In my opinion the kids are not really failing the teachers are. teachers nor principles should push a child to the next grade with out that child having all the knowledge they should have when coming out of that grade. teachers should learn to teach with more enthusiasm so that the students will not be bored and maybe there will be a higher rate of passing students per year. teachers rearly teach what they think should be taught they teach for the students to take a standardized test. starndardized testing should not be so important so that the teachers will not have to give the students test in which they are not prepared for. To change things in the education department we should take into conciteration the learning styles of different students and the pact of which each student learns. It would also be helpful if schools came up with things such as songs for students to memorize which would help with higher test grades.

Before stating my solution about the problem with our schools, I would like to point out that SOME information about where America ranks in test scores are missleading. In other countries they only test their top percentage. While in America we test all students including our worst students. Though I will agree with the fact that alot of our schools are indeed failing and we can do better. I think the best way for our students to succeed is if we have LESS government control over the schools. Public schooling should require more variety like college. It is pretty messed up that poor children are forced to go to a drop out factory because of where they live.

A lottery system is not the right way to determine whether or not a student should recieve a proper education. I think that per county there should be different types of schools students can apply to for the different learning styles that students have. For example, in Dekalb county we will have a school that puts more of a focus on liberal Arts and that is for visual learners. We can also have our math and science schools and many more choices. We will also have career training schools for studednts who are not interested in going to college. This will be just like any college system where our students will be required to take certain courses consisting of general math and Biology so they have a general understanding of all the topics across the board. We should make our schools in America more like charter schools so that we can serve all types of students. Students are different and have different learning styles. Some succeed in big schools while some find a big school to be too overwheling.For students that are failing out of his or her school we would have tutorial programs to catch these children up. Another point I have is that if we strive to become more like these successful nations such as China, we need to apply their ways to us. The reason these foreign nations have such high test scores is beacuse of their strict rules.

First of all there should be no presumptions of a good or bad teacher as teacher’s need time to grow and adjust especially in their first years of teaching. As the saying goes when an employer talks to an employee, “Fail once shame on me, fail twice shame on you.” Not saying this should be the case, but many people blatantly label teachers as under qualified or are too reluctant to acknowledge a bad teacher over time. Secondly the stringent nature of standards should be eliminated not necessarily to just facilitate changes in how a course is taught, but to allow standards to become a framework for a course similar to a constitution for the people. Evaluating different approaches to teaching students is essential because students learn differently. This idea is encompassed in Gardner’s Theory of MI that encourages schools to cultivate student’s different intelligences. For example as teachers encounter different students every year, courts encounter different issues that require people to reinterpret the constitution in different ways to suit the time period. In this sense standards in school must act as a framework not a blueprint for teaching and evaluating students in order to best serve different learning styles that vary in every classroom. Also instead of being run on the notion that parents should rest all assurance of a good education for their children to a piece of paper on a wall, courses should be a canvas that teachers have the ability to shape through their personality. This shaping of a course allows students and teachers to maintain a “sustained enthusiasm” throughout the year and gives teachers the freedom to change how course material is taught if the medium is not working for some students.

Thirdly I don’t agree that standardized tests should be completely eliminated because they are the primary reference for how much a student has learned, are crucial for efficiently gathering data for assessing performance based on demographics, and are the primary incentive/goal students work towards throughout the year. Eliminating these tests would yield sufficient drawbacks in evaluating students statistically and would cause many students to not be goal-oriented during a course. Most students are tentative in asking for help before it is too late and because of this there must be multiple ways to test students to consistently reinforce them on the notion that either they’re doing fine or they’re falling behind. This also allows teacher’s to look at whether a particular gifted student is not performing as well as they should be for their grade level or a student not labeled as gifted is performing at a better level. This allows teachers to reassess “giftedness”. Though teachers carry a lot of the responsibility students must have the initiative when asking for help and a combination of teacher feedback and test scores give students a better idea of whether they should ask for help in order to reassess study habits. This idea incorporates Sternberg’s concept of successful intelligence where students learn to shape one’s goals and cultivate on their strengths that can compensate for weaknesses.

Education is not a game; education is the foundation for our society. Therefore, it doesn't make sense for our education system to revolve around carnival game-style "lotteries," and competitions arranged by the government. Programs like "Race to the Top" and "No Child Left Behind" lose sight of the purpose of educational reform by providing funding to successful states and schools and allowing failing schools to fend for themselves. Such initiatives serve to wide the educational gap rather than close it. In order to compete educationally on the global stage, we must realize that such selective improvement will not help to elevate our educational success to that of countries like Canada. Rather, we allow equal opportunities for improvement across the board, really focusing on the schools that do not seem to be improving. This system has proven successful in Canada, where no province lags considerably behind another, and education in each is funded evenly. While the funding for schools should be more uniform, so that learning opportunities between schools may become more equal, we should work individualize students' learning experiences. Applying Gardner's theory of intelligence, teachers may better understand their students' multifaceted abilities and cater to their specific needs. Students should have more independence to pursue topics of interest, an activity that is currently inhibited by the practice of "teaching to the test." US school should turn away from these tests, which often neglect to include aspects like interpersonal, practical, and emotional intelligence. Instead, classes should become more project-based, allowing students to truly demonstrate all of their skills.
Finally, high schools should not be the focus of such improvement projects. Rather, we should pay special attention to elementary schools. Just as there is a critical period for learning, students' learning abilities must be nurtured from a young age in order for them to develop properly.

For starters, I think standardized test should be taken out. Yes. faculty and staff need to know were we stand in our education, but these test are preventing teachers a lot. In the documentary Waiting For Superman they said that teachers were doing great teaching kids, but then the standards came. Teachers had to change what they teach , and it also limited it. Throughout the year teachers are so worried to meet standards and learn what education system wants they forget how the students like to learn. Each student has different methods of learning, and having standardized test constantly doesn't help us learn. The point of school should be to give us the basic education, and to prepare us for life after graduating. The number one thing in our education system should be the students, just them not anybody else. Yes, teachers are really important why that's they should be left alone in their teaching.Teach should be respected because without them education wouldn't exist. Also I think state should have the same school calender and schedule system because that effects how students learn as well. Like all over the world, education systems and test scores are different. We should not limit ourselves to new ideas.

Right now, America's education system is broken. Policies that change with each presidency aren't given time to mature and let kinks work out. There isn't a national solution for our school systems because of the way the state districts and counties are broken up. The adults have their own agendas, which in turn hinder the education that students receive. America spends billions of tax payer's dollars each year attempting to entice schools to perform better. The standardized tests do not signify if a student can think critically or innovate, but that they can regurgitate facts that a teacher may or may not have fed them. Even the concept of a GPA can be detrimental to the students' educations. The constant goal of preserving a grade and GPA replaces the goal of learning new things and mastering a subject. For students to really succeed after graduation, innovation and problem solving skills are the most important. Unfortunately, the teachers a pushed to "teach for the test" because the school district wants the additional funding. If teachers were encouraged to really engage the students and expose them to new ways of thinking, schools may be doing better. The quality of teachers will not always be consistently great- there are always those who fail to preform, but entire schools cannot be full of lemons. As of right now, changing the system is an overwhelming task and is indeed going to be a tedious battle with unions and teachers on tenure. I believe the move away from standardized testing is vital, along with a decrease of the specific teaching standards. Teachers, especially those in high school, should have a great knowledge of their subjects and should have the freedom to plan out their courses as they deem most beneficial to the students. I am in favor of moving towards a more year-round school calendar, as seen in many European countries, and I think this should be implemented slowly with reform of our system.

I agree with about most of what everybody has said. The educational system is obviously not working as whole and no matter what has been attempted to fix it, it does not improve. I believe that the educational system is a combination of the teachers, students, and the environment and economical status they are both in. It was said in the movie, "Waiting For Superman", that some people said that the bad parts of a city were the reason for bad schools, but other people said bad schools and teaching caused the parts of the city and neighborhoods to be bad. I don't know which one is right, but i believe thinking that bad schools cause neighborhoods to be worse is a more effective way of thinking. That way the focus will be on bettering schools, therefore the students, and hopefully then the community will better also. I think that the way we should better schools is to better the teaching. To better the teaching, the teachers will need to be motivated by having to meet standards, like having their students learn or be able to score certain grades on the test. I like many of the parts of the organization, Students First. In the policy agenda of Students First it talks about evaluating teachers based on evidence of student results rather than arbitrary judgments, and separate teacher evaluation from the collective bargaining process, evaluating principals on their ability to drive student outcomes, and to attract, retain, manage, and develop excellent teachers, and paying teachers substantially more for effectiveness. There were many more strategies on the agenda, but they all seemed like well thought out, effective ways to motivate teachers and to better the classroom. I would also think that their would need to be something to account for students not trying very hard or starting off at a lower knowledge. I also think money plays a huge factor in schools. Not just the salary a teacher gets, but the funding the school gets.

Being able to better the school and classroom environment tends to better learning. Having to do with funding, the Race to the Top Fund seems like a good idea, in which states compete for money for their schools with their ambitious, education reforms. Having the motivation to improve school at the state level seems like a good idea because it would trickle down the motivation to the districts, schools, and teachers. Even for the states that do not earn funds through the Race to the Top Fund, they would still be trying hard to improve their education and that's what matters. Reforming education so that all students have an equal chance to learn effectively is not an easy nor quick challenge. Many factors affect and it will need help from the government, schools and teachers, and communities for it to ever happen.

My main advice that should be given is to prepare teachers for change. The same teaching style has been around for decades while the outside world is always changing. Once teachers can learn how to adjust to the changes in the outside world they can apply these concepts to class and with the help of Garder's eight Intelligences, they can help with students with all kinds of interests understand the material. And just like what Mallory said about turning away from tests and use project-based classes and have the students use their skills to show that they truly understand the concept learned in class based on interest preference.
Because of the budget cuts that the teachers have and sometimes teachers have to pay for their own materials, teachers need to conserve their materials. They can use powerpoints on lectures give an online quiz in class, worksheets in pdf form, and use the teachers materials mainly to help understand and grasp concepts to help the children using hands on experience. School systems also need to spread the tax payer's money around the county/city/state. Thus most schools can have opportunities to try ideas or just help bring the lower average schools up to average. I understand that this might lower averages of the above average schools, but again teachers need to prepared for this kind of thing and learn to adjust.

It can be very difficult to improve a school's education. It takes lots of time, new administration, ideas, teaching methods, etc. I do believe that schools are trying to find better ways to help their students succeed and prepare them for college and the rest of their careers, but there are so many rough environments out there with poop schools that are having trouble with kids graduating. Having standardized tests is stupid. Maybe it's just because i hate testing but having to learn certain material and having to follow certain standards is so boring. I think teachers should have more freedom on what they teach and how they teach it. They still should be given material that needs to be taught to students but they should choose what they want to teach and when. This allows them to be more interesting and creative with teaching methods. But, also back to have good education, the teachers have to be good too. I think they should have to take a test each year on the subject which they are teaching to be certified to teach. Parents also have a huge role in their kids education too though. Kids will learn easier with parental help. Kids also seem to act the way their parents do. Honestly, the whole education system is just messed up and it'll take a while to get is back on track.

Every President has attempt to implement some type of education reform, but most end up failing or become quickly obsolete. I think that a greater emphasis needs to be placed on teaching children properly from a young age because it is very tough for them to catch up once they're behind. The tracking of students needs to be changed so that kids on the fast track to college are noticed, but also so that kids who genuinely care about school but are struggling can receive the help they need. The educational system need to take a long, hard look at standardized testing. They need to weigh the pros and cons, and make it so that there is only one standardized test for each subject. It is overkill to have anymore than one standardized test for a given subject and only forces the teacher to devote extra time teaching to something that is otherwise irrelevant. I think that teachers unions are an evil in the school system and need to be done away with because they are really hindering teaching in poorly preforming schools. Teachers unions give every teacher tenure, regardless of whether their students learn or not. That is one of the most ridiculous things I've heard since I was informed that Micheal Scott was leaving the office. Like really. I think that schools should be required to have morning and afternoon tutoring so that students can work on their weaknesses and turn them into their strong-suits. I think if we do not see change in the school system soon, the school system is destined to fail.

One mistake the American education system continues to make is that it looks at students as a group rather than individuals. Reforms that call for standardized testing and only encourage teachers to 'teach to the test' are detrimental to a student's development by not allowing them to reach their full potential. Standardized tests place emphasis on being able to regurgitate information rather than developing critical thinking skills, which are essential to being successful in the future. Additionally, teachers understand the needs of schoolchildren better than bureaucrats and lawmakers, so they should be the ones setting the standards and should have the biggest influence in any lawmaking regarding education. That being said, I agree with the documentary that many teachers still need to be held more accountable and that there should be tenure reforms and that removing an ineffective teacher should be an easier process (with the exception of first through third year teachers, who are still honing their craft and therefore should be given some leniency in evaluation). Although Michelle Rhee's approach to reforming the DC school system was far too extreme for what the system needed at the time, there was some merit in her idea of rewarding outstanding teachers with bonuses and a higher salary. Furthermore, it would be a good idea to focus on training teachers, in order to help them develop different methods of connecting with their students, and training should especially be focused on teachers who work in poorer neighborhoods and who face more obstacles such as socioeconomic conditions and that many of their students come from disadvantaged families.

As everyone has stated before me our educational system is in a bad spot right now and something obviously needs to be changed. As it showed us in the documentary, "Waiting For Superman", pretty much every state has their own problems with schooling, many of the schools not only have failing children but the whole schools shuts down as a whole. Teachers in public schools systems have to prepare their students for a variety of standardized testing because that is on of the huge things that matters right now in the school system. I believe that tests like these do not benefit the school system at all. These tests give teachers a right to teach just on the basis of the testing info. I believe teachers should be able to teach the way they would like and not have to worry about all their students passing the final test. I believe if you give the teacher more freedom, than we would see a more positive result in education. They could teach the kids a whole variety of things rather than just the testing info. If you give the teacher freedom on what he/she gets to teach it could benefit not only the kids but the teacher as well because they could put their own curriculum in rather than the generic testing curriculum, and that could lead to better teaching and better learning.

I believe that there should be major reform in how teachers are qualified. In Finland, where they have the what is considered the best education system in the world, their teachers are required to have a masters degree, and they are required to take many classes about the subject they want to teach in so that they can speak in depth about those subjects. Teachers should be able to demonstrate that they can effectively teach, with observers coming in once every few months to make sure that the teacher is actually teaching well, and to ask students what they think of their teacher. And to those who say that we should open a lot more charter schools should know that of 2403 who reported data, only 17% (403 schools) exceeded their TPS equivalent's (traditional public school) math scores, with 46% (1105 schools) having gains that were statistically indistinguishable from their TPS equivalent, and 37% (889 schools) reporting significantly lower scores than their TPS equivalent's. I do however agree that we need to remove the standardized tests, replacing them with the teacher observation that I mentioned earlier. With the removal of the standardized tests, teachers can teach things that involve much less rote memorization, and more about things that require critical thinking.

As we all know, what we are doing right now with our education system just isn't working. But the big question is, what do we do instead? In the movie "Waiting for Superman", the level of education in each state was astoundingly low, and acted as a real eye opener for me. Personally, I am not against some of the standardized tests, as they do serve the purpose of showing who is not being taught enough and where help is needed, but I feel as though that's all their useful for. From that point on, I think that teachers need to be inspected by person instead of simply given a test, as they are much more likely to weed out the bad or lesser teachers in order to improve the overall quality of teaching. Also, I think that something needs to be done about Tenure. While I do agree that it can be a helpful safeguard, I feel as though it has been used wrongly kept bad teachers in the education system, which does not benefit these students at all. Also, I agree with the CNN article and in "Waiting for Superman" about the effectiveness of Charter Schools. By allowing them to work outside the system, they can directly help with some of the problem areas of the US, as they don't have to jump through all the hoops that a normal school would have to, and can simply make their own rules. To add onto that, the fact that they have to meet their requirement after X amount of years is a bonus in my opnion, as it assures that the school will try to work in the best interest of its students to help reach its goal before it gets shut down. All in all, by creating more charter schools, funding more lower educated areas, and more carefully adressing teachers and their practice, I think that we can help the children and students of problem areas, and give them all a chance like the rest of us to become something great.

I think that students should not have to take standardized tests anymore. I think that teachers teach the material that they are given to teach and the stuff that the teachers teach should be on the tests they take. All of the tests students take should be made by the teacher that teaches them the material because they know what they learned. Some stuff that is on standardized tests weren't taught to the students in the class. But when the teachers try to help the students pass the standardized tests so they can pass and move on to the next grade that is fine but they should not teach just what material is on the test. Students learn from the teachers not the people who make the tests. A lot of people also fail the standardized tests because they simply do not know the material because they didn't learn that stuff that is on the test. They may not know the material because of things that go on at home or they just have a lot of distractions. The students should not have to take standardized tests because of things that could go on outside of school and mainly because teachers should teach the subject they are supposed to teach and to teach the material they are given to teach the students.

It is terrible that students just get shuffled along through school systems. I think students should be independently evaluated each year, possibly by professionals unaware of their age and circumstances to determine how they are progressing and to give a unbiased judgement of which grade level they should be in. Students shouldn't arrive high school with a fifth-grade reading level just because of their age. I understand that some standardized tests aim to check the process of students, but when they are administered by each state, and by each school, there are concerns of cheating and lowering the standards to inflate scores. A uniform, nation-wide aptitude test could be administered to students in testing centers away from school influence to determine their progress.
From my experiences as a student, I do wish there was more accountability for teachers. I have had some really fantastic teachers, but I have also had some awful teachers. The amazing teachers should be rewarded, they are invaluable assets to our education system. The terrible teachers should be held responsible for their apathy towards their students, and their failure to do their job. I think it is absurd of unions to not allow teachers to be paid based on their success. I don't think teachers should constantly fear for their jobs, but tenure shouldn't allow teachers to to not teach correctly without consequences. Tenure for regular teachers really does not make sense to me. I understand the system in a university context, involving politics and publishing, but the rigorous process a professor undergoes to receive tenure isn't just sticking around for a couple of years. I would reverse this system based on the anecdotes I have heard from teachers, saying they took some time to adjust to teaching...

In my opinion, the American Government has forgotten the fundamental purpose of schools: to prepare the new generation for innovation and advancement. The sole reason that schools exist in modern society is to raise young people to their highest potential for contribution to their country and the world, to make them successful. The recent systems implemented by the government were, and are still, trying to approach a current problem from the wrong direction, and in the process, becoming obsessed with statistics and reputation. The current system's main function is to measure the progress of students by standardized testing; this is a retroactive concept, because all it does is observe what has already happened, while they should implement a proactive reform system that will try to steer towards progress, and away from failure before the school year begins. More specifically, I agree with Mallory, because I believe that instead of funneling funding into the "improving schools", we should be funding schools equally across the board (with the exception of federal grants such as the STEM Grant). When the government rewards schools for their progress, and leaves close to nothing for the schools that are left behind, the students fall victim to a vicious cycle of bad grades leading to bad resources, leading to bad grades. And while it is true that charter schools exist, they are few and far between; as we all saw in the documentary "Waiting for Superman", there are a very limited number of spaces. Students should not have to rely on luck of the draw to determine their academic fate. Furthermore, the quality of education should not depend on what part of the country you live in. If we focus on providing resources to failing schools, our averages would rise, and the politicians would get what they wanted, but they are simply approaching the issue the wrong way.

i think it starts with the teachers, principles, and superintendents to us improving our education. i think they need to take away tenure because i feel like after watching that film after a certain time or from the start some teachers dont really care if the students fail or not they just want that pay check and keep their job. Also you have to put in consideration that some and maybe even alot of students dont care about their education as much as other students or they arent pushed by anybody to get their education. i think if the students dont seem motivated to learn then i think it should be on the teachers to find a way by using different methods like audio or the use of imagery and make learning fun so it helps the student want to learn which would end up in them getting better grades and actually learning something. Also i do think that their should be standardized test just to evaluate where a student is exactly at and to be able to see what the teachers need to work on to help the student actually maintain the information that they have learned. also i think that testing should be made to group certain students together so that students that learn better by visualizing and picturing things together and students that learn better by hearing the information all together so the teacher can focus more on those students strengths instead of mixing all those students together into a learning environment where the teacher may not focus on the students strengths.

i believe that there should be no standardized testing. You can't prove a child's intelligence by giving them a test that is meant for everyone. Everyone is different, therefore, there should be specific tests these students take to get into college and do what they want to do. Not be assigned to a lower education school just because of test results. It doesn't prove anything. On the topic of teachers, we need a change. Yes, there are some great teacher out there who care about a child's future, but there are also teachers who do what they do because they know that they can't be fire, but reassigned. What's sad is that the bad teachers are all reassigned to different schools. The lemon dance, as you would say. These bad teachers in counties, can end up all at one school. Thats not fair for the kids who have to go to that school. These kids are three grade levels behind because of these lazy teachers. Then when the government steps in and gives all these rules and regulations, everything falls apart. Who is in charge anyways? Why do we pay billions and billions of tax dollars per year on these lethargic, horrible teachers? It's not fair to the kids who just want a future like everyone else. The government then has the audacity to tell us that its just regulation. Then tell us, why has our education system come down so much since the 1950's? Teaching isn't an easy job, but if you don't like kids, or teaching people, then don't be a teacher just to get paid and ruin our education system.

I believe there are two well thought-out options that the nation could use to help improve our educational crisis, although I recognize that other programs that I'm not thinking of could be equally or more effective. First off, I believe the plan presented in the Superman video where the children were educated through the same program from birth to graduation of college, seemed to be quite successful. If students were to remain in the same program throughout their educational career, they would develop close learning relationships with their teachers. Having the same teachers each year would help the teacher specialize in the students and help work with them to recognize their strengths and weaknesses and work to improve their weaknesses. This would be a great program that would ideally exist all around the country and eventually be available to all students in all areas. I realize that this is a lofty, time-consuming, and expensive goal. However, I believe that those ingredients: time and money, are that we need to put into the equation in order to improve our educational status. The other program that I believe would result in great success is the Students First Program. Their mission seems to tackle all of the issues that have been holding them back today. Change is what we need to make a difference in our educational system; they allow room for change by making it easier to get rid of ineffective teachers and to allow the mayor to take control of failing schools and districts. This allows them to have control over the whole system. This plan seems to be very detailed and exact. It included a specific set of goals and agenda by which they would achieve those goals. If this program were to be implemented, then it would be important for it to constantly keep tracking its success and checking itself. This is something that I believe they plan to do anyway.

I believe that if this program were to be taken on by the nation, we would not regret it. As for Race to the Top, it seems to be a good plan with solid goals, but it is too early to see if it will be effective or not.

The educational system in America today is not very functional. Some people, especially teachers, believe that "student performance is directly linked to conditions in the home or neighborhood, making it unfair for teachers to be punished if students don't do well in the the classroom for those reasons", as said in the CNN "Q&A: What's behind the Chicago teachers' strike?". Other people believe that it is the teachers who are causing the educational system to be broken. Some teachers may be the cause when they teach in ways that do not help the students learn and understand the concept or information and also when the teachers don't even teach at all. Some teachers do not care about the students learning and this is the cause of tenure and teachers not being suitable to teach, such as because they do not like children or haven't developed ways to get information across to the children. I think that the teachers and the students' environments both play a factor into the corrupt educational system, but so do the standards that must be taught along with standardized testing. These are both implemented by the school's district and state. When there are standards and standardized testing, the teachers are only focused on teaching those specific standards so that they can make sure that their students get good grades on the standardizes tests. Instead of teaching by only the standards, the teachers need to teach beyond them so they students can have a full understanding of the topics or subjects. Going beyond the standards also requires the teachers to implement creative and different assignments and ways of teaching.

It isn't a surprise that school systems have improved greatly since the late 90's and early 2000's. School systems are trying their best to weed out the bad parts of their systems and bringing in new acts and passing new legislations so that kids can be in a safer, better learning environment. And although i believe they are taking some great steps, i don't believe that it is good enough - yet. Programs such as no child left behind basically shipped all the people from schools that were failing and brought them to better quality schools, which in turn didn't help them succeed, it just worsened the schools scores. This is why the AYP transfers have stopped. Programs such as these were put in place without thinking about the bigger issue - they were just trying to move the problem around hoping it would figure itself out. I believe that better measures need to be taken to better the schools; such as to hire more efficient teachers with more efficient teaching skills - maybe even get rid of tenure. This would hopefully take out the "lemons" of the school systems. For example, in the film Waiting for Superman, Michelle Rhee of the school system asked one of the students if he liked the teacher and the student replied "he's ok." If the students know they could be in a better environment for teaching, the families must know as well. Which is why I think more and more families were pushing for their kids to be enrolled in kipp schools and magnet programs. And while i know making a ton more of these schools are unrealistic, if there was a more significant amount of these schools available our kids would be getting a better education and would be set up for a great future. Our futures are in the hands of our teachers, and we are depending on them to help us get to where we need to be.

The fact of the matter is that a very large amount of public schools in this country are awful. They are putting students in bad learning environments and not giving the students the resources they need to improve their learning abilities. They are not preparing students for post- secondary schools, causing many of them to drop out of school early on and live unsuccessful lives. One option to fix this issue is presented in "Waiting for Superman" where students are chosen at random to attend charter schools with better teachers, resources, and learning environments. Unfortunately, the ones who are not accepted to the charter schools do not have other options besides attending failing public schools in their neighborhoods. The best and obvious option is to improve the failing public schools, but how can this be done? Many people in poor neighborhoods do not pay very high taxes, which gives school systems less money to pay for teachers, resources, etc, causing low standardized test scores. In my opinion, these failing schools need better teachers who can prepare students more effectively for standardized tests, because test scares are considered the only numerical component of an application that is common to every student. Test scores are the only reasonable way of comparing one school to another. If test scores can be raised, these failing schools can be given more funding for better resources.

Of course teachers should have standards of what they teach, but basing those off of specific standardized tests should not be done. Teachers need to have their own creative freedom of how they present the information to students. Because not all teachers teach the same way, or as effectively of one another, tenure should not be in place. Because of tenure, some teachers take it easy, because they know that they will be getting paid. These teachers act as though they do not really care for the education of the students, and they are teaching the bare minimum just to get by. The teachers who really deserve to be paid more are the ones who make an impact on the students lives. They make the child really want to learn, there firing changing the students lives for the better. The thought that environment will determine a child's learning ability is weird to me. I feel that though a child may not have the best opportunities, he or she can still be motivated enough to want a good education. The children who don't care for a good education are the ones who are not succeeding, and there is usually nothing a teacher can do about it, even if the teacher is amazing. But just as a child with no opportunities can be highly motivated, and child with many opportunities can have no motivation whatsoever, so I don't like is argument too much. It all depends on the child, and parents. I believe that the teachers who really care for the students, and want them to learn, rather than just teaching what they have to, will leave a lasting impression. Teachers who teach in unique ways will always be remembered by the students, and the information and lessons learned will stick. I think that when the government stops regulating the school systems and teachers so closely, it will give schools and students more room to grow and flourish.

For the schools to improve, it is not only the teachers who need to improve their teaching styles/ abilities. Parents need to motivate their kids more and make sure their kids know that their education is the most important thing in their lives. Many of the students who attend failing schools live violent, unhealthy lives at home because of their parents and surroundings. For the schools to be improved, other problems need to be fixed first. With a growing population and a need for more and more public schools, the repairment of the education system needs to be a priority in this country, or it will continue to break.

For years we have been trying to implement a "successful" public school system, and while each attempt may have been decent, it has not been consistent. Each time the government changes the way they are going to address education; the school system, teachers, and students all have to adjust, ultimately achieving nothing. Truthfully, the only result of the public school system today is students who have been passed along from grade to grade, students who only care about getting the "letter grade". If we were to implement a system where the goal of students was to obtain knowledge to succeed rather than a grade. This generation of students have been trained to associate getting the best grade possible with future success. This means that students are doing whatever they can to get the grade, often times not even bothering to actually learn the information. This new school system would turn its focus on obtaining knowledge. We could do this by eliminating standardized tests ( this only creates stress on the teachers to teach a specific area if information and pushes students to only focus on the test, not letting them actually learn), and also eliminating the grading system as we know it, I believe that if we got rid of letter grading, students would stop focusing on getting the A and start focusing on learning the criteria. The way classes are run also needs to change. Doing more hands-on tasks in class will motivate the students to work together and also help them learn in a way that is more appealing to them than bookwork or note taking. If any or all of these ideas were executed at Dunwoody, I think the students would 1. Tone down the competitiveness of grades 2, Realize that they could be absorbing so much more knowledge, and 3. Learn through interactive tasks that make them think.

It is obvious that many of our public school systems are failing. Although we have attempted many different reforms, we are yet to find a system that works. In my opinion, teachers should be taught more innovative teaching techniques. Teacher's are told to teach specific standards, however, most of their techniques don't work for their students. Teachers need to use a variety of learning techniques to ensure that everyone fully understands the concepts. Also, teachers need to make learning fun. If the students don't have an engaging environment to learn in, they won't be motivated to learn. In addition, most students are more concerned with their grade than actually learning the material. They end up going through the motions. Instead of really listening and learning, they only pay attention long enough to get through the course and move on. Another important adjustment would be to eliminate standardized testing. In my opinion, standardized testing is not the most accurate way to find out what the students know. It only stresses the students and teachers out. I think that looking at the student's overall average and classwork grades is a more effective way to benchmark their progress. An education is the most important thing that anyone could have. Therefore, we must continue to make vital changes in our education programs.

America's public education system is in need of a superman. These strict guidelines and expectations created for teachers are just holding them back from teaching and creatively connecting with the students. How can we expect our teachers to conform to the guidelines and teach to their students individual and unique needs that are not going to be specified in the criteria? Instead of creating these standards to regulate the teachers' classes to better our teachers we should just have high standards for our teachers themselves. like how qualified they are to teach what they are teaching and how well they incorporate their students' individual needs and meet their students' expectations. the public school systems need to focus on reducing the amount o f standardize testing and focus on increasing the amount of teachers' efforts and effectiveness throughout all schools.

One of the basic foundations for society is the education of the children because these are the next generation's intellectuals who you are hoping to bring into society. Obviously something is wrong with America's education system and I do not believe it is a quick fix. Many people believe standardized testing is the problem, when in truth it is not. The way standardized tests are treated in our society is the real problem. Standardized tests are meant to give an evaluation on the student and how well they know the material. Yet, the education system of our country should not make the standardized tests the only reason we teach our children which is what it seems like today. I believe if you are to improve the education system, you start with how we treat standardized tests. Many teachers have indicated that it doesn't matter if you understand the material, as long as you do well on the test distributed by the state at the end of the year. This, my friends, is the main problem with our education system right now. Also, I feel it is a little misleading to compare our standardized tests grades to those of other countries because around the world (besides the U.S. obviously) standardized testing is only administered to the top 5-10% of the students. With this in mind I believe our country should stop worrying about our ranking in education against other countries, and focus on the issues at hand.

America's public education system is in despair. The state governments provide these weird layouts for teachers to follow, leaving them with a strict schedule without much wiggle room. These teachers therefore teach the class like they have to instead of how they want to, which bores many kids. The public school system in America provides education to a lot of underprivileged kids. These kids CAN learn, regardless of what others say. In the movie Waiting for Superman, many underprivileged students enrolled in the KIPP School, which is a highly regarded public charter school. These kids excelled when set on a path to succeed, and it showed in their test scores. My advice is this, test scores are needed around the country to provide a sense of uniformity to all the kids. They have to be rated on a scale equal to their projected knowledge base. I think, however, a new educational system has to be devised in order to make our country work. They tried in DC, and the teacher's union shut them down. We need a new system for teachers to get back to WANTING to teach instead of HAVING to teach. Teachers should then apply different aspects of teaching to these children, like appealing to emotional and practical intelligence. Not every kid is book smart, some are smart in other ways and can be just as successful in our world today. 90% of business is conversation, how you talk to people, and a lot of these kids have that aspect going for them. Teacher's also need to apply the self-reference affect. This aspect of memory allows students to remember things better when they relate to themselves. In the movie, a teacher made rap songs about the topic and encouraged kids to do so, you can correlate math to candy, using operant conditioning. There are so many ways teachers and principals can apple themselves nowadays, they just chose not to because its all about the adults, still. If we do not act quickly, our public school systems will fail, and private schooling will take over.

The American school system used to be one of the best in the world, but it is quickly falling behind. New reforms over the past fifty, even sixty years, have tried, and tried, and tried again to fix this, but none seem to be working. As a junior in high school and this being one of the most important years for college applications, I feel the stresses of our school system. Class sizes are too large, and teachers must present certain material that is required if students wish to pass multiple standardized tests. They can not teach us the skills that are needed to get a job outside of school, only to pass a test. Standardized tests are a major issue. They do not give all students equality when taking the test. Even though kids are learning the same material, all are most likely not learning in a way that they understand most. Not every child learns the same way. Standardized tests are good to see if a school is failing and not meeting standards, and one at the end of a course is fine, but making students take multiple standardized tests is unfair and cruel. Teachers should have the freedom to teach their class they way they find best, not by how the county or school board says is best. After all, school committee members are not in the classrooms observing they learning environment. Public schools were created so that all children to get a good, quality, American education, and now that public American education looks weak on the world stage. We must find a good solution that allows all students to learn material that will not only help them pass, but that will teach them the skills needed for success in the real world. If we do not do so, then private school will be the only answer. But what happens to the majority that can not afford? Do we let them not learn at all.

Students are failing and that leads to the education system failing. When every state has less than 50% of the students below their reading and math level, everyone should open their eyes. They can't blame it all on parents because I don't think every student has problems at home. As for the Chicago teachers strike, they should be doing what is in the best interest for the students. It should not be about a raise or more hours added on to a school day. I believe they can teach the standards in the time given. It's kind of contradicting to me. They want more hours added to the day and don't feel that they should be penalized for students failing, meanwhile the student aren't even in school. Secondly I believe every school should have the same standards. Like when I was in middle school in Texas, for history they only thought Texas history and also every school I have went to has been set up totally different. Every state should be required to teach the same standards and I believe every school should be set up the same way.

I believe that America's education system is broken, however part of the problem is the sheer number of students in the system. I believe that a large percentage of American public school children have no desire to be in school and therefore should not be forced to go. America is one of few countries that forces children into schools and I believe that our scores would be more reflective of reality if only the children that wanted to be there were tested.

The system is designed for the 70s and has long been outdated. Students are failing everywhere and especially in under privileged areas of the country. Micah made a good point that not all school curricula are the same but I don't think that this is necessarily a problem. If you are living in Texas it is important to learn about its history specifically, however in other subjects such as math that are the same everywhere, the standards and information should be the same.

Because every student learns differently, there should be schools that teach in a specific way for each type of learning. For example, those that learn best with hands on experience should be moved to a school that focuses on hands on work rather than lectures. Similarly, a student that learns from doing projects should not be placed somewhere that focuses only on testing, which unfortunately is becoming more and more common.

This can be accomplished by creating more Charter schools that function independently from their local school board. I attended a Chesnut Charter Elementary School and I know that most iof the emphasis was not on passing tests yet, when I had to take them i scored very well as did many of my peers. I believe this demonstrates that even if the focus is not on testing that the students will still learn what they need to know to progress through life and be successful.