Why US education is broken

It is no secret that the US education is broken. Some challenges are very specific to the american way of life, and other challenges are universal. Since this blog is read by people worldwide, usually I focus on universal  issues. In this guest article, Alyssa Johnson tries to address the issues which tend to be specific to US and some other countries. There is little hope these challenges will be addressed in near future. As always, we urge the concerned citizens: parents, educators and volunteers, spend meaningful time with children.

Main education problems in the US

In the present-day world, nobody would deny the usefulness of comprehensive education for the development of every human being. It generates information. Informed people are capable of contributing to economic prosperity. Receiving the proper education and training open doors to any opportunities that everyday life offers to us, including obtaining a dream job and producing the revenue necessary to exist.

Unfortunately, there are many problems facing American education system today and some of them have an enormous impact on the quality of the education the young learners receive.

 

A high attrition rate of teaching staff

One of the major education problems in the USA is the alarming attrition rate of the teaching staff. Being an educator requires much responsibility and involves an overwhelming amount of pressure. A lot of teachers simply cannot overcome the burdensome duties to stick with the profession for a long period of time.

With so many qualified professors leaving the profession, many students witness substandard education in the USA. Moreover, money spent to search for and hire new staff takes a toll on the education budget that is already stretched to the limit. This money could otherwise be used for worthwhile textbooks, technology, or other kinds of resources that are much more beneficial than hiring new teachers year after year.

Lack of parental involvement

Another problem that is facing education in the USA today is the lack of parental involvement which seems to wane and which most tutors have to deal with. While there still is a rather good deal of participation at the elementary level, middle school and high school teachers claim that it is not the case with most of their pupils.

Without any doubt, parental involvement is essential. When parents are hesitant and reluctant to be a part of their kid’s learning, the learners typically have lower marks, lower test scores, fewer classes passed, fewer credits, and lower graduation rates. In addition, when fulfilling their home assignments, the students are also more frequently in need to get outside assistance from various writing companies like AustralianWritings, for example.

The reasons why so many parents are not involved may be numerous like scheduling conflicts, lack of transportation, language barriers, and cultural differences. Some of the parents don’t want to set foot back into school atmosphere again. All lecturers should do everything in their power to find out the reason for the parents’ indifference and make them feel that they are an integral part of their child’s learning process.

When it comes to school problems, parents need to have an open and helpful relationship with their kids. By feeling pressured or burdened by parental expectations and demands, students’ attitude about school begins to suffer and their motivation decreases. Only when parents realize how important they are to their kid’s success in acquiring new knowledge, there will be the resulting positive changes.

Reading pandemic

The final problem facing education in America is reading problems. It is a commonly-known fact that a big part of the students do not read or comprehend what they read even at a basic level, and it may have devastating impacts on their future.

Lacking the literacy skills is definitely a serious problem. The mentors should pay extra attention to the actual comprehension ability of the students. Apart from Language Arts teachers, other educators can also help struggle with young readers by structuring various activities that will boost their performance in reading.

The importance of parental input relative to reading cannot be ignored too. It is a challenging thing for a teacher to fully diagnose reading problems within an hour-long class. Any outside assistance makes matters easier. While listening to their children read at home, their parents can assist the teacher to diagnose the problem and begin to help the kid.

Learning is a valuable and necessary tool. The government of the country, mentors and educators, parents, and everyone who has even the tiniest relation to teaching should do their best to work through these issues in education. It is necessary to try to solve them and provide American students with the best possible training enabling them to reach their full potential. Regardless of current reform attempts, constant ministry reviews and regular calls for better changes, the progress in solving the essential education problems is often slow and solutions go on eluding the American society.

 

Bio:

Alyssa Johnson previously worked in marketing for different companies. She now has a successful career as a freelance writer. She is obsessed with social media, books and traveling. Hope someday to visit Ireland.