Is There an Educational Decline in America? Part 1: Understanding the Educational Climate

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The American educational system has been under heavy criticism for many decades. Schools are watched, tested, compared, surveyed, ridiculed, changed, and accused. Schools are such an important part of society that this attention is not only warranted, but necessary. Schools should accomplish what they set out to achieve and that is to educate America’s youth. This sometimes includes Mexico’s youth, and Jamaica’s youth, and China’s youth, and any other immigrant youth who find themselves placed into the system. Being the world’s melt pot and most diverse nation comes with some unique challenges and learning environments. America is unique in that we have such a kaleidoscope of cultures and traditions that it can make it difficult to recognize America’s culture. We encourage the celebration of who the individual is and where they come from all the while trying to blend all of these different cultures together into a functional society. An unusual educational environment and climate is the result. Regardless of who is in the desks in the schools across America, they are given an equal opportunity to be educated.

America has high expectations for our young people, after all, they will one day steer this great nation, but these high expectations do not necessarily result in favorable accomplishments. Drop out rates seem to be on the rise while more and more students perform poorly on standardized tests designed to give the state a picture of how the schools are executing the educational plan. Many years ago the government decided that a curriculum was necessary to ensure that each child in the state and thus the nation is taught and gains an understanding of a core group of standards. These are the things that all Americans should know. Schools are be rated on how their students perform on these exams. If the assessment is dismal, the school can be placed on probation.

Is standardizing the education of our youth needed? Is it effective? The answers to these questions are double edged. Educators do not disagree that there are core standards that everyone needs to know to function and be successful in today’s world. However, the disagreement comes in the following: execution of the core values, assessment, and responsibility. Many teachers, students, and parents feel that schools are being forced to “teach the test.” This can be very limiting to creative, and many times, more interesting teaching methods. Teaching memorization rather than application can become frustrating for educator and student alike. Teachers are often asked, “When will I ever use this?” or “How does this apply to my life?” Teachers can’t really reply with, “Because this is what a government board decided that you need to know.” Students are not concerned with policies of government directly, but more so of how they are affected by those policies.