Current Trends In American Education

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There is a growing problem in America in the way that the students in America are being educated. Many people share the viewpoint that the educational system is not competitive enough and fails to educate the youth properly. As a nation, America seems to be raising a generation of underachievers reliant on mind and mood altering medication, a subpar curriculum, and the No Child left Behind Act which does a grave disservice to its children. If America intends to remain a world leader then there must be change in the way that students are educated. At the present, America rates near the bottom in core subjects such as Math, Reading, and English when compared to other nations. Limited funding, cutbacks, and a cookie cutter curriculum indicate …show more content…
The current trends in the American education system indicate that students fare very poorly in comparison to other countries. The standardized testing and curriculum that has been implemented to correct a problem has not been effective and has actually been shown to be working in reverse. American students face a great challenge in the future if they are to be the future leaders of their country and remain a global competitor.
Many students are unable to perform at the level that is expected according to standardized tests scores. These same students perform poorly in core subjects and the numbers are significantly lower for children from lower socioeconomic areas. According to an written by the Heritage Foundation, “U.S eight graders ranked 19th out of 38 countries in combined mathematics and science assessments” (Heritage Foundation, 2007, p.1).
There are many startling statistics and numbers that add credibility and evidence to the idea that the education system in America is flawed and is indeed in need of revision. As an example a website offers: “As long as our government believes that a rigid structure of Standardized tests is to be the basis of the American Public School System, few kids will ever be able to compete with even medium- achievers who were educated in other countries!” (American Public School Problems, 2006,
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The most apparent and major change is the implementation of the No Child left Behind Act and also standardized testing. An act that was designed to right supposed wrongs in the education system have seemingly crippled an already flawed system in need of correction and revision.
Much attention is being paid as the concern grows over how the American education system is failing its children by instituting the NCLB act. Also one of the main points was that students were not being taught to learn but instead taught how to memorize information for standardized testing. The NCLB act and the mention of students being taught to memorize information were noted as failures.
In an article written that addresses American Public School Problems the writer is quoted as stating “As long as our government believes that a rigid structure of Standardized tests is to be the basis of the American Public School System, few kids will ever be able to compete with even medium- achievers who were educated in other countries!” (American Public School Problems, 2006,