The Public Education System :: Educational Learning Essays

The Public Education SystemThroughout my experience in the public school system, I have heard the line, What do I need to know this for anyway? close 1,057 times. It is not uncommon to hear students complain about the outlay of their education. Regardless, there seems to be a unanimous agreement that the youth needs education to succeed in life. What is education anyway and what does schooling accomplish? In his book, A Time to Learn George Wood provides a definition of education as making wise citizens and good neighbors who can think deeply and intelligently about issues of self and society, take c ar for and respect others, take care of their family needs, and contribute to the welfare of others (Glickman 48). Is school necessary for developing this type of educated citizen? If not, how is it we stripe success and how is school important in attaining that? The purpose of the public school system is to assure every child the natural right to an education. Currently, ever y raise in the nation has laws requiring attendance in school (grades K-12). There are also requirements on what subjects the students must learn. Standardized testing measures every students ability in these required subjects and assesses all tests equally. These high-stakes tests are used to determine the students achievement and their progression to the next level of schooling. Statistics show that students from poor families have lower test scores and are more likely to drop out then white, middle class students. When I think about it, I recall a line from a rap song about a southern black childs education in the public school system, Im making 300 on my SATs and I am equal. So then, why are these students, who are equal, performing so poorly in our public schools? To reach a conclusion we must examine the curriculum and standards, and their purpose.The movement toward standardization is generally concerned with the school districts responsibility to generate students that are proficient in basic reading, writing and math skills. These skills being the most indwelling for business transactions, political and professional relations and most every aspect of life in todays society. The students are assessed indiscriminately by tests merged around what the students are expected to know. The problem is that a students test score varies day-to-day.