The dumbing down of america?

13 Comments

Once again the cry is that "it's too difficult".
Should the testing and homework be removed or eased in American education? Should we make it easier for all students to pass, thereby further dumbing down America?
"Are there too many tests? Are they the right tests? Are the stakes for failing them too high? What should Washington, D.C. have to do with all this?" said Alexander, R-Tenn., before a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee."
You tell me. Challenge students with a curriculum that produces a well educated population, even though some won't make it without working very, very hard, or make it so easy that everybody passes, so they can feel good about themselves, even though the diploma is then worth nothing?
Remember; an uneducated population is easier for the government to control.

no, I want my diploma to mean something 22
Who cares about grades; I'm popular. 2
I don't care; school is stupid 6
hell yes, let 'em all pass 3
I don't need school, I 'm already smart enough 7
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Comments ( 13 )
  • [Old Memory]
    9 years ago

    The entire school system needs to be restructured. The problem is it only teaches people who learn like most people and fails students who learn different ways.

    The school system completely failed me. I was made to go to after school classes and summer schools, I failed so many grades I was 22 by the time I graduated, I couldn't get along with students or staff, I was sent to a different school nearly every year despite never moving, I was constantly in detention, I was mostly an F student.

    If I would fail they would just make me try again without helping me. They just expected me to do things the way other people do, but I don't learn like other people. I was in gifted classes and special ed as well as alternative schools, public and private schools, nothing worked.

    Whenever I hear of someone shooting up the school I completely understand. I don't condone randomly killing people, but will admit I am often amazed I had the restraint to not do it myself.

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  • reminiscent
    9 years ago

    None of your options appeal to me.
    testing doesnt really work that well... its tye same test for everyone. You cant make a perfect universal test... everyone is different everyone learns differently.
    "If You Judge a Fish by Its Ability to Climb a Tree, It Will Live Its Whole Life Believing that It is Stupid."
    Basically if your a fish in our school system your out of luck.

    I personally learn much better with hands on things. I enjoyed projects more then homework because I learned more and remembered more that way.

    Also school leaves a lot of important stuff out... its up to you to do your own research and obtain knowledge outside of school.

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    • Jweezee
      9 years ago

      http://youtu.be/osR6be2UUHk

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      • reminiscent
        9 years ago

        Lol
        I have seen that before.
        it more so has to do with the way people learn and are able to retain the information.
        I found doodling off to the side pictures that correlated with the notes helped me remember the information better... and became better at taking tests.
        Some people might also get really bad anxiety while taking a test causing them to get a low score. They arnt stupid... they just have an anxiety problem. Essentially tgey are bad test takers.

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        • Jweezee
          9 years ago

          I agree with you for the most part. But I'm sure a number of the students that claim to be poor test takers are just plain dumb and using that as an excuse for their performance.
          To really understand the education problems in the U.S. It's helpful to look at other countries excelling in education and what they're doing differently. A couple of the differences are class size and more rigorous teacher preparation and training. When you have smaller classes and more competent instructors you can better cater to the needs of a student on an individual basis. I think much of the problem in the U.S. lies with unimaginative, ill-prepared instructors and class sizes that prevent an assured understanding by the entirety of the students.

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          • reminiscent
            9 years ago

            When I went to hs in tx ... their set up was amazing to me.
            you only had 4 classes a day... a total of 8 classes... 4 one day then 4 different ones the next day.
            Not only did that provide you with an extra class to take ( most schools have 7 classes in one day) you also had more time in class.more time for teaches to spend on students.... so even if the class was large there seemed to be plenty of time for questions. I would get a lot of my homework done in school... making more relaxation time at home or more time spent on a project or more time to study on a test.
            I think all schools should have that kind of system.

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  • MangoTango
    9 years ago

    Given that Kim Kardashian makes serious moolah $$$$ for doing zilch, me thinks that is strong evidence in favor of popularity over the need for brains, lol. I know, bad example? Shucks, copy Finland's education model. They're the hottest thing the world over.

    America's schools are still top notch for college (undergrads and grad students). Colleges do a ton of recruiting abroad to net foreign students. Its very interesting how diverse the nationalities can be in grad school. Lots of Asians, lol.

    IMO, the sad thing? Zip code determines education quality, frequently.

    Testing? I hated the long useless tests. But, I loved studying for the SAT. I still think that testing kids to death is a waste of time. Testing is useless for the real world which is project specific. You have to be able to produce something. A better evaluation requires more than multiple choice answers. The real world isn't choose A,B,C,or D.

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  • Dad
    9 years ago

    Education is important.
    With new technology all around us and better everything, we leaps and bounds away from the industrial age.

    They say that every 6 months we improve technology so much its now impossible to keep up. New pioneers must basically start at the present understanding or they'll be chasing their tail forever.

    Even advances in: medical; food; buildings; the universe!... The list goes on and on. We live in the knowledge world of communication that is now moving on to the next plateau of doing :)

    Don't think of your certificate or diploma as the goal, its not about that at all. Its about having the option to learn about something new and exciting that can lead onto more advances in society and our world.

    The education I originally received (many decades ago) in school, was very basic. English was English and that's that. Maths just involved maths. These days English is a wide area of reporting, analyzing, clear thinking, PLUS the teachers continually say how good you are!!. As for maths, that's now the universe.

    You can make a BIG change in your life, your country, and even humankind; if you just learn what you are being taught in school ;)

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  • green_boogers
    9 years ago

    Although America ranks around 20th place achedemically, the educational system does one thing very well. It provides workers that have certain kinds of problem solving skills that other first world countries lack. American industry outsources as much work as it can but is then left to integrate the pieces into a product. Nobody makes the final product match the requirements quite like American workers.

    Ph.Ds of the world are welcome in America. We make sure our system will allow you to make more money than in any other country.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      9 years ago

      And nowhere else on earth can a non citizen get a job and papers as easily. taking a job from a citizen. Maybe if we didn't welcome PHD's from everywhere else, we might need to produce some of our own/

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      • green_boogers
        9 years ago

        Americans know they will have to be the best in the world to work in their own country. Keeps folks at home motivated.

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  • Couman
    9 years ago

    Raze it to the the ground and start over. The problems are much deeper than too easy/hard, too many/few tests, too much/little homework or anything like that.

    In an extremely broad sense "too easy" might be correct, but it has more to do with trying to create a homogenized product called a "graduate" from materials (i.e. people) who are nothing close to identical.

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  • Crusades|
    9 years ago

    They Dumbed tests down so that the women can pass them easier. With the large influx of women going to university,it was mandatory for the system to be dumbed down to accommodate the lazy female brain.

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