So, what is it with the US education system?

[The Geek Lord]

One day, in an MMORPG no one's ever heard of, I was talking with one of my internet friends from said game. The topic was anime. He brought up Welcome to the NHK, and began speaking about some psychologist. When I asked him the one word question, "Who," he simply replied with the most true statement I've ever heard. "Your education system is the shittiest pile of shit ever and I want to burn it."

A member of these forums said something among the lines of, "US high schools are designed for retarded monkeys." Going into the 11th grade soon, I have to ask the question, "Why the fuck is that so true?"

I remember in middle school, it was literally impossible to fail, at least in California. You could get a D and your parents would be called. That's the worst that happened. And then all the sudden in high school, "OH SHIT IT ACTUALLY MATTERS," they say in our freshman year. Then for sophomores, they say, "Okay, last year was a joke, colleges only look at your grades from 10th and up!"

So let me get this straight. You're saying you have been out right lying to us this whole time? I understand you want us to work, but for fuck's sake, I don't like being lied to, and I hate it when the person treats my fucking life like some kind of joke. This is all probably the ramblings of a paranoid conspiracy theorist teenager[footnote]I'm not actually a conspiracy theorist. I do usually make fun of them, and sometimes I say something retarded and think, "That sounds like something a conspiracy theorist would say.[/footnote], but I really don't get it, so I might as well assume it's some kind of retarded conspiracy, since that's better than just dumbly going along with it.

And then, according to my older siblings, college suddenly gives you actual work, with retarded teachers, who never go over anything that shows up on tests. What kind of fucking idiot does it take for someone to say, with an entirely straight face, that America is the greatest country in the world? The embodiment of pure fucking evil, since it's obvious that no one can possibly be that remarkably stupid. Hell, I had a right win nut job of a teacher who once said that. Closest I ever came to punching the bastard in the face.

And why is it we have to take classes nobody gives a shit about, and that will never matter in our lives?.. Anyway, my question is this, Escapists. Why, oh why, is the US education system so fucking horrible?

 

[miscelaneous]

Based on what I've been told and on account of experience. It's in-consistent. It's all done by districts which all have their own idea for what is proper education. Some places are good, some are bad. That's pretty much it (from what I've been told).

 

[Irridium]

"No child left behind"

Not even the ones that should be left behind. Parents don't want to learn that their kid is a complete moron, so they blame the schools for failing him, even though its the kid who's stupid.

Plus most kids simply don't give a shit about education, so its less 100% of the education system's fault and more of a 50/50 where both the system and students are at fault.

Of course I could just be talking out of my ass since I have no knowledge on any of this stuff, so don't take what I say as fact.

 

[unoleian]

Based on what I've been told and on account of experience. It's in-consistent. It's all done by districts which all have their own idea for what is proper education. Some places are good, some are bad. That's pretty much it.

Exactly this. A school is only as good as the administration running it, and the board that gives them oversight.

Also, teachers often aren't held to a standard of accountability until they say/do something controversial, then they find their heads on pikes. So, education is played safe, and many teachers in many districts become disenchanted and aloof rather quickly from this fact. It also becomes far easier to pass someone on than to deal with the parents who won't accept that their child's poor performance is not the teacher's fault somehow.

It's a crappy system, indeed, overall, but there are good schools out there that are truly passionate about providing a solid education. However, those are rarely listed in the public schools directory.

 

[strum4h]

"No child left behind"

The No Child Left Behind reform is actually more about how the schools performance in standardized tests depends on their federal funding. So they are pretty much spending on schools that do not do well. I think this is actually counter-beneficial to the name.

 

[The Geek Lord]

"No child left behind"

Not even the ones that should be left behind. Parents don't want to learn that their kid is a complete moron, so they blame the schools for failing him, even though its the kid who's stupid.

Plus most kids simply don't give a shit about education, so its less 100% of the education system's fault and more of a 50/50 where both the system and students are at fault.

Of course I could just be talking out of my ass since I have no knowledge on any of this stuff, so don't take what I say as fact.

If you've seen the kind of dip shits who go to my school, you'd have a much stronger belief in that. So I suppose that is one way of seeing it, but nonetheless, the education system is still failing for people who actually want to learn.

I'd honestly love to get into a physics class, since that was my favorite subject in middle school, but I can't do that because I need to take half a semester of some shitty special ed science and then half a semester of PE to make up for lost credits. Lost credits from the year of high school that they clearly stated nobody fucking looked at.

 

[strum4h]

Honestly I do not think that the school system is that bad. They give us the tools to try and find knowledge. Blaming a bad school system for America being stupid does not do the schools justice. It is with peoples ignorant mindset that school is worthless.

 

[Simonccx]

I think its also a little bit of americas over patriotism, no offence to u all but it leads to a very scewed outlook, or it can. I cant honestly comment but when we hear stories of creationism being taught in science etc, well.... nuff said.

Also the higher education system is terrible I am a uk student and freinds who have done exchanges say that in the US they dont let u fail, its less about ur ability just this "no child left behind" thing again, where is the standard if nobody can fail?

 

[Xojins]

That's your particular school. There are many others out there that have much higher standards than what you've described.

 

[Simonccx]

Also i work as a Teaching assistant, i know that students who sruggle should get support, but there is a major difference, priority shouldnt be on making everyone get the same but to be proud of what they work for, no mater how good as long as it pushes the individual

 

[RatRace123]

Yeah it's pretty bad, it's not about learning it's about the grades. I've seen D-average students who are geniuses and I've seem straight A students that are just a few IQ points away from being a considered a vegetable.

Ahh, the system at work.

 

[strum4h]

People need to actually read about the No Child Left Behind Act before they post. There are way too many people using it JUST because of the name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Child_Left_Behind_Act

 

[Danzaivar]

When you're convinced that you live in the greatest nation on Earth, you assume everything you do is the best it could be. Shame you schoolkids have to pay for your parents' arrogance, but hey.

 

[Rooker]

I do have personal knowledge and so far I have no reason to believe that the system is not shit in any stretch of the imagination. Even though all these districts have different ideas of "what's proper education" the do still have some Federal standard to follow and build up on that. My school district decided that 23 out of a possible 24 credits (six classes a semester, half a credit per class, so that's six credits per year) because they figured they had dumbed things down enough that it should be easy. Sadly enough, it was. I didn't even try in half my classes. I hardly did homework because I knew it was a waste of time and I have this strange talent for tests. You pass me a test and have covered each part of it at least once, I'll have somehow retained it and will ace it. It's frustrating when someone claims that the tests are everything, but then when you don't do your homework there's this glaring bad grade for it because they lied about that. Then when you take issue with this they just proclaim you're a lazy bum that isn't going to get anywhere in the working world with these kinds of ethics.

Fuck. That. I'll have them know I do a pretty damn good job in the working world. It's school I sucked at because all the "work" I had to do was a complete waste of my time and I knew it. I learned what they wanted me to learn, but I still failed classes because I didn't do any of their useless projects or study packets that were supposed to help me learn.

I also had a REQUIRED 3.5 credits in English. Fucking ENGLISH! The only language I'd known until 9th grade where I discovered there was a Japanese class! What the fuck else can you teach someone about their NATIVE LANGUAGE?! Most of the other countries I hear about, their education systems put a heavy enthusiasm on learning two or more languages and only spend around the grade school years teaching their own language (Not sure how much of this is true, my Japanese teacher told us as much for Japan and I think I've heard it from a couple other nationalities). By the time I was taking my last couple of English classes, I could have been an English teacher. Just walk into a class and teach it. I need no further training in English. Or Math for that matter, but that was just a lucky talent for me. I happen to like Math and made it a point to take a class every year. It was like free candy in school credit form. It's hard to give a shit about school when you realize most of what you're being taught is completely useless. I know Math is not going to be saving my life any time soon, that was just your usual "easy class, easy credit" situation. Though I must admit, Trig kicked my ass and I'm going to need to re-learn a lot of mathematical stuff if I ever consider taking a job that uses a lot of it. Most people stop doing complex math entirely after finishing school. Helps me count out change and count down my drawer at the auto parts store I work in though.

So yeah, as an American student, I can tell you it really is that bad. I have to wonder what sucks in other educational systems. Maybe it's not just us and we just think it is because half the rest of the countries seem to be more well-rounded than we are in intellect. Then again, I believe in intellect being half-wasted potential until wisdom is applied to it. Seriously, how many of you have gone to college which taught you some bull shit rigid code in your particular field of study and then when you get on the job and get frustrated with one such rigid instruction not only not being the best way, but the entirely wrong way, only to learn from a seasoned worker that there's a faster, easier and less frustrating way to do it without fucking the job up? My boss' husband had a teacher that taught him marine mechanics for a couple years and then about four months later he kept talking to the teacher teaching him all the things that did not work AT ALL in the fucking text books including ways of wrapping and sealing mechanical parts for transport. Text book's printed way didn't even work and projected like a ten to fifteen minute time frame in getting the job done. The way he'd learned it from the guys at his job; done in five minutes and it was a perfect seal.

 

[Simonccx]

People need to actually read about the No Child Left Behind Act before they post. There are way too many people using it JUST because of the name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Child_Left_Behind_Act

What it is meant to be and how it works are different things. The concept of standards and goals it sets is a nice ideal but I assume that some places MAKE people pass by either making things easier or helping them too much to secure funding.

 

[Macheteswordgun]

It sucks i can honestly say i learned nothing in highschool even though i took mainly AP classes. And my school is ranked like 342 in the nation which is even more sad. All i learned was how to drink smoke get girls do stupid things drive and fight. Bout all i learned from high school. Everything i leanred from....*dramatic music* GOOGLE!!!!!! and reading

 

[Woodsey]

What was the name of the psychologist then? I want to see if I recognise the name now.

 

[unoleian]

I think its also a little bit of americas over patriotism, no offence to u all but it leads to a very scewed outlook, or it can. I cant honestly comment but when we hear stories of creationism being taught in science etc, well.... nuff said.

Er? There most certainly shouldn't be creationism taught in schools, and there isn't that I've heard of, unless we're talking some private theistic schools, here. Now, there's a certain segment of the population making a push to have it represented against theory of life as it is presented now, but it probably doesn't stand a chance. This has been an ongoing push from the religious right ever since I was in school, myself.

Now, this whole mucking about with the textbooks and gently implanting revisionist histories and seemingly innocuous semantic adjustments that occurred recently in Texas, now that's some scary stuff. And, granted, survey history and social studies do have a particular focus on US history, but is that really a bad thing? Our 300 so-odd years of history have had a dramatic impact on the world. That isn't to say it's the pure focus of such classes, and world history and studies of social dynamics outside America are pursued as well, especially if the learned ones who will actually matter to the world at large pursue a higher education. If you're doing it right, you'll get massive exposure to thoughts, philosophies, people, ideas, and histories that exist in the world at large. Otherwise, you probably don't need to know, say, the histories of Europe's monarchies to work in a kitchen or a factory.

 

[CK76]

I found my public school never bothered to really push students beyond average and spent a great deal of time with trouble makers. Essentially, if you're getting As and Bs you're "done" and require no or little attention.

Now, the best thing that happened to me was university level. I got my backside handed to me on a platter freshmen year. The demands in terms of quality and quantity were much greater and no hand holding. I was expected to be at a much higher level.

You know what, I was better for it. I cringe when reading my old freshmen papers and am so glad I spent those years really seeing what my potential was. I know I still have a long way to go, but it gave me confidence and drive to be better and see what was possible.

So my verdict is public primary education is...a mixed bag in which often urban or rural schools fall way behind suburban and especially private institutions. Secondary schooling is actually pretty competitive on global scale.