NationStates Jolt Archive

As a secondary education major currently studying sociology, I'm curious to hear some input from NSers who are still in secondary school. I'm writing a paper on the current status of American classrooms and education in comparison with other nations, and would love to get some input from you.

Please state your national location, and state or province if you feel comfortable. Please also specify public or private school.

Do you feel that you are receiving a decent education? An excellent education?

What do you, as a student, feel is wrong with the current status of education in your nation (particularly if you are from the US)?

Do you feel too much pressure is put on you to get good grades, take the hardest classes, etc? Do you think this often results in even the best of students cheating to get their homework done on time?

Is there visible favoritism from teachers in your school for the "smart," "popular," or "jock" kids?

Is popularity a problem concerning social rifts within the school?

Are any of your teachers inappropriate with certain students?

And last, but most importantly...do you feel that your classroom atmosphere is safe, and that the coursework involves teaching you subjective thought (asks you to make up your own mind about a topic instead of telling you what to think), or is it mostly about memorizing facts? How does this affect you?

Comments on "No Child Left Behind" from students, teachers, and anyone else would also be appreciated.

Add anything you like, and be as blunt and honest as possible. ;)

In the US anyway, something is obviously broken. How do we fix it?

Anyone?

Hmm...perhaps I shouldn't have posted this question at five in the morning... ;)

Anyone?

Hmm...perhaps I shouldn't have posted this question at five in the morning... ;)
Nope.
(Ha, school is closed)
Err, in no order:
The building sucks, it is infested with all sort of crap, the school below us should be kicked out, it is overcrowded, and we need more money desperately. The education is top notch though, best in the state and some of the best in the nation.

As for pressure to take the hardest classes, yes, and it does tend to lead to a lot of cheating, we have no real cliques, the work is mostly subjective except for the subjects which don't lend themselves to subjectivity (Latin) and our classrooms our safe, but if we leave something unattended for a minute downstairs in the other school, it gets stolen in the blink of an eye.


I'm going back to bed. Hope that makes sense.

Why the gross shortage of money? :confused: That sounds simply wrong.

If you don't mind me asking, where are you from?

As a secondary education major currently studying sociology, I'm curious to hear some input from NSers who are still in secondary school. I'm writing a paper on the current status of American classrooms and education in comparison with other nations, and would love to get some input from you.

Well, I'm in middle school, so I'm not sure if that is what you are looking for, but I'll answer these questions anyway.

Please state your national location, and state or province if you feel comfortable. Please also specify public or private school.

I go to a public school in Nebraska.

Do you feel that you are receiving a decent education? An excellent education?

I think that I'm getting close enough to an excellent education. Almost all of the classes have gotten a new curriculum and brand new textbooks.

What do you, as a student, feel is wrong with the current status of education in your nation (particularly if you are from the US)?

Not really sure how to answer this one. Ummm....I think that a lot of schools don't get near enough money to buy everything they need to give kids a good education.


Do you feel too much pressure is put on you to get good grades, take the hardest classes, etc? Do you think this often results in even the best of students cheating to get their homework done on time?

There is a lot of pressure to get good grades and to turn in all homework, but in my district all they really care about is test scores, and getting them to be higher so the district looks good.


Is there visible favoritism from teachers in your school for the "smart," "popular," or "jock" kids?

It is my experience, being considered "smart", that I am sometimes favored by certain teachers just because of that fact, but "smart" kids don't generally get away with things easily. "Popular" and "jock" kids are treated almost like royalty in certain classes, and can get away almost anything, unless it is really serious.

Is popularity a problem concerning social rifts within the school?

It can be. Sometimes people are alienated because they aren't like certain people.

Are any of your teachers inappropriate with certain students?

No.

And last, but most importantly...do you feel that your classroom atmosphere is safe, and that the coursework involves teaching you subjective thought (asks you to make up your own mind about a topic instead of telling you what to think), or is it mostly about memorizing facts? How does this affect you?

Our classroom atmostphere is completely safe. We have security cameras in the hallways and a few years back my school adopted an anti-bully program so now even the slightest bullying can get you suspended. Only in classes like math or maybe science is it just about memorizing facts, and maybe American History.



Comments on "No Child Left Behind" from students, teachers, and anyone else would also be appreciated.

I don't know too much about the "No Child Left Behind" program but my dad is a calculus teacher and he HATES it. He doesn't think it makes any sense and it makes him really mad because it only gives teachers more work to do.

That's all I have. :)

Please state your national location, and state or province if you feel comfortable. Please also specify public or private school.

I graduated last year, but I wont miss a chance to have a go at my old school.

I'm Australian, (From Melbourne, Victoria) and I went to a Catholic school.

Do you feel that you are receiving a decent education? An excellent education?

No, it was possibly worse than the public systen.

What do you, as a student, feel is wrong with the current status of education in your nation (particularly if you are from the US)?

Private schools in many cases receive more funding than public schools.

Do you feel too much pressure is put on you to get good grades, take the hardest classes, etc? Do you think this often results in even the best of students cheating to get their homework done on time?

Not at all, really. It was pretty laid back.

Is there visible favoritism from teachers in your school for the "smart," "popular," or "jock" kids?

Depends on the teacher. All had a bias, but it was always different. Overall the school had a big emphasis on sport, but they couldnt even do that well.

Is popularity a problem concerning social rifts within the school?

Yeah. It was pretty divided.

Are any of your teachers inappropriate with certain students?

Funny you should ask. A teacher was recently arrested there for sleeping with an underage student. A shame, because he was a good teacher.

And last, but most importantly...do you feel that your classroom atmosphere is safe, and that the coursework involves teaching you subjective thought (asks you to make up your own mind about a topic instead of telling you what to think), or is it mostly about memorizing facts? How does this affect you?

Safe, yes, absolutely.

Otherwise, it depends on the teacher. I had to do compulsory RE (edit- religious education) and some teachers were very strict in their ways, while others were more open to discuss issues. In discussion based classes like politics, it was pretty open as well.

Please state your national location, and state or province if you feel comfortable. Please also specify public or private school.
California

Do you feel that you are receiving a decent education? An excellent education?
Decent education, but I demand a higher standard of education than my peers

What do you, as a student, feel is wrong with the current status of education in your nation (particularly if you are from the US)?
Lack of geographic knowledge, and lack of Government/Economic education until my 12th grade year. Although I think it's a California thing.

Do you feel too much pressure is put on you to get good grades, take the hardest classes, etc? Do you think this often results in even the best of students cheating to get their homework done on time?
Not at all, I choose to be put into the harder classes. Very seldom do I cheat to get homework done on time, but it happens.

Is there visible favoritism from teachers in your school for the "smart," "popular," or "jock" kids?
Well, it's the start of the year. But in Middle School, yes. A Science teacher favored the popular kids.

Is popularity a problem concerning social rifts within the school?
Not totally. It's not like popular kids ignore the unpopular ones.

Are any of your teachers inappropriate with certain students?
There's one Biology teacher who jokes a lot, but he tells us he's only joking. Only once did he make a gay comment.

And last, but most importantly...do you feel that your classroom atmosphere is safe,
Classroom, yes. School, not as much...but still decently safe

and that the coursework involves teaching you subjective thought (asks you to make up your own mind about a topic instead of telling you what to think), or is it mostly about memorizing facts? How does this affect you?Half and half. I just accept both ways. It's not like I'm a terrible, failing student. I get good grades and both ways are fine for me. Unless it's Language Arts teaching me cold facts...THEN I have a problem there.

Comments on "No Child Left Behind" from students, teachers, and anyone else would also be appreciated.Never felt it, until a teacher mentioned it last year.

Add anything you like, and be as blunt and honest as possible. ;)I want my god damn history class....but NOOO....My High School decides on a no-history-rule till 10th grade!

In the US anyway, something is obviously broken. How do we fix it?eh?

Well, I'm in college (English Education Major) and out of the public school system for about two and a half years now, but it hasn't been that long, so I figure I'll put some stuff down.

As a secondary education major currently studying sociology, I'm curious to hear some input from NSers who are still in secondary school. I'm writing a paper on the current status of American classrooms and education in comparison with other nations, and would love to get some input from you.

...and I would love to give you some input. ;)

Please state your national location, and state or province if you feel comfortable. Please also specify public or private school.

Nation: United States of America
State: Texas
School: Public

Do you feel that you are receiving a decent education? An excellent education?

Hell no. I was bored out of my mind in school because we weren't learning anything useful and I already knew most of the answers. Also, it didn't help that I was smarter than most of my teachers.

What do you, as a student, feel is wrong with the current status of education in your nation (particularly if you are from the US)?

They never taught us how to learn. I had to teach myself that rather key item.

Do you feel too much pressure is put on you to get good grades, take the hardest classes, etc? Do you think this often results in even the best of students cheating to get their homework done on time?

I didn't really give a damn about those things (and my C grades reflected that), but there were many students who cheated to make sure they kept their GPA up or just because they were lazy like me but weren't so lazy as to not do homework at all like me.

Is there visible favoritism from teachers in your school for the "smart," "popular," or "jock" kids?

Just the well-behaved ones, regardless of their clique or lack thereof.

Is popularity a problem concerning social rifts within the school?

Not having it often is for many students. For me personally, no. I didn't give a damn about that either.

Are any of your teachers inappropriate with certain students?

Not that I witnessed. However, there were a good number of cases within the district of sexual misconduct charges.

And last, but most importantly...do you feel that your classroom atmosphere is safe, and that the coursework involves teaching you subjective thought (asks you to make up your own mind about a topic instead of telling you what to think), or is it mostly about memorizing facts? How does this affect you?

Memorizing facts. Over and over again. Day in and day out.

Comments on "No Child Left Behind" from students, teachers, and anyone else would also be appreciated.

Don't know yet. I'll try to read it over Christmas break.

Add anything you like, and be as blunt and honest as possible.

LOL! I already was. :)

In the US anyway, something is obviously broken. How do we fix it?

1.) Change the curriculum from fact-based to process-based, while still including an appropriate amount of facts.

2.) Train the teachers more effectively.

3.) Let them actually teach instead of administrating.

Public School in Huntsville, AL. (Not too happy about it either)

The school building is in great shape, and most of the Senior teachers are top-rate. I've only been here for my Junior and Senior years, but the lower-level teachers don't seem particularly motivated. My current History teacher has a sort of hostile manner (not really, its an appearance thing we all understand) that keeps students awake and hammers home the themes behind historical events. However, he also give college-level work, so a lot of people are falling behind.

The school policies are too restrictive in area that don't matter and not strict enough where they do. Students frequently violate the "unenforcible" rules of the dress code and behavioral code. Social division is stark between the "Christians" (I use quotations because I doubt the sincerity of some) and the reactionary groups that have formed. The moderates are generally the outcasts.

Please state your national location, and state or province if you feel comfortable. Please also specify public or private school.

I live in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, England. I went to school at Manhood Community College (Public school), Selsey, West Sussex.

Do you feel that you are receiving a decent education? An excellent education?

It was a case of being given a book and told "LEARN THIS BIT HERE".

What do you, as a student, feel is wrong with the current status of education in your nation (particularly if you are from the US)?

No discipline. My Grandad, whom I hold in very high regard, claims that the cane should be brought back, and that National Service would sort us out.

Do you feel too much pressure is put on you to get good grades, take the hardest classes, etc? Do you think this often results in even the best of students cheating to get their homework done on time?

I have been entered in at least three national maths competitions without my consent. I had to complain for four years before they'd take me out of the top set, too.

Is there visible favoritism from teachers in your school for the "smart," "popular," or "jock" kids?

Every sodding minute of every sodding lesson of every sodding day...

Is popularity a problem concerning social rifts within the school?

In every school you get groups of kids who hang out with each other, and no-one else. Sports was quite a popularity thing, though. If you weren't good at football (That's soccer to you Yanks, not your bastardised rugby) then you wouldn't get on with half the school.

Are any of your teachers inappropriate with certain students?

For their own safety, no. I wouldn't touch half the girls in my school with a barge pole.

And last, but most importantly...do you feel that your classroom atmosphere is safe, and that the coursework involves teaching you subjective thought (asks you to make up your own mind about a topic instead of telling you what to think), or is it mostly about memorizing facts? How does this affect you?

It was all facts, which is fine, but it was the same things. Over. And over. And over. History was the worst for that. We might get through three pages over the course of a week. I learnt more by just flicking through the book.

You do what you like in the US, just don't, for your own sake, try and copy us. Also, I don't see why you complain so much about uniforms. Seems to me that American schools need them more than English ones...

As a secondary education major currently studying sociology, I'm curious to hear some input from NSers who are still in secondary school. I'm writing a paper on the current status of American classrooms and education in comparison with other nations, and would love to get some input from you.

Please state your national location, and state or province if you feel comfortable. Please also specify public or private school.
Sweden, public school.

Do you feel that you are receiving a decent education? An excellent education?
Really, no. I think that ever since the national school authorities decided that not only slow students but fast as well benefit from getting education on the same level (the slow one) and in mixed groups our public shcools have been a failure

What do you, as a student, feel is wrong with the current status of education in your nation (particularly if you are from the US)?
See above, I think that public schools in Sweden are generally too nice. Nothing wrong with the lack of competition and general relaxed feelings but many students in public schools don't get the chance to be challanged.

Do you feel too much pressure is put on you to get good grades, take the hardest classes, etc? Do you think this often results in even the best of students cheating to get their homework done on time?
In my family and among my friends the pressure is high, but the school is not supposed to enchourage (wrong selling I know) students to to participate to more than the passed grade, and thus eliminate competition.

Is there visible favoritism from teachers in your school for the "smart," "popular," or "jock" kids?
From teacher to teacher, officially it doesn't exist, and who do you think people listens to in cases like those, secondary school students or
grown up teachers?

Is popularity a problem concerning social rifts within the school?
From school to school, or class to class in mine.

Are any of your teachers inappropriate with certain students?
Yes, but I consider that individual problems and not something you should take count on in your essay.

And last, but most importantly...do you feel that your classroom atmosphere is safe, and that the coursework involves teaching you subjective thought (asks you to make up your own mind about a topic instead of telling you what to think), or is it mostly about memorizing facts? How does this affect you?
Classroom atmospheres vary from class to class, although they are quite good in my school. Swedish schoollaws give teachers much freedom when they are planning education for their students, it is totally dependant on however the teacher is engaged in his work or not.

Comments on "No Child Left Behind" from students, teachers, and anyone else would also be appreciated.
Don't know what that is.

Add anything you like, and be as blunt and honest as possible. ;)
-

In the US anyway, something is obviously broken. How do we fix it?
-

I am no longer in school, but I can give some responses anyway.

Please state your national location, and state or province if you feel comfortable. Please also specify public or private school.

England. Public and private schools mean the same thing here, I think, but basically I went to a state-school, i.e. paid for by tax. Note, it was a grammar school, one of the few left, which only admit students who pass an exam called the 11-plus.

Do you feel that you are receiving a decent education? An excellent education?

I received a good education.

What do you, as a student, feel is wrong with the current status of education in your nation (particularly if you are from the US)?

Grammar schools being shut down is bad. Also, more single-sex schools could be good to reduce distraction from studies.

Do you feel too much pressure is put on you to get good grades, take the hardest classes, etc? Do you think this often results in even the best of students cheating to get their homework done on time?

No, I was fine with pressure, but then I never had much difficulty getting good grades.

Is there visible favoritism from teachers in your school for the "smart," "popular," or "jock" kids?

No.

Is popularity a problem concerning social rifts within the school?

Not sure what you mean.

Are any of your teachers inappropriate with certain students?

Not to my knowledge. I certainly hope not.

And last, but most importantly...do you feel that your classroom atmosphere is safe, and that the coursework involves teaching you subjective thought (asks you to make up your own mind about a topic instead of telling you what to think), or is it mostly about memorizing facts? How does this affect you?

The classroom atmosphere is usually a pleasant nitrogen/oxygen mixture. Seriously though, not sure what you mean. Don't know about the subjective thought. I mostly did sciences, so that wasn't particularly applicable.

Comments on "No Child Left Behind" from students, teachers, and anyone else would also be appreciated.

Don't know enough about it to answer.

In the US anyway, something is obviously broken. How do we fix it?

You're on your own there!

[/QUOTE]

Please state your national location, and state or province if you feel comfortable. Please also specify public or private school.
Omaha Nebraska, public school.
Do you feel that you are receiving a decent education? An excellent education?
Fair would describe it best.
What do you, as a student, feel is wrong with the current status of education in your nation (particularly if you are from the US)?
Rather then share about the country, I'll share about my school. Recently the multicultural studies department was shut down and most art related courses were removed. Classes were "re-organized" to seat (on average) 50 additional students. As a result the 12 school directors (of which there should only be 1) have doubled thier own salaries.
Do you feel too much pressure is put on you to get good grades, take the hardest classes, etc? Do you think this often results in even the best of students cheating to get their homework done on time?
I don't cheat, and I have to give my self little challenges like "graduate with a perfect GPA" and "try not to open-handed slap the instructor" to keep from getting too bored.
Is there visible favoritism from teachers in your school for the "smart," "popular," or "jock" kids?
My school has no jocks (or at least not good enough to make it to a division A school) and almost no teacher/student interaction. Favoritism is a non-issue.
Is popularity a problem concerning social rifts within the school?
See above.
Are any of your teachers inappropriate with certain students?
They don't like idiots.
And last, but most importantly...do you feel that your classroom atmosphere is safe, and that the coursework involves teaching you subjective thought (asks you to make up your own mind about a topic instead of telling you what to think), or is it mostly about memorizing facts? How does this affect you?
All education is about memorizing facts. Only a handful of instructors actually care about there job and seek to enlighten the students. It's hard to get into thier classes though, they're booked pretty quickly.
Comments on "No Child Left Behind" from students, teachers, and anyone else would also be appreciated.
Sucks for the teachers... but then again, for the most part our teachers are the kids who thought teaching would be a great job because you get the summer off.
In the US anyway, something is obviously broken. How do we fix it?
Until teaching is a respectable career, nothing can be fixed.

My school is moving to a crapper one to get done up :headbang:

Somehow my school is 45th-best in NJ (source: NJ Monthly). HowTF!?!

I thought we'd be much lower

Please state your national location, and state or province if you feel comfortable. Please also specify public or private school.

Do you feel that you are receiving a decent education? An excellent education?

What do you, as a student, feel is wrong with the current status of education in your nation (particularly if you are from the US)?

Do you feel too much pressure is put on you to get good grades, take the hardest classes, etc? Do you think this often results in even the best of students cheating to get their homework done on time?

Is there visible favoritism from teachers in your school for the "smart," "popular," or "jock" kids?

Is popularity a problem concerning social rifts within the school?

Are any of your teachers inappropriate with certain students?

And last, but most importantly...do you feel that your classroom atmosphere is safe, and that the coursework involves teaching you subjective thought (asks you to make up your own mind about a topic instead of telling you what to think), or is it mostly about memorizing facts? How does this affect you?

Comments on "No Child Left Behind" from students, teachers, and anyone else would also be appreciated.

Add anything you like, and be as blunt and honest as possible. ;)

In the US anyway, something is obviously broken. How do we fix it?



I'm in college now, but I do have some comments about education in this country. First, the curriculum needs to be revamped. We need to reinforce corse basics, such as science, mathematics, and English. Too many students have incredibly poor speech and writing skills. Place more emphasis on grading and completing assignments. There are some schools that don't give out grades, and instead just whether or not the student did the assignment. This benefits no one. It is the democratization of education, which is the highest form of idiocy.

Make sure to include physical education in the curriculum. Many studies hace shown exercise helps brain function, along with the obvious improvements in general health. Next, lengthen the school day. Many school days have been cut down due to budget cuts and a variety of other reasons. Years ago you would be in school for eight hours or more, with nearly all of that dedicated to classroom learning. Now after cuts, lunch breaks, study halls, and other changes many student spend less than five hours in an actual classroom.

No Child Left Behind is flawed. There are far too many kids out there that have major mental retardation, and due to short-sighted and politically correct policies they are forced into the public schools. In the high school I went to we had three children with severe handicaps, including one crack baby. None of them could function in the real world, and so our high school of 280 students had to have three teachers dedicated to those three students. I frankly don't see the goal of having them in school. There is absolutely no way they would ever function in society, and likely their families are using the school as a free adult daycare.

Grade inflation is another problem. This also ties into tort reform, but I'll gloss over that for now. Many teachers are afraid of giving out poor marks to students for a variety of reasons. They don't want to be blamed for someone not getting into college. They might get blamed for a student's low self esteem. Any one of a number of reasons, but you can easily get 3.5+ in just about any high school in America.

Computer use is at an all time high in schools, but this needs to be tempered by realism. Why does a student in grade school really need to use the internet for more than a few minutes a day? Will he learn the multiplication tables faster, or be able to distinguish a split infinitive or hanging participle through reading websites? I see no reason to expand computer use in school, and can find no logical argument as to why we are pushing so hard for increased computer time for students.

My mother is a teacher and has major troubles with her students, and yet gets no support from the school administration. She teaches a school to work program in high school. There is limited classroom work, then the students get a job and report their hours to her. One student lied about having a job, then twice falsified reports on his working hours. When my mother attempted to kick him out of class she was overruled because she missed a small procedural detail. The student was kicked out of school a week later for drug possession.

It seems the only hard and fast rule in education anymore is 'no violent thoughts, actions, or possessions'. I carried a pocket knife every day of high school, and have every day since. I never once hurt someone, or caused a problem. Now I would likely be suspended for a week and possibly be brought up on criminal charges.



It all comes down to one basic problem our society is facing. No one wants to take resposibility for their actions. From people blaming killing sprees on video games, to demands to increase welfare, people want to blame someone else for the results of their decisions and lack of foresight.

These are just a few random thoughts I had. I apologize for any spelling errors, since I'm not bothering to run it through a spell-checker. I would like to hear some feedback on these points.

Why the gross shortage of money? :confused: That sounds simply wrong.

If you don't mind me asking, where are you from?
Northern Delaware. We are a funny case, being a charter school independent of any school district (thus no political force) but forced to beg for most of our money from the state...

I'll gladly help you out since I have serious opinions about the education I receive.

Please state your national location, and state or province if you feel comfortable. Please also specify public or private school.

Indiana, USA, and I attend a public school.

Do you feel that you are receiving a decent education? An excellent education?

I workd hard for my education and I take advantage of what is presented to me. Therefore my excellent education is because of the effort I put forth.

What do you, as a student, feel is wrong with the current status of education in your nation (particularly if you are from the US)?

Many argue that the educational system has received too much money and that it's not doing any good. My situation argues differently. Our school corporation is in debt over $6 million. Many teachers have been cut, schools have been closed and redistricting and shuffling has lead my school to become a hell hole. The old teachers have all retired since they won't put up with the budget cuts, allowing new, less-skilled teachers take their roles. My books are nearly all rebounds, and the cafeteria food sucks.

Also, most of the students are inner city kids who have an utter disrespect for authority and others in general. They smoke pot in the bathrooms, skip classes, spray graffiti, start fights, and yell obscenities in the name of rap music. The failing of our educational system is that these ones will be babied along, when they should be reprimanded. If it was my way I would kick their asses out of school until they realized that their education will determine their future.

Do you feel too much pressure is put on you to get good grades, take the hardest classes, etc? Do you think this often results in even the best of students cheating to get their homework done on time?

All my pressure comes from my friends really. I enjoy taking challenging classes, and I don't fret over my grades (which are As anyway). Students cheat, but hey, not like I don't understand the subject.

Is there visible favoritism from teachers in your school for the "smart," "popular," or "jock" kids?

Of course teachers prefer the smart kids. They're the ones that are respectful and make the class environment enjoyable. Favoritism? Nah

Is popularity a problem concerning social rifts within the school?

There's a "clique" for anyone. No.

Are any of your teachers inappropriate with certain students?

Only inappropriate in that they let too many jackasses get by without punishment.

And last, but most importantly...do you feel that your classroom atmosphere is safe, and that the coursework involves teaching you subjective thought (asks you to make up your own mind about a topic instead of telling you what to think), or is it mostly about memorizing facts? How does this affect you?

I'm in AP classes. It's mostly about the teachers recognizing this and guiding us. They want to nurture our creativity and longing to learn, not stifle it.

In the US anyway, something is obviously broken. How do we fix it?

It's called lack of responsibility. Too many kids are babied. If schools started to lay down the law and say "You want to jack off? Be home-taught" That would make a difference. I'd say that 1/2 of the students in my school wouldn't be there if they could drop out without immediate repurcussions. Get these kids away from those that want to learn like me. Perhaps send them to a trade school or teach them to be a plumber. That beats the normal job of burger flipping they'll be relegated to anyways.

Computer use is at an all time high in schools, but this needs to be tempered by realism. Why does a student in grade school really need to use the internet for more than a few minutes a day? Will he learn the multiplication tables faster, or be able to distinguish a split infinitive or hanging participle through reading websites? I see no reason to expand computer use in school, and can find no logical argument as to why we are pushing so hard for increased computer time for students.

It seems the only hard and fast rule in education anymore is 'no violent thoughts, actions, or possessions'. I carried a pocket knife every day of high school, and have every day since. I never once hurt someone, or caused a problem. Now I would likely be suspended for a week and possibly be brought up on criminal charges.

It all comes down to one basic problem our society is facing. No one wants to take resposibility for their actions. From people blaming killing sprees on video games, to demands to increase welfare, people want to blame someone else for the results of their decisions and lack of foresight.

In other countries it is entirely computerized, and I think that is rather more efficient. We have foreign exchange students from Austria and south America and they say that they all have laptops, only take that to class along with books (unless its stored on the laptop in pdf) and they connect their comp to the teacher's. I think this is a wonderful idea, as it forces everyone to be computer literate.

If you brought a pocket knife to my school I would fear for your life. We have to wear IDs at all times in school, and you cannt enter the cafeteria without presenting it to guards first. All the classrooms enter "lock-out" one minute after the bell, and if you're late you have to spend the entire class period in the library. Isn't that retarded?

I agree that there is an utter lack of responsibility.

I live Near Birmingham, England.

I go to a public school

I think I'm getting an O.K. education but I think I'll be lucky to survive long enough to pick up my qualifications. I don't really think there is an emphasis on students or if there is I don't pick up on it. I think there are some rifts developing because the jackasses are to take over & I think there is alot of cheating just because its alot quicker and alot easier.
I think memorising facts isn't really big in lessons you just have to remember everything about everything which isn't any easier and the work environment has huge varies on lesson type & teacher, which can turn a mostly silent lesson into an incredibly noisy one. Currently in english our teachers are going back to all boys & all girls classes for a two year test period and unfortuntly I think its working. The nurse woman I think is dodgy, I told her I got punched in the head repetly by a guy wearing a ring & she didn't even check me for concussion!

These are some surprisingly wonderful answers. I thank all of you. :)

Has anyone heard of the "Dumbing Down of America?" The problem starts in our schools and spans out into an annoying obsession with laziness and technology.

The basic premise is:

Under No Child Left Behind, schools are pressured enormously to improve objective standardized test scores. As a result, teachers are required to spend more time "teaching to the test," instead of helping children develop their own critical thinking processes. Funding to public schools is cut if their test scores aren't "up to par," so teachers are leaving already suffering low-income area and inner city schools for schools with students who naturally do well on standardized test.

Imagine this...from the beginning of your schooling, you are only told WHAT to think, not how to think for yourself. No one ever asks you what you think about anything. You are told "This book carries this message," not asked "what did you get out of this story?" You are dictated that England was full of oppressive politicians who evilly tried to keep ahold of America during teh Revolutionary War, not allowed to do your own research and come to your own conclusions.

The result is children who are maturing earlier physically, but much later mentally. Immaturity is at an all-time high. Most credible sources say that a young adult is not really a "grown up" until they are 26 in this day and age, in this country.

Kids can't think for themselves. Sure, honors students (as I'm sure many NS players are) have a higher chance of escaping the "dumbing down," but what about the majority of the rest of this country? Why are all those ditsy girls walking past my house in disugstingly short skirts, talking on their cell phones loudly and using "like" every other word?

This phenominon is well documented, and will continue to get worse if we don't re-introduce subjective thought into our classrooms.

I believe people who say we should bring back apprenticeships and trade schools are also on to something. Some kids are never going to go onto college, and quite frankly, they never want to. Those students should have the opportunity to attend studies that DO interest them, instead of dooming them to a life labeled as a "drop out" and having their first kids when they're 16 years old for lack of anything more meaningful in their lives.

College dropout rates are also rising. I strongly believe that most kids need to take a year off, or engage in some kind of apprenticeship, between high school and college. Otherwise, most of them (at the U of I I've witnessed this) go stark raving mad and party their entire freshman year. All of a sudden they are given a level of responsibility for self that they have never had before, and they don't know what the hell to do with it.

Some educational philosophers, of course, see this "dumbing down" as another way for the government to control the general populace. If you think about it...if the government tells us what we must learn, and continues eradicting subjective thinking, our children will turn into zombies who watch MTV all day and don't even know who the President of the US is (anyone watch "Street Smarts" or Howard Stern when he has Playboy models on? ridiculous...). It does make some sense that the government could more easily control us if we don't know how to form our own opinions. Thank God some parents provide education to their kids outside of school. 1984, anyone?

Any thoughts on the "Dumbing Down of America?" Please keep it civil.

I'd say i live in a pretty cool school in the U.S. I go to State College Area High School, and S.C. is a university town (notice the name), home of P.S.U.

We have 3000 kids here, and it's pretty rich; we have 60 wireless laptops and a complete workout gym with a dance machine for P.E. Also, there are 8 computer labs/classes complete with macs or pcs. We have our own email system, as well as high speed internet (but blocked).

There is a very fuzzy border between cliques, you can belong to more than one. I am a total nerd, and yet it seems that people here like me, kinda.

Bullying is not a problem because at the start of middle school the school pounds into your head, NO BULLYING. In middle school signs in every classroom had the word bullying crossed out like no smoking signs, and every month one hour was set aside for us to do some weird activity, like "explain what you would do in this situation." So the social problems in the school was sort of eliminated.

In fact the biggest problem here is drugs, last year in the H.S. we had a locker drug search, we stayed in the classroom while police dogs sniffed for drugs.

Student government works here with the administration, we have kept the soda prices at 50 cents (yay). There are clubs of all kinds. It's a good public school.

Please state your national location, and state or province if you feel comfortable. Please also specify public or private school.

Currently (and hopefully only for this semester) I'm at a public school in southern Minnesota.

Do you feel that you are receiving a decent education? An excellent education?

No, and no.

What do you, as a student, feel is wrong with the current status of education in your nation (particularly if you are from the US)?

Kids who just don't care are permitted to hold everyone else back, instead of being punished or simply expelled from the education system.

Do you feel too much pressure is put on you to get good grades, take the hardest classes, etc? Do you think this often results in even the best of students cheating to get their homework done on time?

That's a joke, right? No, no pressure is being put on me to... do anything, really.

Is there visible favoritism from teachers in your school for the "smart," "popular," or "jock" kids?

For the most part, no. There will always be some teachers who like a certain group of students best, but it doesn't affect their grading much (in most cases), and it really doesn't bother me unless they treat the kids they don't like unfairly (for instance, I've had teachers who just plain don't like guys).

Is popularity a problem concerning social rifts within the school?

I've never been "popular," but it's never been a problem for me. To each their own; there are certainly cliques, but I don't see anything wrong with that.

Are any of your teachers inappropriate with certain students?

Nope, not currently anyway.

And last, but most importantly...do you feel that your classroom atmosphere is safe, and that the coursework involves teaching you subjective thought (asks you to make up your own mind about a topic instead of telling you what to think), or is it mostly about memorizing facts? How does this affect you?

This is an interesting question. Throughout middle school and what I've done so far of high school (I'm a junior right now), critical thinking has been heavily emphasized. They're doing that now too, but it seems like it's a pretty new thing here (again, this is my first, and probably only, semester at this school). So it seems like they're making an effort to teach independent thinking, but it's too little, too late.

Comments on "No Child Left Behind" from students, teachers, and anyone else would also be appreciated.

Some kids want to be left behind. The teachers don't want to teach kids that would rather not be there anyway, and it's unfair to hold the other students back because of a few stragglers.

Add anything you like, and be as blunt and honest as possible.

I'm new to public high school (went to public school through 8th grade, and to a military school the past 2 years), and I'm surprised at how much they treat us like little kids. I mean, you'd think the military school would be the most authoritarian, but public school is worse by far. If you have a free period, you have to schedule a study hall in that space. God forbid anyone have any free time! We have hall passes ffs! I'm sorry, but if you're 14 and can't be trusted to leave the classroom, do what you need to do, and come back, without some little piece of paper, trying to educate you is a waste of tax money. I think if the schools would let kids make (and be held accountable for) their own decisions more often, not only would students be a little more responsible, but they wouldn't be as apathetic either.

In middle school signs in every classroom had the word bullying crossed out like no smoking signs...
Bullying was never a problem at any of my schools, but I can almost guarantee you that if they tried to pull crap like that, half the student body (myself included) would go out and beat the crap out of a smaller kid just out of spite.

Same here. Plus we had a couple of shootings...

Again, the problem of violence could also be tapered if students who didn't want to be at school had some kind of viable alternative.

I would like to hear more from Texan Hotrodders, as we share a couple of areas of study. ;)

On another note, I have yet to meet a teacher that is happy with NCLB.

I would like to hear more from Texan Hotrodders, as we share a couple of areas of study. ;)

On another note, I have yet to meet a teacher that is happy with NCLB.

If you insist. (Actually, I like rambling so it works out.)

Referencing some points raised earlier in the thread...

I agree with Roachsylvania about the apathy issue, and would also suggest that we need some way to invest the kids in their schools and schooling other than telling them: "You have to make good grades to get into college." Most students have no conception of how important a college education will be in securing their future financial well-being, and so they won't buy that line. I and my friends certainly did not.

In regards to the issues of bullying and violence in schools, well, I certainly had enough of that at my schools. The only way to stop it (short term)seems to be to train the students to defend themselves effectively. In the long term, a psychological and cultural change would be necessary. Unfortunately, that is even more difficult to effect.

I also agree with the lovely Pope Hope about adding more technical/job training into school programs. Students will generally feel better about schooling if they can actually see that it could help them someday. I know one of the classes my lazy ass was most motivated in was my Architectural Graphics class that taught us skills we would actually need in the workplace.

LOL about the short skirts and saying 'like' every other word. That's 3/4 of the girls at my campus.

Please state your national location, and state or province if you feel comfortable. Please also specify public or private school.
I went to public school in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio.

Do you feel that you are receiving a decent education? An excellent education?
Excellent

What do you, as a student, feel is wrong with the current status of education in your nation (particularly if you are from the US)?
I was satisfied with my public education but there's a lot of resource inequality among various schools in the US, and culturally I think Americans generally don't value education and schoolwork as much as we should. Parents, especially in inner city communities, should be more interested in how their kids are doing at school.

Do you feel too much pressure is put on you to get good grades, take the hardest classes, etc? Do you think this often results in even the best of students cheating to get their homework done on time?
I myself didn't feel too much pressure because I enjoy learning school subjects but I'm a lazy ass so I cheated a lot anyways. A lot of people felt extremely pressured by their parents or whoever, and yes that made them more likely to cheat.

Is there visible favoritism from teachers in your school for the "smart," "popular," or "jock" kids?
Teachers graded everyone fairly but on a personal level of course it is more likely that teachers would be friends with sociable people than people who never talked and sat in the back of the room staring at the ceiling for their entire existence. I myself tilt toward the latter group.

Is popularity a problem concerning social rifts within the school?
I wasn't "popular" but the town I lived in was an extremely friendly community... I didn't feel like there were strongly defined cliques... sure some people were jocks, pretty boys, goths and some were complete loners but everyone was open to being good friends with anyone.

Are any of your teachers inappropriate with certain students?
Nothing officially confirmed, but I had my suspicions...

And last, but most importantly...do you feel that your classroom atmosphere is safe,
Yes... nobody messed with anyone, people were all very friendly

and that the coursework involves teaching you subjective thought (asks you to make up your own mind about a topic instead of telling you what to think), or is it mostly about memorizing facts? How does this affect you?
I think it was a sensible mixture of critical thinking and rote memorization.

Comments on "No Child Left Behind" from students, teachers, and anyone else would also be appreciated.
I'm not an expert on NCLB but all my teachers hated it.

Personally, I wouldn't blame the government for everything.

If the government was really trying to control us, they would subtly influence most teaching materials to give us only what they wanted us to believe. You see, an intelligent population offers too much chance for dissent, even if the system works, because they know what else is possible and aren't satisfied. A stupid population is risky because, as the saying goes, "never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers," especially when they are manipulated by a charismatic leader. The best way to maintain control is to keep people at a medium level, and indoctrinate them. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing some of this done, as long as they could still be free to learn from other sources. Mostly, I just want a societal and cultural change to wipe out the stupidity and moral weakness.

Also, if you look at the trends, you will of course notice the lack of respect for tradition and authority. The media is driven by money, and they have found that by dumbing down, they can appeal to more people. This also has the side-effect (or perhaps intentional effect) of making future generations drop to this level.

As for NCLB, my teachers seem to compensate for the rigid structure very well. They manage to give examples of a formula's uses, or start a lively debate in History. No one at my school is forced to think a certain way, they just choose to because it is easiest.

Same here. Plus we had a couple of shootings...

Again, the problem of violence could also be tapered if students who didn't want to be at school had some kind of viable alternative.
Shootings at a secondary school? I may have misunderstood, but isn't secondary school for ages 13-16?

They pay my salary, so I think they are all angels from heaven.


(Arrrr.)

---------------begin rant----------------------

I go to a high school on Long Island, and I personally believe that education, in the United States has been run incorrectly since it has been set up.
The problem with public education is that the schools don't take it into consideration that people learn in different ways. Classrooms are run in many different ways, depending upon the teacher. I have found that my favorite classes are ones where the teacher teaches in variety of styles, be it group projects, lectures, notes etc. However, many students are unable to sit in a classroom for 40 min. at time, because they are not biologically made for it. However, instead of adapting to the child’s needs, we say that he must have ADD or ADHD, and give him Ridilin and other drugs to calm him down and limit his brain function. Instead of educating children, schools are conforming them to society's standards.

Then there are the people who are unmotivated to learn in school. So, instead of finding a way to motivate students to learn, we just label them as "not smart" and "dumb." Kids who are able to learn the way schools teach become advanced students, and the "smart" kids. The "dumb" kids are pushed aside, while the "smart" ones are held up, as a standard.
The "dumb" kids who are unable to learn fail tests, because they are unable to assimilate knowledge in the way teachers present it to them. , Or are unable to take tests in the way that we give them. Either way, by giving a child a low grade, we are punishing them because they are unable to conform to socity's teaching methods. Instead of finding ways to teach students, we are finding ways to punish them for not being able to learn, how we teach.

Then there is the relationship between failing students and drugs (the illegal kind). For some reason (maybe somebody else knows why) kids who do poorly in school seem to get into drugs. I know this is true at my school. Perhaps our society is responsible for this, albeit indirectly.

I also believe that the lack of morals at home is influencing behavioral problems at school. For example, at a recent field trip at a beach, there were several (probably around 10-20) students who thought it was ok to, instead of collect specimens of life forms, smoke marijuana, and have sexual intercourse in the bathrooms. This was done with police 50 feet away.
What was the result? Only about half the kids that behaved in this manner got suspended for 5 days. I find it hard to believe that people who committed illegal acts got rewarded with 5 days off from school. (I believe that discipline has become too lax over the years.)
The breakdown of moral values perhaps can be traced back to their homes, but who really known why these kids acted the way they did. I can pin it down, however, to one word, respect. Many young people (I hope to disclose myself) are marked by a lack of respect. They do not respect adults, socity’s values, their school, or even their own bodies. I believe that this type of behavior is one that puts my school in a bad light, yet instead of facing the root of the problem, my school pretended like it didn't happen.

It scares me to think that these types of people will go on to become the voting masses. How can these kids know what is best for society, if they don't know what's best for themselves? I think that these kids may hold back the advancement of society, as a whole.

The root of this problem again is the school system. Perhaps we can discourage kids from mind-damaging narcotics by motivating them to learn. People, who are interested and like school, rarely turn to these material "pleasures."

If rework the school system, perhaps we can better our society as a whole.

-------------end rant--------------------

thank you for listening, I hope I helped you!

I go to a grammer school in London, UK, and I feel that despite the Nzi like propaganda roadcasted from my school I'm recieving an awful education

The main prblems with education in the UK is with the ease of getting A*. With the exams so easy, it makes all your qualifications pointless (but the diploma is NOT the answer!) The problem is also to much emphasis on "alternative qualifications" (cue NVQ, GNVQ) These are pointless, useless, easy exams that further de-values any grades.

The pressure for grades in unbelievable - its at least fifty percent A* or else... The cheating is unbelievable. You'd expect that the top five percent of the country don't have to cheat, but you're lucky if fife percent of the class DON'T cheat.

Our school shows huge bias to anyone who can play rugby (screwed up American football to you Yanks) and the teachers regular favour them - better grades, lesser punishment etc.

Is popularity a problem concerning social rifts within the school?

The favourite game in my year is rascist football (soccer)- that underlines the basic problems

Are any of your teachers inappropriate with certain students?

I hope not, considering its an all boy school

The coursework is unless you can give a thesis-worthy argument, the school is correct, all hail the school, the teachers are right, obey, obey, memorise - do as the school says - always follow the schools opinion because it is correct.

Our system's broken because of lack of freedom of choice, over-nazification of schools and basic screw-ups with exams. We need to fix ours.

Please state your national location, and state or province if you feel comfortable. Please also specify public or private school.

Long Island, White Surbuban America, Public School

Do you feel that you are receiving a decent education? An excellent education?

Decent - yes. Excellent- NO

What do you, as a student, feel is wrong with the current status of education in your nation (particularly if you are from the US)?

(answered above)

Do you feel too much pressure is put on you to get good grades, take the hardest classes, etc? Do you think this often results in even the best of students cheating to get their homework done on time?

Not me personally, but people I know.

Is there visible favoritism from teachers in your school for the "smart," "popular," or "jock" kids?

Favoritism towards the Jocks, definately. They just got a new multi-million dollar football feild, even though were only a division III school, with a mediocre football team. Meanwhile, we don't have enough Science labs, and the parking lot is a mess. Funding is obviously towards the jocks.
As for teachers, it depends. Teachers that double as sports coaches are like to talk to the jocks, but this varies greatly.

Is popularity a problem concerning social rifts within the school?
YES! my school is full of and stoners and populars and nerds and jocks. The popular kids look down on everyone else, they think there better. Everyone else has to deal with it, because they have more friends, and the school can't/won't do anything about it.

Are any of your teachers inappropriate with certain students?

Yes. A middle school health teacher was caught using AIM to flirt with some students. He asked one girl in his class to sleep with him. He was fired after he sexually abusing a student.

And last, but most importantly...do you feel that your classroom atmosphere is safe, and that the coursework involves teaching you subjective thought (asks you to make up your own mind about a topic instead of telling you what to think), or is it mostly about memorizing facts? How does this affect you?

I do not feel it is safe, because it is hard to learn in an enviornment with so much social tension. School is like it's own little world of stresses.

Because I am in honors/AP classes, I find the school is challenging, but not killer, a good thing. However I am in one class with all non-honors students, and I realize that most of the kids in my school are really ignorant and ill-educated.

Comments on "No Child Left Behind" from students, teachers, and anyone else would also be appreciated.

No child left behind is a good thing; if it had proper funding. The way it's run now, instead of educating low-end students, it just lowers standards for low-end students, making them seem smarter. And high-end studetns are punished in the end. On the Physics NY state regents, if a student scored 45% of questions correctly, he passed. However, if a student answered 96% of ther questions correctly, the grade would be a 92%.



In the US anyway, something is obviously broken. How do we fix it?

(addressed above)

i'm in seconday school in england, but it doesen't seem much different from the other posts