The current president was no better than the last, just the same old thing in a different package.
I personally disagree with most things he does... But what, exactly, is the logic behind shortening summer vacation? It would use more electricity because all the schools would be open and bustling with students using the facilities. It would cost more money to feed the students who receive free lunch. This is something insignificant, and he really needs to focus on the important things rather than all the nonsense he's messing with currently.
It could have something to do with..uh...I don't know...the fact that the US ranks pretty horribly in education (science and math specifically) amongst industrialized nations, which is quite embarrassing given our influence and power economically, politically, socially, and just in general. Last ranking I saw placed the US at 18th amongst 36 industrialized nations in secondary education. Another measured 25-34 year olds and found the US ranked 9th among industrialized nations in the share of its population that has at least a high school degree; in the same age group the US ranked 7th in the share of people who have a college degree. Every single study on the subject I've seen makes some statement akin to "the average US high school teenager is much less effective in the math and science fields than the average Japanese/South Korean/French/etc. student." And I can't say I disagree from personal experience.
Point being, we're lower than we should be and we've continued to slip lower in the ranks each time a new study is released.
Now let's look at a list of possible reasons why this is the case:
1) Teachers/Administrators
2) Student Motivation
3) Parents/General home life
4) Race/Socioeconomic status
5) Time spent in school/on school work (let's further this to "quality time...")
1) One could argue a number of teachers in the profession aren't worth having a simple discussion with. While that may be the case, I think it's fair to say that, on average, the teaching staff in most regions is pretty good and capable of teaching the students the material for the most part. I am wary to say that the teachers in the classroom are the root of the problem (I'm a fairly recent graduate and my grandma, mother, sister, and brother-in-law are all teachers at various levels...I like to think I've seen/heard both sides of the spectrum quite a bit).
2) Student motivation. It doesn't take all that long to observe a classroom of students and see there's, on a general level, a couple things they care about: Friday night, what drama is going on in the school, who can be the funniest smartass to the teacher, and who can show they don't want to learn the most. I'm not trying to say all students are like this, there are most certainly plenty of students who want to learn anything and everything, but I'd have to say they're a minority in your average public school. Not only that, but their motivations are suppressed to an extent when they're stuck in a classroom where only a 1/3 of the students share their same motivations (it's no secret that kids face peer pressure, and these days this includes peer pressure to show you don't care that much about school).
3) Parents and general home life clearly play a huge role. A student is going to have it
much harder when trying to succeed in their education if they don't have a positive household, with people to turn to when they have problems with homework or general social problems. I haven't seen any recent studies, but I'm inclined to say single-parent households are on the rise...and that's not a good thing.
4) Race and socioeconomic status play a role as well (I'm not saying some people are inherently incapable of learning because of their race, let's make that clear). It would be naive of anyone to claim they don't. There's a reason the school system in say, Baltimore, is simply beyond words. I think it's pretty much general consensus that inner-city school systems that take in mostly low class/poverty-level students aren't that successful in educating them. This kind of ties in with the student motivation, as well as teacher quality. These students don't think they have a future so why should they do well in school? The teachers in a number of these inner-city schools are new, inexperienced teachers.
Now all of these clearly play a strong role in the US's education rankings. A number of countries ahead of us don't deal with these mentioned social issues on such a scale that we do. But let's get to the probable kicker in why students in the US are generally behind students of other nations.
5) The average US school year in the US is 180 days. The average school year worldwide is 200 days. The average school year in Japan is 243 days. Australia, 200 days. China, over 200. You get the point. Now how in the world can we possibly compete with countries going to school 25, 40, 60+ days longer than we do? How can we compete with education programs around the world where students, during summer break, either enroll in summer classes or are studying for entrance exams? Students here get out in May, and take 3 months to forget everything they learned. Most don't open a book, most don't think about school. And it clearly shows when put into context.
But enough of that....one last minor point. If you really think education is an "insignificant" issue, perhaps you should rethink your priorities. For decades the US has had the bragging rights for being on the cutting edge of almost all new technology, of being on the cutting edge of every aspect of science, of having an intelligent population. Keep in mind that one of our biggest exports as a nation is our technology and advanced knowledge. Being on the cutting edge of technology and having students be educated and motivated to succeed is the primary reason we attained our "superpower" status, and the primary reason we've kept it this long. Also keep in mind that an uneducated population makes for one horrible democracy/republic.
I think people need to think this issue through quite a bit more than just saying "oh my kids won't get to sit around as much in July! Horrible idea!"
Community Forum
Topic: Should the schools in united states have less days for summer vacation (Read 4280 times)
October 03, 2009, 08:14:35 am
