What is the major concern/issue confronting American education?
552559
Hi, I'm an Indian, doing B.Sc. from an American college.\nI feel that though American colleges have been good in giving practical knowledge, it is loosing on the account of theoritical knowledge. Just for a basic example, in India, a 14 year old student knows what is trigonometry, which is taught much later to an American student. Although, as i said, practicality wise, American education is very good.
210042
I have a masters degree in this and it will take a long time to answer your question.  I suggest that you take a look at any History of US Education book.
196028
Neither.\n\nThey are not a military or economic threat to American because a) they don't really have a military and b) the outsourcing would be done by someone else if not by them.\n\nThe biggest complaint by most uneducated people is that outsourcing will hurt our economy.  When in all actuality, it will force us to create more value-added jobs and head back to school for more advanced degrees.  Outsourcing is a form of forced intellectual advancement.  Either retrain and move upwards or work blue collar where you can’t be replaced.
706894
The American education system is basically censored to ensure that you are taught ONLY what mainstream academia thinks you should be learning. This is a nonsense. There are possibly 100+ alternatives in every discipline which are entitled to a legitimate platform in the halls of learning. Topics of value which are being  suppressed. especially regarding History and Physics. American students will eventually become intellectually irrelevant the way the system is currently grooming them. It`s absurd for the education overlords to believe this can continue. A nation of closed minded robots is not the way foreward.
485078
No Child Left Behind is FULL OF IT!!!\n\nIt is unfair to students (how fair would it be to go to the hospital and inform the staff there that every patient, including those in the ICU, will have to run the New York City Marthon in less than 6 months or the hospital will be closed down and the staff won't be able to find jobs elsewhere?), makes teachers and schools the scapegoat for variables out of their control such as parenting issues (student attendance, etc.), and totally ignores most Special Education and ELL best practices research.\n\nAlso, increased testing time reduces instructional time (both the "big" state testing done in the spring, and the constant "data collection" efforts by districts using various assessment instruments in an attempt to provide alternative data if the kids fail state testing).\n\nThe "highly qualified" provisions place burden of proof for knowledge and skills on districts and teachers rather than on teacher prep programs. You would think that the college diploma (and continuing professional development certificates) would be proof of appropriate professional training. If incompetent teachers are there, it is because college programs failed to screen them properly. \n\nThe top cause of teacher burnout is paperwork/administrative stress, not the students. NCLB increases paperwork and administrative demands on the teachers.\n\nSchool administrators are finding their hands tied in regards to building discipline, because NCLB places AYP in jeapordy if there are "too many" office referrals and discipline actions...and the real troublemakers are quick to notice this and abuse it.\n\nWell, I could go on with more examples, but you get the idea.
861782
It always makes me sad when ignorance is made to seem a virtue.  And, yes, I would say religion's interference in education is a factor in the decline of education in the U.S.  I wouldn't say it's as large a factor as lack of discipline due to overcrowding in classes and parents who are too distracted by jobs or their own selfish wants to make sure kids do their homework and respect their teachers, but it's a factor nonetheless.
832288
Problem- Global Warming\nSolution- Using hybrid cars instead of SUVs\n\nProblem- Repeat Sexual Offenders\nSolution- Harsher punishments for 1st time offenders\n\nProblem- Fat Americans\nSolution- Ban food with high fructose corn syrup, and make gym memberships easily affordable for everyone. No excuses not to work out!\n\nThese are just some ideas that popped into my head. It doesn't really matter what problem you pick, just as long as you come up with a logical solution that you believe in. There really isn't a right or wrong answer to a problem/solution essay; it's also a matter of opinion as to what constitutes a "Problem" in the first place. \n\nIf your teacher grades you down on topic, feel free to use any of the above. It's America, Baby. Freedom of Speech. 'Nuff said. \nGood luck!
790671
I'll try and limit my answer to just one problem.  \nStudents today are not being held responsible for their \nown education anymore. Instead society tells them it\nisn't their fault they are dumb, the teachers failed to teach\nthem. We have drifted away from self responsibility to\nblaming everyone one else.  We need to get back to\nholding the students responsible for learning which means\nthey have to come to school ready to learn. They have to\nwork hard at learning.  There are many more reasons but you asked for just one.
447250
it puts too much emphasis on testing. we all know that all students are different and to develop standards and test them for students is way off base. bush and his administration has it all wrong when it comes to education.\n\nthe gates foundation approach of developing smaller schools so that teachers get to know their students if much better. if teachers know their students then they can teach them based on what they know about person.\n\nchildren are unique, indviduals and we should treat them as such. NCLB and its emphasis on standards and testing makes children seem like robots.
855737
The educational system in the United States has gone down hill since the 1960’s when the emphasis shifted from Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Science and History to socialization and political correctness. It also has to do with the Federal Government taking the power away from local school boards. The government changed the focus from education to integration and I am definitely not against equal rights and opportunities for all races of people. \n\nDo all children in America need to be taught the same things? I think not. Schools were better run by local boards that could take action quicker without going through a hundred levels of Federal bureaucracy. Most schools in America today are more concerned about students sitting quietly than they are in the education of our children. The education level of children graduating from high school today is a national embarrassment. We should all be ashamed for what we have let happen to our schools. The best way to correct this is to give control back to the communities. Maybe there should be some minimum standards of performance, but that should be the extent of it. Does the Federal government really belong in the class room? That is the real question the country needs to take a hard look at.
243822
If it's not the worst, it's certainly in the running.\n\nUnder-funded???  Beth, you are mad!  There is more money wasted on public education in this country than is spent altogether in most other countries.\n\nThe problem seems to be the extent to which two basic entities have taken over control of what was traditionally a very locally-controlled institution.  The first is the teacher's union, which turns upside-down every value that made those great old teachers I had as a child so worthwhile.  They stayed in their jobs because they were good at them, got good results.  Nowadays the union protects the marginal, makes war on the superior teacher (makes the rest look bad, you know), and makes seniority virtually the only criterion they will consider valid.\n\nThe other thing that happened was the federal government getting involved in funding programs that they then control.  This means the local school board has less and less control over what goes on in their school, because they don't dare risk losing that federal money.  So the textbooks are all Politically Correct, even if they don't teach the kids anything useful at all.  The teachers are actually disciplined for creativity, because they can't get any creative program approved if it cannot be used "for everyone."  They are ordered to teach for the purpose of preparation for the exit exams, and discipline is nothing but a game they play with the students.\n\nI do not envy any kid going to a public school these days, but one:  the one who had a black tee shirt that read "School prepares you for the real world, which also s**ks."
424481
(1) The government doesn't know how to properly handle education so it encompasses ALL students\n\n(2) They're trying to fix problems that have their roots in centuries-old practices \n\n(3) They want to make it look like they're doing something useful for American education\n\nBasically one of the underlying issues is "separation vs. inclusion", and no one knows how to properly address it. Probably because there will always be some types of students who fare better in inclusive classrooms, and others who do better with separate instruction. It's too much of a "problem" for the government to figure it all out so everybody gets what they need, so they try to offer a solution that STILL excludes some children.
388195
I personally have some issues with the No Child Left Behind Act.  Most schools who follow this act will do anything to make sure that each child passes and moves on to the next grade even if it means "fixing" the grades a bit.\nIt's an interesting topic and there is soooo much information on the web about it.  Good Luck with the paper
102895
The biggest problem is that it makes teachers focus on teaching to a test rather than just teaching. Knowing how to take the test is more important, under this system, than knowing what is on it. Further, the act has been severely underfunded. The act requires more qualified teachers (aka ones with more education), but more education means higher pay, which is something many school districts can't do.\n\nI think more importantly than any of those problems, there's the issue of how to measure improvement. Under the act each class is compared to the previous class, meaning this year's 2nd grade is compared to last year's 2nd grade. Now, obviously comparing different groups of kids is fundamentally unfair. People don't like to admit it, but some people have different base levels of intelligence. Certainly everyone who is not developmentally challenged should be able to pass high school reasonably, but to fault a school and its teachers simply because one class is, on average, not quite as smart is the most asinine thing I can think of. Thankfully the DOE is starting a pilot program of comparing student scores across their school careers (comparing last year's 2nd grade scores to this year's 3rd grade scores). That is obviously the better way to do it, but making the switch is going to cost money, something the act has failed to provide.
929986
That`s the trouble with the education system, You are only taught what the so called mainstream academics think you ought to know, which is their accepted view of the world and no other alternate theories will be allowed to surface. Children and college students will be drowning in censorship sooner rather than later. The system is fundamentally flawed, and that`s exactly what American academia is looking for. I dread to think how the next generation will turn out, it`s an obscenity.
428030
Politics!  Most teachers have an opinion one way or another.\n\nThe war in Iraq...\n\nReligion...\n\nSports...\n\nCollege...(where they went and/or your future plans)\n\n\nGood luck!
378120
There are many problems that exist with public schools, and there are a variety of reasons.  Parents aren't making their kids learn any discipline or have any discipline about learning, schools are underfunded, teachers are underpaid, (which makes some potentially great teachers choose other fields) lack of community support, exagerated emphasis on standardized testing, etc.  The biggest problem would be apathy from the general public, everyone always thinks that it either isn't their problem or that someone else will fix it. It's like the TV ad with the huge group of people standing around talking about how horrible it is that someone dropped trash 2 feet from the trash can, but no one in the group actually reaches down and picks it up.  Lest you all think I am all talk and no action, I am an 11 year veteran teacher of public high school, and yes, I am still "in the trenches."