As friends of mine apply to college and I vicariously relive the whole experience, I am thinking a lot about education. It is very easy to hit the education system in America with criticism. There have been many articles written on the topic, criticizing universities for obscure and undefined problems such as “not preparing students for the ‘real’ world,” however few of them tangibly lay out how we can fix our nation’s educational problems.
The number one problem with education in the U.S. is that it has become too competitive. The later years in elementary school are now geared for preparing students for junior high. Junior high is geared towards preparing students for high school, and high school is geared towards preparing students for college. This is great if it works, however it leaves many students in the dust. On the way from elementary school to high school, I saw many students fall behind.
Many students take advantage of the competition in high school and college, in some cases by using tutors to inflate their grades rather than help them understand a subject (at my high school there were cases of tutors writing papers for students). Despite the fact that test scores are supposed to be measures of raw intelligence, there are plenty of ways to run the tables, and many students do to get into a better college or graduate program. Most colleges put the vast majority of weight in their admissions decision into these two numbers that can be rather easily manipulated.
People who do take advantage of these ways to manipulate the system are under-qualified, but on paper look overqualified. This condition is facilitated by the fact that education has turned into an overly competitive frenzy to look better rather than be better.
Another trend I have noticed is people being pressured into their major by promises of well-paying jobs. People are being taught to do what will rake in money rather than what they want to do. I have a friend majoring in engineering that hates physics, but is staying in the major because he thinks it will bring him fortune one day. Many freshmen and sophomores look at the projected pay check rather than the subject matter when considering their major. People tend to do best at what they are passionate about and therefore should try to find jobs they love.
Another major issue is the way the material is presented. Some of this is due to budget cuts. Many students do not learn effectively in big lecture halls. These are becoming more and more common as more and more states are forced to make cuts to University systems.
Many high schools are telling teachers to teach to test rather than give students a useful background on the subject that could suit students better in real life and/or in further education. This is because standardized tests have, at least in part, standardized education. Everyone learns differently and recent standardizations have diminished schools’ ability to teach to students differently.
Some have predicted doom for the U.S. education system. I firmly disagree. However, I do think the competitiveness of education, budget cuts and standardization are hindering students. While tutors definitely have their place, and can be a great tool in helping students understand subjects they are desperately behind in, their place is not to inflate grades. This makes good students steal the spots of great students. Students should feel less pressured than they do, and make life plans according to what they want to do. Budget cuts must stop because the government is cutting its greatest investment: the future.
Education leads to jobs, and economic growth, cutting it hinders our future. Standardization is doing a great deal to prevent good teachers from teaching what they want to teach. Students attitudes are too focused on grades and their future, and should be more based on what they are learning and what they want to do. Public schools can definitely still be salvaged, but there are hurdles to overcome.
Spencer Lindsay ([email protected]) is a freshman majoring in political science.
