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Problems In Education And Society Essay Research

Problems In Education And Society Essay, Research Paper


According to “A Nation at Risk”, the American education system


has declined due to a “rising tide of mediocrity” in our schools.


States such as New York have responded to the findings and


recommendations of the report by implementing such strategies as the


“Regents Action Plan” and the “New Compact for Learning”.


In the early 1980?s, President Regan ordered a national


commission to study our education system. The findings of this


commission were that, compared with other industrialized nations, our


education system is grossly inadequate in meeting the standards of


education that many other countries have developed. At one time,


America was the world leader in technology, service, and industry, but


overconfidence based on a historical belief in our superiority has


caused our nation to fall behind the rapidly growing competitive


market in the world with regard to education. The report in some


respects is an unfair comparison of our education system, which does


not have a national standard for goals, curriculum, or regulations,


with other countries that do, but the findings nevertheless reflect


the need for change. Our education system at this time is regulated


by states which implement their own curriculum, set their own goals


and have their own requirements for teacher preparation. Combined


with this is the fact that we have lowered our expectations in these


areas, thus we are not providing an equal or quality education to all


students across the country. The commission findings generated


recommendations to improve the content of education and raise the


standards of student achievement, particularly in testing, increase


the time spent on education and provide incentives to encourage more


individuals to enter the field of education as well as improving


teacher preparation.


N.Y. State responded to these recommendations by first


implementing the Regents Action Plan; an eight year plan designed to


raise the standards of education. This plan changed the requirements


for graduation by raising the number of credits needed for graduation,


raising the number of required core curriculum classes such as social


studies, and introduced technology and computer science. The plan


also introduced the Regents Minimum Competency Tests, which requires a


student to pass tests in five major categories; math, science,


reading, writing, and two areas of social studies. Although the plan


achieved many of its goals in raising standards of education in N.Y.


State, the general consensus is that we need to continue to improve


our education system rather than being satisfied with the achievements


we have made thus far.


Therefore, N.Y. adopted “The New Compact for Learning”. This


plan is based on the principles that all children can learn. The


focus of education should be on results and teachers should aim for


mastery, not minimum competency. Education should be provided for all


children and authority with accountability should be given to


educators and success should be rewarded with necessary changes being


made to reduce failures. This plan calls for curriculum to be devised


in order to meet the needs of students so that they will be fully


functional in society upon graduation, rather than just being able to


graduate. Districts within the state have been given the authority to


devise their own curriculum, but are held accountable by the state so


that each district meets the states goals that have been established.


Teachers are encouraged to challenge students to reach their full


potential, rather than minimum competency. In this regard, tracking


of students is being eliminated so that all students will be


challenged, rather than just those who are gifted. Similarly, success


should be rewarded with recognition and incentives to further


encourage progress for districts, teachers and students while others


who are not as accomplished are provided remedial training or


resources in order to help them achieve success.


It is difficult to determine whether our country on the whole


has responded to the concerns that “A Nation at Risk” presented.


Clearly though, N.Y. State has taken measures over the last ten years


to improve its own education system. In many respects the state has


accomplished much of what it set out to do, but the need to continue


to improve is still present. Certainly, if America is determined to


regain its superiority in the world, education, the foundation of our


future, needs to be priority number one.


Teachers often develop academic expectations of students


based on characteristics that are unrelated to academic progress.


These expectations can affect the way educators present themselves


toward the student, causing an alteration in the way our students


learn, and thus causing an overall degeneration in the potential


growth of the student.


Expectations affect students in many ways, not just


academically, but in the form of mental and social deprivation which


causes a lack of self-esteem. When educators receive information


about students, mostly even before the student walks into their


classroom, from past test scores, IEP?s, and past teachers, it tends


to alter the way we look at the students potential for growth. This


foundation of expectation is then transformed on to our method of


instruction.


One basic fallout from these expectations is the amount of


time educators spend in communicating with students. We tend to speak


more directly to students who excel, talking in more matures tone of


voice, treating them more like a grown-up than we do to the students


who are already labeled underachievers. This can give the student an


added incentive to either progress or regress due to the amount of


stimulation that they receive.


As educators we tend to take the exceptional students “under


our wing”. We tend to offer knowledge in situations to help push the


good students, in comparison to moving on to the next task for the


others. We also tend to critique the work of our god students more


positively than the others, offering challenges to the answers they


have given.


The most obvious characteristic that educators present to the


students is in the area of body language and facial expression. We


tend to present ourselves in a more professional manner to our good


students, speaking more clearly and with a stronger tone of voice. We


tend to stand more upright, in a more powerful stance, than to the


slouching effect we give to the underachievers. The head shakes,


glancing with our eyes, hand gestures, and posture all contribute to


the way we look at certain students based on our first impressions


which came before we even knew the student.


One major way we can avoid these pitfalls and eliminate unfair


expectations that help produce failure in our students is to restrict


the past information on the students to a need to know basis. Instead


of telling the teacher how the student did on past examinations, just


present them with th

e curricula that the student must learn during the


time they spend in that class. This enables the educator to formulate


their own opinions of that student. Also, instead of doing the IEP


meetings during the middle of the year, we should wait till the end of


the semester to inform the educators of certain aspects of the student


instead of giving them all the information earlier in the year.


Finally, it is up to the educator himself to evaluate their


own teaching methods to be able to recognize, and change, the way they


present themselves to the entire class. To be able to know what we


are doing, and how we are doing it, at different times in the day is


crucial to the aura we present to the students.


Schools are often blamed for the ills of society, yet society


has a major impact on our education system. The problems that schools


are facing today are certainly connected to the problems that are


society faces, including drugs, violence, and the changing of our


family structure. There are many methods that schools have begun to


use in order to deal with the problems they are faced with and still


offer the best possible education to our youth.


The use of drugs in the general population has become a very


serious problem in society and within the school system. There are


two aspects to drug use that teachers are having to deal with now.


The first is in trying to teach the new generation of crack babies


that are now entering the schools. These students have extremely low


attention spans and can be very disruptive in class. Early


intervention programs designed to target these children and focus on


behavior management within the school setting have been effective in


preparing these students for school. Educators have also identified


drug use among students as one of the most significant problems that


our schools face today. According to the text, the rate of drug use


among students has declined in last few years, but recently there has


been an increase in alcohol abuse among teenagers. Intervention


programs such as APPLE, (a school based rehabilitation facility) have


been implemented in many schools with the cooperation of school


counselors and community agencies to treat drug using teenagers.


Other programs, such as D.A.R.E have been implemented in many


elementary schools to provide education about drugs to young students.


Violence, both in society and in the school system has also


been identified as a serious problem. The influx of weapons in


schools creates a dangerous situation for teachers, administrators and


other students. One remedy for this problem has been introduced in


many public city schools; the use of metal detectors. While this


method is not foolproof it does send the message that violence will


not be tolerated in schools and that severe measures will be


implemented in order to curb it. Educators are also being trained to


identify those students who may be violent and to provide non-violent


crisis intervention. It is an undeniable fact that our society has a


serious problem concerning violence and that the violence on the


streets is certainly connected to the violence in the schools. It


seems questionable that even these measures will significantly reduce


the problem in schools, but certainly the process of teaching can


continue in a less stressful atmosphere by having these measures in


place.


Unfortunately, there are other problems such as the changing


family structure that do not have such clear cut solutions. Some of


the problems that teachers are faced with concerning the family


include poverty, single parent homes, abuse and/or neglect and


homelessness.


Statistics state that 41% of single, female headed households


live below the poverty level and that students who live in single


parent homes score lower on achievement tests, particularly boys whose


mothers are the head of the household. Obviously, single parent


families are a fact in our society today, given the rising rate of


divorce and single women having children, and it is true that this


change is having a severe effect on students today, but this should


not effect the quality of education that is provided, but rather,


encourage educators to be more aware of the difficulties these


students face in order to adapt their teaching style, as well as the


curriculum to reach these students.


Similarly, child abuse and/or neglect has become a major issue


in society and schools. It is not clear whether there is a rise in


the occurrences of abuse or whether better awareness has increased the


statistics, but it cannot be argued that this a significant problem


and one that effects those educators who have to help students who are


either abused or neglected. Strict regulations concerning the


accountability of teachers regarding the reporting of child abuse or


neglect are in effect. Teachers are required to be trained on the


ability to identify abuse. Community agencies, shelters and child


welfare agencies have begun working in conjunction with schools in


order to deal with the problem with as little disruption in the


student?s education as possible.


Homelessness is another major problem in our society. The


rate of homeless people has grown significantly since the early 1980?s


deinstitutionalization movement and more recently due to the rising


unemployment rate have led to more families and children being


homeless than ever before. This social problem has become a


significant problem for educators. Low achievement, which may be in


part due to low attendance as a result of a transient lifestyle,


physical problems associated with living on the streets and child


abuse are all issues that educators are confronted with when working


with students who are homeless. Unfortunately, because of the lack of


government funds, this problem continues to grow in America. On the


other hand, schools have begun to deal with this problem by hiring


additional counselors, some who work specifically to coordinate


service with shelters in order provide assistance to these families


and more precisely to the children. This effort clearly demonstrates


that educators are genuinely concerned about providing education to


all children.


Clearly our schools and society face the same problems. It


has become necessary for all people, not just educators, to be more


aware of the problems. Although some intervention programs have been


implemented and in some cases are very successful, it is becoming more


apparent that these problems are going to continue and will have a


direct consequence on our future in this country. Unfortunately, we


as a society tend to look for the “quick fix” to our problems without


realizing the consequences for the future. Our society need to


understand that the schools are not responsible for the cause of these


problems or the solutions, but rather, all aspects of society,


including schools, are intertwined and need to collectively work


together if we are ever to make progress toward resolving these


problems in the long run.

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