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Staredit Network -> Serious Discussion -> SEN Weekly Opinion Poll XIV
Report, edit, etc...Posted by CheeZe on 2006-04-02 at 17:34:57
Start: April 2, 2006
End: April 16, 2006


All rules stated here apply.

Question: Is the American education system effective?

Details: It is often said that the high schools in America is terrible while the colleges are great. If that's true, why can't it all be great?

What about the issue of homework? Too much? Too little? Explain your reasonings. The arguments for this can go both ways; just understand this should be focused on education.

Note: It's a very opened-ended question because I'm just curious to see what your thoughts are on this topic.


List of all previous polls
1.Do you approve of the way President Bush is doing his job?
2.Is Communism a good idea?
3.References to God should be removed (i.e. "under God" in the pledge and "In God We Trust" on money)
4.Is I. Lewis ("Scooter") Libby Guilty?
5.What are your thoughts over the current evidence of corruption in the government?
6.Are you disturbed by in overwhelming Mexican/Hispanic influence on the US?
7.Are love and lust essentially the same thing, varying in intensity?
8.Do you approve of the way President Bush is doing his job?
9.Is the excecutive order to the NSA to spy on American citizens making overseas telephone calls grounds for impeachment?
10.Should the Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay be closed?
11.Should abortion be made illegal?
12.How far has Bush gone in trying to protect the American people?
13.Was the use of atomic bombs really necessary in WWII?
Report, edit, etc...Posted by Kashmir on 2006-04-02 at 17:55:14
Schools near me try to fill their 45 minutes with whatever material they have. If there is 15 minutes left in a lesson, they will start a new chapter, thus leaving you with a ton of homework because you did not finish that chapter. Majority of the work we have begun, is work we have already gone over like 3 years prior. Half of the stuff will never be used, while the rest will be used little. They need to train you on life, and not this bullshiz unless its in the field your going for.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by Kellodood on 2006-04-02 at 18:01:21
No Child Left Behind.

Speaks for itself.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by LittLeLives on 2006-04-02 at 20:20:04
QUOTE(Euro @ Apr 2 2006, 02:54 PM)
They need to train you on life, and not this bullshiz unless its in the field your going for.
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Makes me think that classes like martial arts should be mandatory because you learn good life skills (respect, help, relationships, etc.) from them that you use everyday in real life, unlike calculus.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by (DI)Yulla on 2006-04-02 at 20:31:32
In comparison with the systems in Korea and Japan, i think that American system is heck lot better than those.

Koreans have to take series of collenge entrance exam. They are extremely difficult, the pressure is over exaggerated, and is causing many deaths of young men and women due to suicide each year.

In comparison, the American system is probably better than that.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by MillenniumArmy on 2006-04-02 at 20:44:38
I think the American School system is fair and good, but not the most perfect one.

Some people from many countries die to get their kids in our schools.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by Deathawk on 2006-04-02 at 20:46:47
I don't feel I'm learning what I should. I've learned adding and subtracting negative intergers for three straight years.

I don't really know why, either, because the stuff is simple. And seriously, every year I need to waste a month going over simple stuff because of a stupid standardize test that I will pass with flying colors, with or without the month wasted on reviewing.

And my friend tells me he learned Algebra 1 in 5th grade, in China. I learned it in 8th grade, and when I'm learning it in 8th grade, he's already learning Algebra 2.

And for homework, it really depends on the teacher. My math teacher gives a good amount of homework, not too much that it's overwhelming, but enough that you understand what you are doing.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by pekkel_the_duck on 2006-04-02 at 20:47:43
QUOTE(LittLeLives @ Apr 2 2006, 04:19 PM)
Makes me think that classes like martial arts should be mandatory because you learn good life skills (respect, help, relationships, etc.) from them that you use everyday in real life, unlike calculus.
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On a side note, calculus is not required to graduate highschool and not everyone has to take it.

The main problem is that in the U.S., being held back a year automatically makes you dumb in most people's eyes. In all other countries, if you don't understand something, you take it again until you understand it. But in the U.S. you have to keep going forward even if you don't understand what you are being taught. So by the time they get to highschool, they don't have the knowledge taught in previous years that is required in their later classes to learn what is being taught then. Like if someone didn't learn their times tables, when they get to algebra, they can't focus on algebra because they can't multiply. People need to figure out that it's okay to be held back a year.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by Demaris on 2006-04-03 at 00:52:53
The school system is a failure. Instead of fitting people into the classes in which they will get the most out of that class, everyone gets forced into the same mold. School systems don't want a bell curve. They don't want to acknowledge that there may be people who don't benefit from getting 40 problems a night of math homework. They want everyone to sit and not complain. My principal cant even get heating installed in her office. How can she get ANYTHING done for her teachers or her students? Is it really fair that a kid with an IQ of 140-150 be stuck in a classroom with multiple people with IQ's below 100? Of course it isn't. America claims equality, but only when convenient. Only when it looks good. I hate the school system. I hate school. I hate my kidney stone, but that's unrelated.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by TheDaddy0420 on 2006-04-03 at 01:16:21
No comment:

In America it depends on where you live. If you live in a on average higher income area your school will probably be pretty good.

In a lower income area your school will not be as good.

But I still think, in America, if you work hard in school, no matter the school, you will do pretty well. I mean even if you go to a crappy school, that just means easy As...

So I geuss it really depends on where you live.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by DT_Battlekruser on 2006-04-03 at 02:04:41
I've found a short way of expressing my opinions on American schools:

The way things are taught, the people who don't know the material don't care and the people who would care either learn the material in a fourth of the time or already know it.

We are so concerned about our stupid children's self-esteem that:

*We are afraid to divide students by ability, i.e. have "remedial class", "normal class", and "advanced class".

*While all the students are in the same class, we insist on teaching at the speed of the slowest student. If one person doesn't want to learn, nobody else does.

*We get scientists to write lengthy bullshiz claiming that our students are better despite the fact they score much lower on any measure of knowledge because "they are not pressured and are more creative". Where are an ever increasing percentage of college educations going? To foreign students.

*The education system is solely state funded and schools are rarely in any situation where they benefit strongly from improving.

I supposedly go to one of the top ten-ish public high schools in the state of California, and my opinion of the education I am receiving is dismally low. It is a rare occurence I actually learn anything in class, happening on average in one class twice a week.

QUOTE
And my friend tells me he learned Algebra 1 in 5th grade, in China. I learned it in 8th grade, and when I'm learning it in 8th grade, he's already learning Algebra 2.


Ah, and while comparing our school system internationally, I have a friend who grew up in Taiwan, and moved to Texas for seventh grade having completed Algebra I in the previous year. She has since spent three years going nowhere in the American system, pulled back to the American mainstream with Honors Geometry this year. I too took Algebra I in sixth grade, but through my own initiative and through a considerable amount of actively fighting the school district.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by (DI)Yulla on 2006-04-03 at 06:27:13
QUOTE(Deathawk @ Apr 2 2006, 07:46 PM)
And my friend tells me he learned Algebra 1 in 5th grade, in China. I learned it in 8th grade, and when I'm learning it in 8th grade, he's already learning Algebra 2.
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That is correct for most Asian countries. But, the real truth why they learn so fast is because most asians don't care what they learn in an university or the college they go to; rather, it is the name of the university that you went to matters. So, most asians don't learn much in years after high school. Due to shortened years, asians have to cram up about everything everyone learns in the years before college.

What is it like in the America? it is more relaxed due to hard hammering students do at their years after the college. Unlike Asians, the scores you get from the college are more important than the names.

That is why there is so much difference.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by CheeZe on 2006-04-03 at 08:07:43
What the heck are you talking about?
Report, edit, etc...Posted by dumbducky on 2006-04-03 at 08:34:28
DTBK has the problems of the public school system pretty much summed up. My school doesn't really have those problems, which is good for me.

DeadlyInnocence, I think I heard some one say the reason is that bringing home bad grades would be a shame to your parents in those Asain countries.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by RyanEdwardLee on 2006-04-03 at 10:05:15
The American High School education system is effective because it helps students prepare for the job market, and for college, if we just sent students directly from middle school to college, they would be overwhelmed. i do believe that our education system in America is effective.

However, there are ways to improve ourselves, like DTBK said, we should not be afraid to divide students by learning speed and learning ability, if we don't we cannot hope to improve ourselves, maybe we should even consider year-round schooling like in Japan, which has a much higher High School and College Graduation rate than the U.S., and despite what Bush tells us, children are being left behind.

But, maybe that is the way it should be, we do need people who don't have a masters degree to pick up trash and work in water-works. College is like a weeder, if they can't handle the enviorment, they don't need to learn the skills taught there.

I shall end this with a qoute my Goverment teacher uses all the time: "If we were all Doctors, we would die of Disease." the reason we would die of disease if we were all doctors: no garbage men to pick up the trash.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by CaptainWill on 2006-04-03 at 12:04:34
I'm not a fan of the American education system before Higher Education. I believe that the system is too decentralised and therefore varies too much from place to place. You might have brilliant high schools in one county, but awful ones in another because of the composition of the local school board. Incompetence and religious leanings taint education in certain areas of America.

Religion has no place in education, and incompetence has no place anywhere.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by DT_Battlekruser on 2006-04-03 at 16:33:05
QUOTE
What is it like in the America? it is more relaxed due to hard hammering students do at their years after the college. Unlike Asians, the scores you get from the college are more important than the names.


Relaxed? I suppose you could say that. Too relaxed. The number of times I play cards in class is higher than the number of times I learn something.

Asian primary education is without a doubt better than American primary education. I don't care who is more relaxed, an Asian high school graduate knows more than an American one. Colleges are anoher story.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by JaFF on 2006-04-03 at 17:08:09
i dont live in america, but i see some of you guys seem to be dissapointed.
i cant imagine america with bad education really. i can't imagine an american student who's not given the opportunity to learn

is it really taht bad ?

Report, edit, etc...Posted by Loser_Musician on 2006-04-03 at 20:20:30
I'm assuming you mean k-12. My response is no, only real job skill you learn from them, other than basic reading and math, is social skills. Other than that, it's a waste of your time. But hey, it's easier than actual work. And if I see another middle schooler or freshy freshman complain about that, I'm gonna just start laughing my ass off.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by TheDaddy0420 on 2006-04-03 at 21:56:17
QUOTE(CaptainWill @ Apr 3 2006, 08:04 AM)
I'm not a fan of the American education system before Higher Education. I believe that the system is too decentralised and therefore varies too much from place to place. You might have brilliant high schools in one county, but awful ones in another because of the composition of the local school board. Incompetence and religious leanings taint education in certain areas of America.

Religion has no place in education, and incompetence has no place anywhere.
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I don't know where any religious teachings are in public schools in America.

I know there are in private schools, hence private and also Private schools are pretty hard in America.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by (DI)Yulla on 2006-04-04 at 06:06:24
QUOTE(dumbducky @ Apr 3 2006, 07:34 AM)
DeadlyInnocence, I think I heard some one say the reason is that bringing home bad grades would be a shame to your parents in those Asain countries.
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In a way, yes. My traditional Korean guardians and parents never let me have any grade lower than A- or I should be ashamed. But, it is only their culture of learning so fast. But lets not get off topic here.

Take a look at other countries like most third world countries. Should we really complain over a single bruise when others are suffering third stage lung cancer? Really...
Report, edit, etc...Posted by DT_Battlekruser on 2006-04-04 at 17:17:53
The third world countries are stuck in poverty for the time being. They can't improve that much. We can.

QUOTE
I'm assuming you mean k-12.


That's what primary schooling means.

QUOTE(TheDaddy0420 @ Apr 3 2006, 06:55 PM)
I don't know where any religious teachings are in public schools in America.

I know there are in private schools, hence private and also Private schools are pretty hard in America.
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Heard of the constant court debates with the school districts trying to teach creationism in school instead of evolution? That's religion.

Report, edit, etc...Posted by n2o-SiMpSoNs on 2006-04-04 at 22:19:50
I voted yes it's effective. After all if it wan't for it our country wouldnt be where it is today
Report, edit, etc...Posted by (DI)Yulla on 2006-04-04 at 23:14:54
QUOTE(DT_Battlekruser @ Apr 4 2006, 04:17 PM)
The third world countries are stuck in poverty for the time being.  They can't improve that much.  We can.
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Thats just a lame excuse for showing off our greatness as US citizens. It doesn't matter. It is like karma. everyone will know better once they are done with college. Asians screw up in post-highschool education, Americans are rather more successful in colleges and universities. No matter what they learn, they will end up with same thing except the time span is different.


But I mean, this is only from the point of view from nerds who goes to MIT and UC all the time. So I may be biased...
Report, edit, etc...Posted by DT_Battlekruser on 2006-04-04 at 23:34:35
QUOTE(n2o-SiMpSoNs @ Apr 4 2006, 07:19 PM)
I voted yes it's effective. After all if it wan't for it our country wouldnt be where it is today
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And where is it today? Over $8,383,000,000,000 in debt, mired in international conflicts, and with a shoestring budget. Really great, right?


QUOTE(DeadlyInnocence @ Apr 4 2006, 08:14 PM)
Thats just a lame excuse for showing off our greatness as US citizens.


Greatness as US citizens? I said we can improve. We aren't trying in the slightest. In the case of impovershed countries, there's not a whole lot they can do without money. Lots of it. Simple welfare issues such as hospitals, housing, and food are more important than a stellar education.

QUOTE
Americans are rather more successful in colleges and universities. No matter what they learn, they will end up with same thing except the time span is different.
But I mean, this is only from the point of view from nerds who goes to MIT and UC all the time. So I may be biased...
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Americans are not successful in college. Americans are successful at running them simply because colleges operate somewhat like businesses: the better a reputation for turning out excellent students, the more people will apply, the higher your tuition can go, and the more money the college administration and faculty makes. Finally at college level in America, the teachers aren't afraid to say: "You don't try, so get out of my class and don't come back."
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