Children in the US are expected to go to school all the way from kindergarten to the 12th grade. Many of these years of school are wasted on classes that the student will not need in their future life. After the completion of the 12 or 13 years the student will recieve a high school diploma, which is near worthless in comparsion to a college degree, in the emoployment realm. So are all these years of school really necessary for a someone to get a proper education?
1. Should children have to go to school 12 or 13 years of their lives?
2. Should all schooling prior to college be like college, such that each class lasts only a semester and not an entire year?
3. What would be the advantages and disadvantages of making some major changes in our education system?
Such Changes As: Shorter Classes, Stronger Teaching Staff, Separating Children Upon Their Learning Levels and Not Age
4. What are the primary problems you see with our schools today (grades K through 12)? What changes would you like to see made?
Eric Andrews (9:00)
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16 comments:
i personally liked going to school that long because i got to be involved in sports and i enjoyed the social aspect of being in school. but i also know people who are all about school and getting through it and they may feel different, so if they finish everything they need to then they shouldn't have to go to school for as long. i went to a high school that had a block schedule so my classes only lasted a semester and there are things i did like about that and things i didn't. one thing i didn't like was the fact i got done with my math requirement my 1st semester of my junior year so when i got to college i didn't really remember anything i learned from math in high school. but some things i did like was in the ag classes i took we got to do alot more things because we had longer class periods. i do not think that seperating kids according to their learning level is a good decisions once again because i was always involved with sports. also if someone has a learning disability and they are 15 years old but still are in 5th grade that is humiliating and not right. even though i don't like school very much i don't really see too many problems with schools, well my high school i guess, other schools i don't know.
kaleen bittner
I think that education is wonderful. As you grow we learn, the more years we are in school the more we learn. Yes I took some classes I would never need, but they were interesting. Food Chemistry classes, was basically your Home Ec. class. I took Earth Science(basically to see if I wanted to go into Geology)For Math, certain jobs need math. If you take Calculus, there are a few jobs out there that requires you to use Calculus. A lot of the classes were to prepare you for the next year you go into.
Yes , children should go to school 12-13 and more. In order to get a good job, you need a college degree. There is no getting around it, unless you would like to be flipping burgers at McDonalds.
I think the all year classes are better until you get to high school, high school is a transition into college for the semester classes. In high school I did have some semester classes.
If you made major changes, I don't think you would learn as much. I think we should keep it the same. Some schools do have higher levels of learning for some children. Our Elementary School has an Enrichment class that meets twice a week for 45 minutes with a teacher, to help them even more to be smarter.
Some teachers are homework happy. I mean in Math you got 2 hours of homework each night. It was practice, In chemistry you had to MEMORIZE the formulas or you basically flunked. some teachers are yes harder on kids. The also should not play favorites.
OH one last thing...we should keep P.E. in our education process. Too many kids are not getting enough exercise. So therefore, we should keep it in our programs.
Katelyn Watterson 9:00
I personally feel that the school system now works just fine. I feel that by taking those elemantary classes, allow you to continue to make progress for future classes. Taking those early classes do not necassary compare to any college courses but they do prepare you, and teach you certain studies that you will use once you get older. The highschool I attended had a block schedule and I had some courses for a semester and some for a year. I feel that highschool and junior high prepared me well to take on college. Courses tought me to satay foccused and I knew what I had to do to obtain a good grade. But I also think there are some disadvantages of taking all these courses that d not help us in college. One disadvantage is, it simply takes alot of time and alot of busy to work on certain things that mean nothign to you and nothing to help you succeed in your future.
Brett VanAsdlen
You don’t need to go to school for that long you can drop out! Many people don’t know what they wont to do for a living when their in high school or before than. I’m 27 and at this point in my life. I have been though at lest 2 jobs that could have been a career. There is no way that I could have been studying something else to help me at this point in my life. I don’t know where you went to high school, but at mine you were able to have some control over what classes you took, like wood shop, auto shop, chemistry, and/ or something that was of interest to you maybe art.
I do think there is room for improvement in our education system, but I would not know were to start. In Champaign the school system is pretty good compared to Chicago, where many of the teachers are there to just babysit the kids. A stronger teaching staff would be great, but with a public school system that would mean higher taxes. Do you want to pay more for something you’re not using anymore?
The primary problems with grades K-12 is that some teacher are there to get a pension at the 20 or 30 year mark, they don’t care about the kids.
From Steve Gratkins
Yes they are necessary. If kids did not go to school what would they be doing? Those are they years a child learning their people skills. They can learn to communicate with each other. Be a part of group or team. Going to school and sitting in a class room is not just about what you learn from a book. It is the experience to be a part of something and to function in a social setting. In the early years the students schedules are set for them, but as they get older they are allowed to pick some of the classes they want to take. That is also a learned skill they will apply to their adult life. That they have choices and if you make the wrong one it will not be rewarding.Students are separated upon their learning skills.There are advanced classes and there are special needs classes. Not all schools are great, but for the most part our educational system is working.
I think that the school system that we have is good. You need the K-12 to be able to work up the kids minds to be able to learn more. You cant teach a third grader trig or calc without knowing the basics first. Also if schoo was to be shorter, then there would be a less number of drop outs but kids would not learn as much. If the schools were harder and more strict, then there would be more drop outs but kids would learn more and be smarter. i think that the school systems are pretty good and the only thing that I would change is the electives you could take in middle and high school. I would add more electives and take out some required classes so that kids can get more into what they want to do the rest of their life from a younger age.
Mike Handal (9:00)
I see nothing wrong with children going to school for 12 or 13 years or even more, if allowed. I only say this because the weak curriculum we are offered today. From what I understand, high schools taught more lessons and harder classes than what we have today, or maybe older people just try to make it sound that way. I also had a block schedule with 8 classes, 4 a day, for only one semester. I enjoyed this, especially since I was a straight A student and did not care to learn at the same pace as some of the "other kids." If changes were to be made, I think the changes should start in the larger urban areas, not at small countryside high schools like mine. I would like to see a smaller student:teacher ratio and a strong, more demanding curriculum.
Michael Endris (9:00)
I think it is necessary to go to school all those years, because it helps to prepare you for college or whatever you are going to do after you graduate. It might be more effective if classes were more like college classes, I think it would be helpful to have a different set of classes every semester. I think that if we made some changes there would be more kids graduating and going on to college. Separating children bases upon there learning would be a good idea. Not everyone learns at the same rate. Having to go through classes based on your age hurts some children because it holds them back and some because they need more time to learn.
I think that everyone should go to school whether they want to or not.It helps you in the social aspect along with learning things that may not be important but might help to know in the future. You will not get very far if you dont go to school and graduate or have something to fall back on if something doesnt go as planned. I think that school classes should be all year long, strictly for the fact that semester classes might be an overload and the kids wouldnt get enough out of what they should be learning. As far as students being separated into learning levels verses grade levels, I believe that the learning levels are more appropriate. I think that in the younger grades children can get a complex if their learning level isn't as far along as other kids and depending on their makeup it can hurt them psychologically as they grow up.
Elizabeth Moore(0900)
...HILLARY FEARS.....
1. YES I THINK THAT TWELVE OR THIRTEEN YEAR PREPARES STUDENTS FOR A HIGHER LEARNING.
2.YES IN A WAY I THINK THAT CLASS SHOULD BE LIKE THAT IN ORDER FOR CHILDREN TO LEARN MORE IN A SHORTER AMOUNT OF TIME.
3.THE ADVANTAGES OF MAKING MAJOR CHANGES IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM ARE THAT CHILDREN WILL LEARN BETTER IN FEWER NUMBERS,MANY WILL FOCUS MORE ON THEIR SUBJECTS..ETC...THE DISADVANTAGES ARE STUDENTS MAY SPEND MORE TIME IN SCHOOL THAN 12 OR 14 YRS..DEPENDING ON THEIR LEARNING LEVELS.
4. THE PROBLEMS I SEE WITH THE SCHOOL SYSTEM TODAY ARE THAT MANY CHILDREN ARE BEING PASSED TO HE NEXT GRADE WITHOUT LEARNING ALL THE MATERIAL....THE VIOLENCE IS RISING.....I WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE TIME SPNT ON THE IMPORTANT ESSENTAILS..SUCH AS MATH..ENGLISH..HISTORY AND FORIEGN LANGUAGES...
For the most part I think that our school system does its job. Without all the classes you have to take, you'd be completely lost in college. I know that while kids are in school they feel like they are wasting their time, but the truth is, the classes do help. When it comes to preparing for college, I think there are some schools that do a better job of providing college prep courses than others. I think the number of years you are required to attend and the number of classes that are offered give students a good taste of what college might be like. If it was all college geared classes, highschool wouldn't be as fun.
Lesley Suding
I believe obtaining as much education as you can is one of the most important things in life. I believe children should have to go to school 12 or 13 years of their lives. I believe going to college is one of the main keys to a successful future. People today can't ususlly make it with a high school diploma alone. Degrees are becoming more valuable each and evey year.
I think going to school that long is not only important, but helps keep kids out of trouble. The length of the school year should be changed to year around with small breaks after every 4 months or so. Some major changes that need to be made are mainly we stronger teachers, we have alot of teachers that don't really belong teaching. I think we might need longer class periods instead of shorter ones to be able to get the lesson across better. Seperating by learning levels, not age, would be a disaster in the grade schools. What kind of jobs do you think kids are going to get if they stop going to school at younger ages. Like you said, you need more than a high school diploma to get a good job.
I believe attending school for 12 to 13 years should be a demand. That's why people these days aren't as educated as we should be today because people don't want to go to school and get an education due to the fact that people talk like this and question people if they should even graduate high school because won't use it later on. I think people just want to take the easy way out and they think they know it all but really don't. Going to school and graduating from high school will give a person a good amount of knowledge to at least depend on, then if they didn't finish high school. Outside of the box of learning I think meeting people and friends in school is a very important part of growing up and not just jumping into the real world like a little fish. I believe the educational system shouldn't be changed if all and it should stay by getting an education at least until you graduate high school unlike some laws that a person can drop when they're 16 years of age.
Cesar (9:00)
1. I believe children should have to go to school 12 or 13 years of there lives, because it helps them with their future, and better prepares them for what is coming.
2. No I do not think it should be like college.
3. Advantages to separating children upon their learning levels and not their age would help children learn better because they could learn at their own speed rather then what their class mates are learning at , having stronger teaching staff would also help children learn, because those teachers would be able to teach children in many different ways, and not just one. Some disadvantages to separating children upon their learning levels and not their age would be that children may feel not as smart as others, and could get picked on more for being in a slower class. I do not see anything wrong with having stronger teachers.
4. The only problem I can think of is children may be going to the next grade when they are not completely academically ready to do so.
Kristine D'Urso
I think that children having to go to school is a good thing. It keeps them out of trouble for the most part because it keeps them busy. I think that for the younger years the classes should last the entire year just to keep something constant for the younger students. Once in high school i think that the students should be able to have a college schedule. I think that some of the problems that deal with the students now a days is that the classes dont really apply to kids. I know for me i do construction and i know for a fact that history will not help me build a house and i know that taking other classes like that have never and will not ever help me with my career. So i think that if students got to choose more of their classes and aim them towards their careers they want that would help alot
Tom Miller 9:00
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