The awful Education system of the US

[SomeRandom]

So it’s been like this running joke for as long as I can remember to lambast the US lower levels of education as inherently flawed. Awful. Lagging.
But I mean is that really accurate?
You Americanstan RFers seem reasonably well educated. (Some questionable sex Ed posts notwithstanding.)
So help me understand what the US education system is really like. What are your experiences? Your issues with curriculum? Your praises? Are some subjects taught better than others?
Is it as jingoistic as some like to claim?

Have at it. Defend or tear to shreds the schooling system of the US.

 

[epronovost]

From my understanding the US education system was very uneven and prone to regionalism. In some areas schools and teachers are exceptionnal, some of the best in the world, while in others they are terrible. I've heard that Kansas and Louisianna were pretty much the bottom of the barrel due to budget crisis in those States, but I,m not sure about it so don't quote me on that.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

So, not an American, and this falls into the theoretical realm, but I've spent a fair bit of time looking at various schooling systems (ex-teacher...).

The biggest single thing it took me a while to get my head around was the way public schooling is funded, so if you want to look at potential causes for the disparity in quality, I'd start there.
There are other things with their system, such as the reliance on standardarised testing, and the outsourcing of this that I personally find troubling but;

1) That's much more subjective and;
2) It's something akin to the path Australia is slowly moving down

The other main thing worth thinking about is economic inequality, and the combination of this with a private/public school spheres (again, like Australia, albeit even more variance).

Overall, I wouldn't judge American schooling as 'bad' or 'good'. But the amount of variance in curriculum, funding, etc, is amazing, even when compared to an approximately similar system like Australias.

 

[dianaiad]

So it’s been like this running joke for as long as I can remember to lambast the US lower levels of education as inherently flawed. Awful. Lagging.
But I mean is that really accurate?

Yes. In comparison to what it used to be and to what it SHOULD be, yes.

You Americanstan RFers seem reasonably well educated. (Some questionable sex Ed posts notwithstanding.)

the intelligent ones of us here are old. We got our education before the patients were allowed to run the insane asylum.

So help me understand what the US education system is really like. What are your experiences? Your issues with curriculum? Your praises? Are some subjects taught better than others?
Is it as jingoistic as some like to claim?

Have at it. Defend or tear to shreds the schooling system of the US.

I'm a retired teacher.

My BIGGEST problem is that we are not allowed to teach. We are glorified baby sitters. We can't discipline students by kicking them out of class. We can't assign homework, in many cases. We have to go by curricula that has been designed by people who haven't been in the classroom for YEARS, if ever, according to theories that make absolutely no sense. We are forced to send kids to the next grade even when they fail to meet the qualifications to ENTER the grade they are in. I was teaching high school freshmen who couldn't read at the third grade level.

I'm a huge proponent of home schooling. That should tell you a lot.

 

[Shaul]

I reject your premise that the U.S. educational system is bad. More enlightening would be to compare states with other states.

 

[Heyo]

I reject your premise that the U.S. educational system is bad. More enlightening would be to compare states with other states.

38 % in the US believe in YEC. In U.S., Belief in Creationist View of Humans at New Low I call that a fail of the educational system.

 

[epronovost]

I'm a huge proponent of home schooling. That should tell you a lot.

From my personnal experience as Canadian high school teacher (at least it's Canadian equivalent), previously home schooled students are bellow average in academic performance though they are less of a handful when it comes to discipline. I'm a history teacher though so it might have to do that I am in a more specialised field where a parent might no have the necessary body of knowledge and material to do the job properly (history textbook are often lacking in details and source texts to analyse).

 

[epronovost]

38 % in the US believe in YEC. In U.S., Belief in Creationist View of Humans at New Low I call that a fail of the educational system.

That's horribly depressing though I would wonder if they mix Young Earth Creationism, Old Earth Creationism and theistic evolution in the framming of the question. If Young Earth Creationism is basically completely ridiculous, the two others are less less so.

 

[Heyo]

That's horribly depressing though I would wonder if they mix Young Earth Creationism, Old Earth Creationism and theistic evolution in the framming of the question. If Young Earth Creationism is basically completely ridiculous, the two others are less less so.

From the page:

"
Story Highlights

• 38% say God created man in present form, lowest in 35 years
• Same percentage say humans evolved, but God guided the process
• Less-educated Americans more likely to believe in creationism

"

 

[dianaiad]

38 % in the US believe in YEC. In U.S., Belief in Creationist View of Humans at New Low I call that a fail of the educational system.

Oh, get off that hobby horse. You have NO idea what teachers and students have to deal with in the US education system, if the only problem you see is that a bunch of us believe in the Young Earth Creationist view of the universe.

Good grief, some of the best educated and most productive people in history have done so. Get over it already. First, teach 'em all to read and do sums, THEN worry about whether they agree with you religiously.

 

[Stevicus]

So it’s been like this running joke for as long as I can remember to lambast the US lower levels of education as inherently flawed. Awful. Lagging.
But I mean is that really accurate?
You Americanstan RFers seem reasonably well educated. (Some questionable sex Ed posts notwithstanding.)
So help me understand what the US education system is really like. What are your experiences? Your issues with curriculum? Your praises? Are some subjects taught better than others?
Is it as jingoistic as some like to claim?

Have at it. Defend or tear to shreds the schooling system of the US.

It's kind of hit and miss, since the US system is not the same nationwide. Some districts are quite well off and put a lot of money into education, so they do well, but some of the less affluent districts have less money, and this also reflects in the quality of education.

 

[dianaiad]

From my personnal experience as Canadian high school teacher (at least it's Canadian equivalent), previously home schooled students are bellow average in academic performance though they are less of a handful when it comes to discipline. I'm a history teacher though so it might have to do that I am in a more specialised field where a parent might no have the necessary body of knowledge and material to do the job properly (history textbook are often lacking in details and source texts to analyse).

In my experience, home schooled kids are either better educated than their peers....or worse, by a lot. It all depends upon their parents. Most of the time, IMO, they are better educated, but then I'm still pretty involved in it. I've been working with the parents who care...teaching them how and what to teach, what their kids need to know in order to pass the university admittance exams, and what they need in the 'real world' outside of politically partisan school curricula.

.............and yes, it IS politically partisan, usually left, but sometimes right. I've been known to tell parents to yank their kids out of private evangelical religious schools. Nobody needs to get religion taught in an algebra class. for the love of Pete, and I went...and sent my kids...to private religious education for an hour a day all through high school!

 

[Heyo]

Oh, get off that hobby horse. You have NO idea what teachers and students have to deal with in the US education system, if the only problem you see is that a bunch of us believe in the Young Earth Creationist view of the universe.

Good grief, some of the best educated and most productive people in history have done so. Get over it already. First, teach 'em all to read and do sums, THEN worry about whether they agree with you religiously.

I don't think that education is just reading and basic maths. You should have learned that after 4 years. YEC is an indicator of critical thinking skills and understanding of science. A failure rate of 38% in those fields is much too high.

 

[Audie]

When I got to the US age 13
from Hong Kong, I found out I was
years ahead of my classmates.

 

[Twilight Hue]

So it’s been like this running joke for as long as I can remember to lambast the US lower levels of education as inherently flawed. Awful. Lagging.
But I mean is that really accurate?
You Americanstan RFers seem reasonably well educated. (Some questionable sex Ed posts notwithstanding.)
So help me understand what the US education system is really like. What are your experiences? Your issues with curriculum? Your praises? Are some subjects taught better than others?
Is it as jingoistic as some like to claim?

Have at it. Defend or tear to shreds the schooling system of the US.

I think education took a detour from the old days. It went from learning the 3 R's to prepare people for society, to something now that vaguely resembles a political ideological repository, reminiscent of old Russian schools in the USSR.

 

[icehorse]

It's bad and it's bad because - once again - they let parasitic oligarchs (is that redundant?) - into the system. Everything oligarchs touch, turns to crap.

 

[sun rise]

Oh, get off that hobby horse. You have NO idea what teachers and students have to deal with in the US education system, if the only problem you see is that a bunch of us believe in the Young Earth Creationist view of the universe.

Good grief, some of the best educated and most productive people in history have done so. Get over it already. First, teach 'em all to read and do sums, THEN worry about whether they agree with you religiously.

That misses the point that science is critical to today's world and not believing in science and especially not understanding how it works is crippling in the long term.

 

[sun rise]

It's bad and it's bad because - once again - they let parasitic oligarchs (is that redundant?) - into the system. Everything oligarchs touch, turns to crap.

Don't forget those who hate taxes and want them cut ignoring the impact on education.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Don't forget those who hate taxes and want them cut ignoring the impact on education.

Us education system is already over bloated and overpaid.

Across the ocean schools are much cheaper run on finances that dwarf compared to the budgets here, and they produce higher more quality students that are outclassing the US.

The education system doesn't need any more money they have enough.

What they do need is more quality teachers and administrations.

 

[Heyo]

The education system doesn't need any more money they have enough.

What they do need is more quality teachers and administrations.

And how do you want to get those more quality teachers and administrations if you don't want to pay them?