High Schools : A Critique Of The American High School

As Laurence Powell Jobs once said, “It’s not that our high school system was not designed well, but that it was designed in 1906 when the country was just out of the industrial era. There hasn’t been a substantial systemic change the way we do high school since then.” It’s no secret that the current school system used in America is outdated and problematic. With a plethora of obvious issues in need of fixing, there are noticeable differences between America and other countries. Steps needed to improve the system can be implemented. Although times have changed, the American education system has become outdated and thus is riddled with faults. When compared to other education systems, it is clear that the American schooling system is in need of reform.

Finally, the day is almost here. Excitement builds as a senior gets closer and closer to graduation. For many, high school is torture. It is a jail. It is boring and horrific. Students long for a taste of freedom during their high school experience. However, what one desires is not what is best. High school is a place where students get ready for college, and sadly, many are not ready. An extra year for students in high school will give them an opportunity to become prepared for college. For many students, four years of high school is not enough for college. Extending high school to five years would allow students to have a looser schedule, and allow them to be economically and mentally ready.

In a progressively more globalized world that necessitates more effective educational practices, the U.S., once the biggest global force in education, has seen its dominance slowly slip out, and its educational status fall even lower than that of several third-world countries. The decline experienced in American school system academic achievement is not as a result of lack of funding, but as a consequence of the overall educational system watering down. According to Gatto, educating children through the existing public school system of America is crippling rather than helping them. From his essay, ‘Against School,’ it is established that the goal of the whole public school system is to limit people’s intelligence in an attempt to create a society that is manageable. Gatto continues to state that action is needed to change this situation. He supports his assertions using current and historical information about the American school system and his personal experience. After reading his article, one realizes that most of Gatto’s arguments are true. It is true that the American education system is making the students comfort to the government and society norms, which is why they are easily bored. This essay’s goal will, therefore, be to support John Gatto’s beliefs.

Among the practices of the best high school in America is starting later at 9:15. If the best High school starts later than why aren’t other high schools following in their footsteps. The idea that high school should start later is suggested by the public health experts. The public health experts say that teens brains are wired to wake up later in the day. But high schools are still starting early and because of that teens are prone to misbehave, be late to class, and not do well with their grades. In Lisa L. Lewis article, “The Best High School Starts At 9:15 Why aren’t more schools following its lead believes that other high schools should follow the high school in Dallas so they can succeed as well.

The two articles that I chose both went hand in hand with the struggle of learning and teaching literature. I chose the article “One High School English Teacher” because it complements my first article, “Death to High School English”. In this essay, I will summarize and interpret the first article to show the deeper meaning of it. Then I will research my second article and show the author 's credibility to help prove my argument, and finally I will tie together all my main points of my essay.

Every students should get a full four year experience, why rush into the workforce or college so early, you have the rest of your life for that. Students should have the full four year high school experience. Students may not be ready for the workforce yet, just after three years of high school. Students need a four year high school education, as well. Some people might argue that the program is good, students can get high school over with after three years, and start early in the workforce for better experience. Obviously, after three years students aren't really mature they are still teenagers. Some students may not be ready for the workforce or college yet just after three years, it may be stressfull. Students need a full four year high school experience and education.

The American standard in the US educational system has always been to attend a four-year university after high school. Students attend college after high school to further their education in their career of interest, and to obtain a degree to become successful adults in the real world. Schools in this age however, do not teach students about life after high school and college. They fail to introduce life lessons needed in the real world, like writing a resume, buying a house, or paying taxes. The current American educational system does not prepare students to be successful adults; it teaches students things they may never apply to real-world situations.

In consideration, the first reason that students have a difficult time attending public high school or coping with the high school processes is because of after school extra-curricular activities, such as sports or dance classes. Since my friends and I dance many hours a week, most of the people at my studio do online high school. If we did not have online high school, most of the girls would be late to classes or not be able to come. Some of the girls in my dressing room (a specific dressing room for people who have to get to dance earlier) are still in the 8th grade, which means they do not end until 2:45 or 3:30 at a public school. They are always complaining about how much homework they have to finish on time before the next day, or how late they go to bed to finish the homework. They wish they could work online, but their parents will not let them. If they did not have an option of online high school, which has more work than middle school, then there would be a lot of tired dancers waltzing around the studio and hurting themselves. If we did not have young dancers going to class on time or at all, then there would be a decrease in adult dancers and dancers on Broadway. If we had a decrease in adult dancers, for example, ballet dancers, then many famous dance companies would shut down, and there would not be many people on Broadway.

In “Serve or Fail,” Dave Eggers dissatisfies the phenomenon that although college students have too much leisure, they are not willing to give a few hours doing community services. Eggers suggests that colleges should consider instituting a service requirement for graduation, and colleges are best-poised to create in their students a lifelong commitment to volunteering. He pointed out that there are even programs done by colleges and high schools in order to gain more than two million volunteer hours a year. Owning a lot of time, Being mature and able to handle wide range of tasks, and receiving the opportunity to discover a potential career, make Eggers believes that college students are uniquely suited to do volunteer work. Eggers admits

Every child is different. Some are fast learners, some are slower, and some are in between. Not everyone learns the same or at the same pace. It could take one child several different times to get the result that another got in five seconds. Does it make sense to have these children in the same class or group? If the teacher goes too fast, one child could miss out. If she goes too slowly, that is taking away learning time from a different student. Furthermore, students who drop out of school early are seen as stupid. That is not always true and they were actually better suited doing another thing, but couldn’t handle school. I believe it is time to change the U.S.’s school system because I think it would have benefited me to have been split up into groups based on learning differences and, in older grades, only have students who were committed to school rather than everybody being in school.

If American schools want meet the needs of the twenty-first century, they must be reinvented. It is not enough to fix the schools; they must be rebuilt in both fundamental and radical ways. The future of the American public school system is significant because the livelihood of an informed and productive citizen is vital to the future of this country. Historically, Americans have strongly asserted the importance of public schools in a democracy and despite the growing hatred for the face value of the school system, public schools remain central to commonwealth in the United States.

In the 17th century, the American public school system was founded and built upon early US colonists’ religious principle and ideologies, which were all a branch or sect of Christianity. The first tax-supported public school in the country in Dedham, Massachusetts was run by Reverend Ralph Wheelock who was a puritan priest. Schools in other parts of the English colonies were run by Jesuits, Catholics, Protestants, Lutherans, and the like. When new territory was claimed from the Native Americans, it was declared that the Native Americans were to be taught Christian ideology, and although enslaved and prevented from attending school, many African Americans were encouraged, or even coerced to adopt the Christian faith as well. At the beginning of every school day, mandatory prayers were recited from the Bible—like the Lord’s Prayer—and it was not until 1962 and 1963 that this was officially changed.

Nine months out of a twelve month year is the average amount of time an average high school student in America spends in school. That time when added up is equal to 75% of the year spent in an education setting, of course giving leeway to that with winter and spring breaks. But on average, a current high school senior has been in a classroom setting 75% of their life for twelve consecutive years. On top of that students who will go directly from their high school education and begin their college education the following semester, will continue this cycle for the next averaged six years. It’s an influential and necessary, but sometimes vicious, cycle that almost every American who wants a well paying job has to go through to be successful in

Throughout the years people spend in school, there are always students who try harder than others and give more effort to help themselves get ready for the future. On the other hand, there are students who slack to just get through school and as a result, they end up not doing so well. Teachers will allow the students who do not have the academic skills to move forward, and allow them to move forward in their education. Schooling from 8th grade to high school helps mold the undergraduates into whom and what they will become in the future. Keeping students held back in school helps that student do the best that they can do with motivation to work towards future goals, and also gives them the opportunity to get back on the right track without

America is reaching a pivotal point in modern history. The choice to revamp the American public school system is in the hands of the state lawmakers. The Common Core State Standards Initiative is the solution to this crisis facing our country today. These standards provide a framework in our public schools to help better prepare students for college. Through the implementation of these standards here in the State of Florida we will be helping bring our young scholars to a globally competitive level where the sky is the limit.