Problems and Solutions Facing Education in US - Assignment Example

Download file to see previous pages A research study conducted by David Yeager in collaboration with Dweck a Stanford professor of psychology shows that 87% of students scored better because of teachers encouragement while those who did not receive teachers encouragement scored zero marks (Toch and Headden 1). Hard work and hiring of highly qualified teachers are the main keys to success in the American education system.
The other problem that is affecting the educational system in the United States is the employment of under-qualified teachers. The teachers fail to deliver effectively in their duties. As a result, the Bush administration instituted a task force that could oversee that by the end of 2006, a qualified professional teacher taught every child in all public schools (Smith and Collard 2). Unfortunately, this has not been the case recently. According to an article called Nation at Risk indicates that teachers are still being drawn from the bottom ranks of the college graduates. Although teachers salaries have been increased considerably since the 1980s, the professional aspect of these teachers has not been taken into consideration. Additionally, an assessment carried in two states in the United States shows that in the State of Nevada only 38% of the teachers met the professional requirement in the year 2000. Incompetence amongst the teachers is shown when 21 states participated in the PRAXIS. PRAXIS is professional skills testing program and unfortunately, 59% of the teachers failed the test and were ranked below the median point, raising concerns on the standard of education in the United States (Smith and Collard 2). In an effort to addressing this problem, the federal government enacted the No Child Left Behind Act that could ensure that those teachers who teach in schools are highly qualified.  ...Download file to see next pagesRead More