes--maybe one or two, creative writing or biology or something, but mostly I'd rather sleep. I think this has more to do with the ability of the teachers to teach (mine all suck and make me want to fall asleep or shoot myself) than with what they actually teach.

I think if I were allowed to drop out of college right now and go to vet tech school, I would--and I'd enjoy it a hell of a lot more. Anyone got $30,000 to lend me?

[talisman]

schools teach to the test instead of teaching kids how to solve problems creatively. knowledge is important but knowing how to use knowledge and the ability to think in many different and creative ways is much more important.

[Shashakiro]

WAY too much subjectivity, it's way way way too easy for whether you have Teacher A or Teacher B determine how well you do...that happened to me in AP Biology, and it really sucked.

[Afrobean]

Surprised no one really touched on this.

In my opinion, by the time a person reaches high school, they should already be specializing if they so choose. As it is, nearly all of my 4 years were wasted on required general education classes (AND GASP I HAVE TO TAKE THE SAME CLASSES AGAIN NOW THAT I'M IN COLLEGE).

Total waste of time. Some classes were good (Design Tech, TV Lab, my time at the technical school...) but most of it was a waste of time that won't help me in real life at all.

[jewpinthethird]

Originally Posted by MCRenaissance

Highly ineffective and very focused on the wrong ideas. They are penny pinching everything and the teachers couldn't care less on a singular student that's struggling. Sure there are exceptions, but most teachers just don't really have the flair for their job.

Schools are far from Penny-Pinching, it's just most public schools, which are run like businesses, fund the programs that make the school the most money (the Football team and Standardized Testing). Subjects that aren't on the standardized test are overlooked (mostly, the arts, band, given the band program doesn't make money and foreign languages other than spanish [sounthern california]).

As I have mentioned already, schools are run like businesses, they have to be in order to compete in a capitalist society. Unfortunately, public schools make poor businesses as they can't charge the kids money for an education. The fault here belongs to the government, for it rewards the schools that score well and ignores the schools that don't, the one's that really need it.

Teachers are no longer allowed to discipline their students and do not get paid enough.

Since our government requires all children have access to an education, and very much being forced upon the children, dilutes the actually experience a pride in their academic pursuit (however this pride does emerge when a student enters college). Basically, children are not inspired to go to school.

However, even in higher forms of education, people are told to purse a major not so much of their interest but does offer job security with the prospect of promotion.

[ShadowSkill]

One thing no one said much about is how any ISD uses the money to pay for things for their school.

What would you rather have:
Security Cameras
Better Computers/Learning Materials

Note that in both opinions the school already hired police, full-time i might add, to partol the school as to keep the students safe.

Just guess what my ISD picked.
smarter not harder

[JKPolk]

As far as I've seen, the school system works in this way:
Elementary school tries to prepare you for middle school,
middle school tries to prepare you for high school,
and high school tries to prepare you for college.
All of this is done through teaching to tests, they want you to know just what you need to know; this leaves out a lot of self discovery, which is fundemental in the learning process. When one learns something on their own, or makes their own connections, they want to go to class to discuss it and learn more. By teaching to the tests, our factory of a school system leaves nothing to be desired.

[JurseyRider734]

Also, homework is a waste of time.

[Tps222]

Homework is a necessary tool in order to teach kids work ethic and study habits. I suppose just giving tests and term papers similar to college would be most beneficial, but then I think the majority of the students would be discouraged and weakened.

[Ryusei_]

Now, in general, the Florida school system is a rather bad one. Because this is the only place I have ever lived, I can only tell you specifics for my wonderful education avenues. And here they are.

(1) Nearly all of the schools in my county, and many others, are overfilled, with no plans for new ones for several years (I do live in a rather big county)

(2) Our standard of teaching is severly lowered, considering what is taught and learned up north. (The GED test here requires no more than a 9th grade education. 8th in some cases.)

(3) We sure as hell don't have enough teachers. Every year our classes are over filled with kids, to the point where we have kids standing in the classroom with no desks. A class of literally 40 meant for a classroom of, oh lets say 25-30 if that.

(4) Most schools don't have enough money to run decent programs or many education feild trips. Hell, our band hasn't been able to buy any new school instruments in a while due to "lack of funds"

(5) And last, but not least, we have a relative of George Bush as govenor, which doesn't help matters. We all hear talks of how he's "improving" our school situation, but no one has yet to see any of these claims put into action. Granted, I understand it IS hard to do, but don't make promises you can't keep.

Now, I'm sure there are many many more, but these are the few subjects that came to my mind after reading this thread. I personally think the Florida's public schools are just lacking compared to just about everywhere else and for the most part, puts a lot of kids at a severe dissadvantage. And the fact that a lot of these are well known problems for the most part, makes it worse for the simple fact that no one does much to solve them.

*note* These are also not just my schools problem but many of these are taking place in a good number of schools around the state. So if you think that I'm just complaining about my school, I'm not.

[JurseyRider734]

That's because there's so many old people and a lot of money goes into assisted living and **** probably.

[Afrobean]

Originally Posted by JKPolk

Elementary school tries to prepare you for middle school,
middle school tries to prepare you for high school,
and high school tries to prepare you for college.

In my experience, it's more like this:
Elementary school lays the foundation of everything you'll ever need to know.
Middle school finishes it off.
High chool is, for the most part, a waste of time.

I say high school is a waste of time, because I easily could have finished 8th grade and immediately gotten a GED. From there, I could learn the few things that I learned in high school in college (like I'm not doing that already anyway...). And ironically, I would have actually learned things better by just skipping high school. The downside is that I'd probably end up pumping a bit more money into college classes, but I'd say it's worth it to not waste 4 years like that.

[mead1]

Paper is done, thx guys. I'll post it monday or something.