Overall, the education system in America is not doing its job. Many students are just falling through the cracks, and, as a product of said school system, I have seen firsthand how serious this problem can be.
Teachers pass on students from grade level to grade level not truly preparing them but simply passing them along to ease their burden. Multiple public schools just don’t have the resources to provide for their students, and their schools are overcrowded. They were not designed to hold so many students, and because of that, they cannot adequately provide for those students. Kids are missing things like textbooks and other materials that are key in their education. They are missing the preparation they truly need to be successful in life past their secondary education.
The education system is failing students with this idea of standardized testing. Standardized testing is used as a way to measure a student’s success and progress in subjects such as math, English and science. But, speaking firsthand, the standardized tests do not do an adequate job at measuring progress. In most cases the state standardized tests are taken in the winter, and these tests cover everything that the grade level is supposed to cover in that year. By the time that the test is administered, students have not had the time to learn everything and are set up for failure.
You can not compare one child to another; every child learns differently, and because most states give extra funds to those schools in which students have scored well, teachers tend to focus solely on passing tests instead of true preparation.
Still, the education system hasn’t totally failed yet; some of the education system's strong points are the fact that in America schooling is provided to everyone. Everyone gets the opportunity to learn and grow for free, whereas in other countries, not everyone is given that opportunity.
Another strong point is the teachers. Although there are some teachers who do not live up to their full potential like their students, some teachers make serious impacts in students' lives giving them the chance to open up to someone and in some cases have someone encourage them in ways that they have not experienced. Schools also offer the opportunities for students to participate in sports, where they are able to let out aggression and are given the opportunity to feel like they are apart of something and matter.
We need to take the time to fix the problems that we have with our education system. We can not continue to turn a blind eye. Children are the future, and we, as a nation, need to come together to ensure that they are given the best chance at success. That starts with a solid educational platform. We can only accomplish this together.
