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Jennifer Prieto

AP English

Period 2

September 27, 2018

The Educational System Is Failing

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

their reputation rather than on the students.

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

drudgery, worksheets, test preparations, and test-taking”. In this sentence, if interpreted

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

focus on sports can deprive a student of thinking about themselves.

Furthermore, I believe both problems mentioned earlier could be addressed accordingly

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

why teen stress rates have increased.

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