Problems with Education Essay Example for Free

Problems with Education Essay What is it that’s making our nation suffer from excelling in education? Not many would argue about the importance of excellence in education. Problems such as teacher attrition, lack of parent involvement, and teaching high-stakes testing may hinder progress in education. An education is an indispensable and essential tool, unfortunately, with all the jaded judgments; our students aren’t valuing or able to value their education. An Education can open the doors to opportunities that would have never been possible if it had not been for the knowledge and preparation that one received while in school. With the fluctuating economy and hesitant times, it is more important than ever for our nation’s children to receive the proper education and training that will allow them to acquire a good job and produce the revenue needed to live. Unfortunately, there are many problems facing our education system today, and several of them are having negative effects on the quality of the education our students are receiving. Would one feel comfortable fifty years from now, when the children who are victim of the disadvantages of teacher attrition, lack of parent involvement and a majority of their education being how to take a high stakes test, are running this nation? How soundly can one sleep knowing that their decisions on a bill deciphering how much of a pension someone will receive or what’s legal and what’s not is at stake? Should these problems be quietly swept under the rug and addressed again in another five years, or is it best bite the financial bullet and at the very least, acknowledge there is an issue? A serious problem that is attacking the education system in America is the alarming attrition rate of teachers. Only those not involved with education at all will argue that it is an undemanding profession; in actuality, it is a very demanding profession with an often overwhelming amount of pressure and responsibility tied to it. However, it can also be a very rewarding profession. Unfortunately, many teachers simply cannot overcome the immense responsibilities well enough to stick with the profession for any length of time. Jalongo and Heider (2006) present staggering statistics in their article, saying that forty-six percent of new teachers in this country quit teaching after five years or less, with that percentage growing to fifty percent in urban areas. Even more shocking is the fact that ninety percent of teachers who are hired in this country are replacements for teachers who have left teaching for some reason other than retirement (p. 379). There are many reasons that the rate of teachers leaving the profession is so high. Anhorn (2008) very concisely sums up some of the major problems in her article when she says, â€Å"Difficult work assignments, inadequate resources, isolation, role conflict, and reality shock are some top reasons for the horrendous attrition statistics with the widespread â€Å"sink or swim† attitude that is prevalent in so many schools† (p. 15). It is easy to see why the beginning teacher attrition rate is so high. There is simply so much to do these days, between extracurricular responsibilities and high-stakes testing, it is easy to get overwhelmed. In her article, Sitler (2007) sums it up quite nicely when she says, No one expects the first years of teaching to be easy. No one expects that Teaching assignments will never change. But no one expects either that One’s first years of teaching will be compromised by administrative Systems that make instability and disillusionment routine occurrences Rather than exceptions. (p. 22) If teachers received more support from the administration and less of the strong arm effect, educators wouldn’t be so timid in teaching and instead bring more value to the classroom. Many of us probably remember our parents being very involved with our education, whether they were part of the PTA or just asked about your grades and homework every day when you got home. Unfortunately, today, parental involvement seems to be waning. While there still is a good deal of involvement at the elementary level, middle school and high school, when children really need that parental guidance, it’s almost nonexistent. It is our responsibility to try to involve parents who seem hesitant and reluctant to be a part of their child’s education. No matter what the hesitation is from the parent, be it a language barrier,  fear of school itself, whatever might be causing a parent to be stand offish about their child’s education and being an active part of it, not only the teacher, but administration should use every opportunity to pull a parent in and allow them to become and active part in their childs education. When parents are involved in education, teens typically have higher grade point averages, higher test scores on standardized and classroom assessments, enrollment in more rigorous academic courses, more classes passed, more credits earned toward graduation, and higher graduation rates. Parents are not performing their duties as first teacher to their kids in education. Many parents left their kids behind and keep putting the blame on the teachers due to their misunderstanding of the No Child Left Behind Act. These parents concerned are the ones who left their kids behind and not the schools; teachers are secondary to kids’ education. Unfortunately so many educators feel such pressure to prepare students for the TAKS test that they fail to ever demonstrate the relevance of what they are teaching. They fail to teach the items within the curriculum that are useful outside of the walls of the school. So, we have students who graduate and can solve quadratic equations, classify living organisms and distinguish between a plant and an animal cell but don’t know how to budget money, complete a financial aid form, solve a real-world problem, think for themselves, or apply the testing information beyond what was taught. I have heard people say the purpose of the exams is to make sure our students do not graduate before they know basics skills†¦ like Physics? Most of the arguments I hear come from people who have never even looked at the test; people who just blindly adhere to the regulations because it is a law. Which leads me to the most frustrating and most often argument I hear which is, â€Å"We need to hold students accountable because it is the law? † Well, there have been lots of bad laws over the years. Does anyone remember the Jim Crow laws? If as a country we were to have blindly followed these laws, then blacks and whites would still be segregated. There is no denying the fact that the problems mentioned, are not going to go away over night. They are major issues facing American education, and educators simply must do everything in our power to conquer them. An education is such a valuable and necessary tool, and we must do everything we can to get our students to value their education. I personally do believe there is hope for a positive change. Problems don’t fix themselves, and if admitting that we need help in going about the way our nation views the importance of education is what needs to be done, then it’s time to slap on the â€Å"HELLO MY NAME IS †¦Ã¢â‚¬  sticker and start being honest and start fixing the problems of teacher attrition, lack of parent involvement and teaching children how to take a state issued test. References Jalongo, M. R. , Heider, K. (2006). Editorial teacher attrition: An issue of national concern. Early Childhood Education Journal, 33(6), 379-380. Anhorn, R. (2008). The profession that eats its young. The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 74(3), 15-26. Sitler, H. C. (2007). The lived experience of new teachers, or why should I stay in this profession? Phi Kappa Phi Forum, 87(4), 22.

Teenage Violence In Schools Essay -- School Violence Essays

Page #1 Teenage violence in schools has become a tremendous concern to many people. School violence over the past number of years has been increasing and family life, the things that occur in schools and the neighborhoods that the teenagers (that commit the crimes or violent acts) live in are some of the major factors. These are not necessarily the only causes to teenage violence. Family Lifestyle and the behavior of members within the family have been shown to have a direct affect on a teenager’s behavior in school. A child can be influenced very easily by any older person, especially a family member, because he always looks up to that family member. If a person in the family is involved in a criminal activity then the children can be turned on by this and become interested in doing the same thing. If the guardian or parent of a teenager does not punish him for doing something wrong, this can only lead to repetition of the bad behavior. Failure to stop a child from doing something wrong could lead the child to believe that his behavior is acceptable. Also, a child thinks that the people that are supposed to love him don’t even care that he is doing something bad so he will continue to do it. Teenagers also commit acts of violence to get their parents’ attention. If parents ignore what their teenagers are doing, then the teenagers will con tinue to do more negative things just to get their parents to notice them. Another reason why family lifestyle is a cause to teen violence is, if the teenager is abandoned at a young age than there is no one to teach him wrong and right (Kim 82). Page #2 There are many different situations that can occur in school that can cause teenagers to do violent things. When a student has an argument with other students or a teacher that student may only know how to deal his anger by striking out. Often, teenagers do not know how to talk things out and instead, react violently. If a teenager doesn’t like what someone (a faculty member or another student) has said to him, he might also let out his anger in violent ways. Sometimes, even if the other person has not done anything wrong to him, but rather to another person he can still get angry (school violence). The neighborhood that a teenager lives in can also cause him to be violent. If a teen lives in a bad neighborhood, where violent acts are going on all the time (besides for w... ...omputers (Landau 81).† Reducing or stopping teenage violence can be very difficult. But there are many ways to do it. One way is to stop the violence before by having in-school programs to teach students what is wrong and what is right (to the ones that really don’t know). The schools can have classes to teach the parents good parenting skills, such as getting more involved with their child’s schoolwork, programs and activities. Another idea is to have after school programs, just so the teenagers will not be out on the streets where they may be influenced to commit crimes or engage in violent activities. Rehabilitation programs are also a very good idea. Helping students become better kids (not doing violent things) does not only have to be done in school it can also be done outside of school, in synagogues, churches or programs in the local park. Family life, the things that occur in school and the neighborhoods that the teenagers live in are some of the Page #6 major causes of teen violence in school. If the families, the schools (faculty) and the neighborhoods help these violent teenagers then in the future there won’t be this problem anymore (or it will at least be reduced).

Legitimate Trade And Cash Crops Essay

[European missionaries] attempted to end the slave trade, that is trade in some goods other than slaves. The anti-slavery movement was a largely humanitarian movement that began in the early 19th century. The attempt to end the slave trade also was intended to further Europeanize African societies. Not only did the â€Å"legitimization† of trade seek to end the Atlantic slave trade, but also the slave that had existed among Africans for centuries. Therefore, many aspects of the traditional African society were altered. As the slave trade died, new markets opened both to meet European demands and to take advantage of the available African labor. Most of the products that the Europeans implemented were cash crops. Various cash crops included cotton, maize, tobacco, sugar, coffee, tea, palm oil, and groundnuts. The cash crops were in high demand in the rest of the world and played a major part in the modernization of most regions of the continent. Europeans pursued the production of cash crops for the purpose of raising revenue to pay for the expenses of the colonization process. As a result, traditional subsistence farming lost importance, most nations focused on only a single or a few crops, nationalism of land occurred, and innovations were brought to Africa such as irrigation.

Darwin and His Origin of Species Essay - 1117 Words

The book begins with countless illustrations, which Darwin sketched while on tour of the world. These illustrations are periodically mentioned throughout the piece as evidence to support his theory. After the sketches, the book is divided into chapters of varying intentions. The first few chapters give brief examples and a history of the theory of evolution. His theory is not directly stated until chapter four. After this chapter, the rest of the book is comprised of subsequent chapters that give examples to prove his theory, but more importantly, he outlines all possible flaws in his theory and concisely proves their inaccuracy. In the first chapter, â€Å"Variation under domestication†, Darwin begins setting the framework for his later†¦show more content†¦The main points that are covered in these sections include all the variants found in nature, the similarities between animals thousands of miles apart, and the struggle for a species to survive due to all sorts o f diseases and the multitudes of competitions for the necessities of life in nature. Finally, in chapter four, we reach â€Å"Natural Selection†. Of all the sections in the book, this is the most important. These forty-three pages of brilliance outline perfectly how everything in nature is molded by this fundamental property that has been occurring for millions of years. The main ideas presented include sexual selection, extinction, functions of evolution. Due to the competition for resources among all species on Earth, Darwin realized that there is a limit to all population expansion; a metaphorical roof is placed over their spread. These competitions are won by the strongest members of the population, and not by the disease-riddled weak of a species. The strong that survive are able to reproduce, systematically engineering the next generation for success. Also, if there is any trait or mutation that allows for an individual to succeed, that trait is passed on, which over th e course of millions of years can turn a light sensory organ into a human eye. This process of finding the strongest mate is Natural Selection. Darwin believed that extinction occurred when a new species sprang up from theShow MoreRelatedAfter Sir Charles Darwin had introduced his original theory about the origins of species and700 Words   |  3 PagesAfter Sir Charles Darwin had introduced his original theory about the origins of species and evolution, humanity’s faith in God that remained undisputed for hundreds of years had reeled. 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