Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
AP English
Period 2
Education is a crucial part of the United States. It determines the success of each new
generation. Currently, experts will say that the educational system has been having some serious
problems. In my opinion, the educational system is failing to prepare students for the real world.
Two severe issues that I believe the educational system should consider fixing are the number of
standardized tests a high school gives a student and the amount of focus a high school puts into
To begin with, one serious problem the educational system should consider looking into
is the psychological harm a student can go through by taking too many standardized tests. A
schools purpose should be to prepare students for the adult life, to be able to make rational
decisions and to think for themselves. I understand that testing is crucial to prove a students
ability, but I believe there should be a limit. It is justifiable to predict that testing can alter a
student’s view of life into thinking they will always need to prove themselves worthy by
memorizing methods, creating cheat sheets and simply always stressing. The essay “Stop the
Madness” by Diane Ravitch, demonstrates that the current educational system isn't preparing
high school students properly due to testing. The piece of text “On How to Improve our Schools”
from Ravitch’s essay states, “By our current methods [educational system] we may be training
(not educating) a generation of children who are repelled by learning, thinking that it means only
correctly, Ravitch believes the current methods the educational system are using is failing to
educate students about life and is brainwashing them into thinking that all life is, is struggle and
test-taking. This statement is rather significant because such way of thinking removes the
motivation a student needs to continue attending school to reach their career goal.
In addition, the current educational system could be improved if high schools wouldn't be
so passionate about their reputation. High Schools should be more motivated about preparing
students for college rather than their sports teams. As a student, in a high school, all one usually
hears about negative talk between one school and another and which rival team will win. Such
talk prevents a student from thinking about themselves, their identity and future. This issue is
manifested in a cartoon by Edward Koren called “Two Scoreboards,” where Koren illustrates a
basketball game inside a gym. The illustration shows students intensely observing the basketball
players who seem to be extremely focused in their basketball game trying to score a point.
Above the whole scene, the author decides to place a giant scoreboard. If interpreted correctly,
every student is overly focused in the basketball game that they stop thinking for themselves and
more about the school's reputation. Situations such as this decrease the chance of a
student-athlete getting into a good college or university (most high schools require a 2.00 GPA to
become a student-athlete). Students are most likely to work just above average to meet the 2.00
GPA requirement to be able to continue playing their favorite sport and forget all about getting
the best grades. Later on, during their senior year, it is most probable that they won't be able to
enroll in a good university (most well-known universities require a GPA of 3.00 or higher)
because they realize they were stuck in the sports rivalry mentality for four years and did not
allow themselves to think more about their future or themselves as a person. It is likely that Leon
Botstein would agree with such a theory. In his essay “Let Teenagers Try Adulthood,” Botstein
writes, “The team sports of a high school dominate more than student culture.[...] individuality
and dissent are discouraged.”. In this piece of text, Botstein seems to be saying that high school
sports teams are what mostly goes through a teenager’s mind. As mentioned earlier, too much
to improve not only high schools but the general educational system. In my opinion, the number
of standardized tests should be lessened to prevent from discouraging a student to continue their
studies. High schools should also experiment with new, more effective methods of teaching,
rather than handing out worksheets every day and reviewing test preparation skills. Students
need to be well-rounded once they finish high school. It would be reasonable for teachers to
teach students more about logic to help them for future decisions students may make. As for the
sports problem, I would strongly encourage schools not to praise their sports teams in an
exceedingly matter. Overly praising can relinquish stress into a high school student, making
them feel like sports are more important than themselves (it gives them the mentality that they
need to win their team match to keep their school's reputation high).
In conclusion, high schools should focus less on their reputation and put more
consideration into the way a student will view life after taking too many standardized tests. The
educational system has multiple issues that should be addressed. These are only two of the many
problems that caught my attention. In my opinion, these problems or some of the main reasons