Response #4: The Evolution of Education in Contemporary Society

Philip Oliver Roibas Sharkey

ENG102 – J010

The Evolution of Education in Contemporary Society

            The problems with the American educational system are varied and expansive; affecting everyone, even those who have not been in a school system for decades.  The misallocation of school funds and constant lowering of standards has lead to America’s educational decline. In comparing the RSA Animate – Changing Education Paradigms by Ken Robinson and the MSNBC Video: Matt Damon Rewrites Attack on Teachers from The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, it will be my ambition to support these claims.

            Education across the globe is undergoing major reform, although countries are not making similar educational decisions.  This is indicative by the varying levels of ability in the developed world, “The three-yearly OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, which compares the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds in 70 countries around the world, ranked the United States 14th out of 34 OECD countries for reading skills, 17th for science and a below-average 25th for mathematics.” (www.huffingtonpost.com)  these statistics show where America stands next to her competition and the results are startling. How can a country that prides itself on having some of the best universities in the world be so far behind in secondary education?

            I believe the problem lies with the use of standardized testing scores to allocate funding.  A school that has lower test scores should not be penalized by the government via financial cut-backs.  It doesn’t make sense that a school with lower scores should get less funding; on the contrary it should get them more money.  Perhaps the reason schools with low testing scores stay consistently low, is that they do not have the means to properly teach their students. “The persistently low test scores of TC Williams students have made the school one of the lowest achieving in Virginia…. Gregory Baldwin, a special education teacher, blames standardized tests mandated under "No Child Left Behind." The law was passed under President George W. Bush.” (http://www.voanews.com)  If text books or other learning materials are out of date a schools test scores, however low they may be, should not get in the way of their obtaining new classroom materials; we should be focusing on the schools with the lowest success rates.

In Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell Mr. O’Donnell explains that in his days of classroom learning students’ performance did not lead to the expulsion of educators, but to the failing of students.  He suggests that students’ performance relates more to their personal ability and work ethic, than to the educators’ ability to teach.  While I know that this is partially true, I also know that teachers greatly influence their students and that their ability to teach greatly effects their students’ education. 

A good example of this is how much farther behind some schools, usually in smaller communities, are from their sister institutions across county lines. Why are the schools in cities like Berea and Richmond so much farther behind their Lexington counter parts? This semester I am taking MA109, the last math class many students take in college, and I am shocked by how low the standards are; it is literally the same class I took as a freshman in high school.  I have friends however that are struggling so much with it that they are trying to find ways of bypassing the course. Everyone should know how to do algebra, and you should not need a college degree to solve quadratic equations.

Ken Robinson goes over a variety of subjects in the ‘RSA Animate – Changing Education Paradigms,’ but at one point he suggests that we should raise the standards in our educational system, even asking “Why should we lower them? I haven’t come across an argument that persuades me of lowering them.” When Matt Damon talks about educational reform in Mr. O’Donnell’s video, he extrapolates on the subject by suggesting that his professors would not have been able to give him the balanced and in depth understanding of the world he experiences without having been able to teach him whatever they pleased; that standardized testing is pushing back general education requirements and thusly lowering the standards for everyone. That these exams were not merely raising the standards in some schools, but lowering them in others; and maybe we should listen to him, he did go to Harvard.

In conclusion, it is my belief that legislation like “No Child Left Behind” mixed with the ineffective gauging of ability within the American educational system has led to its decline.  Hopefully Americans will decide to place a higher level of importance on education and try to fix these problems; it is our responsibility as a society to do so.

 

Works Cited

Alexandria, Penelope Poulou |. "Diverse High School Battles Low Test Scores, High Drop-out Rate | Education | English." News | English. Voice of America, 7 June 2010. Web. 1 Sept. 2011. <http://www.voanews.com/english/news/education/Diverse-High-School-Battles-Low-Test-Scores-High-Drop-out-Rate-95789904.html>.

O'Donnell, Lawrence. "MSNBC Video: Matt Damon Rewrites Attack on Teachers from The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell." Msnbc.com - Breaking News, Science and Tech News, World News, US News, Local News- Msnbc.com. Microsoft National Broadcasting Company. Web. 1 Sept. 2011. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/43996175>.

Robinson, Ken. "RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. RSA Animate, 14 Oct. 2010. Web. 1 Sept. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U>.

"U.S. Falls In World Education Rankings, Rated 'Average'" Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Huffington Post, 12 July 2010. Web. 1 Sept. 2011. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/07/us-falls-in-world-education-rankings_n_793185.html>.