How to Improve K-12 Education in the United States - Essay Example

Task What is the Most Useful Thing we could do to Improve K-12 Education in the United s? Introduction The basic educationsystem in the United States is the K-12 system of education. The government made this compulsory and as such, every child born and raised in the United States has to go through this system of education. This system comprises of thirteen grades, which incorporates kindergarten all the way to twelfth grade. Both private and public schools offer this system of education, and these institutions start enrolling students in their schools from the age of six. As such, this educational system ensures that all children in the United States attend school. Students join this education system at approximately age six and then finish at approximately age sixteen, excluding dropouts and those who repeat classes. In addition, the government provides funding to these institutions for them to provide quality education to US children, either from federal, state, or local sources (Bank 137). Nevertheless, the funding provided to K-12 schools nowadays is dependent on the performance of these schools in standardized tests. This is after the introduction of the “No Child Left Behind” act. This act stipulates that every state will set a specific standard test for its students at specified grade levels in order for them to ensure continuous flow of federal funding. As such, the emphasis of these tests lies on reading and writing skills of learners in these schools, as well as, check on the transparency and accountability of school administrators. However, parents exercise the choice of taking their children to private schools at their own expense, or taking them to government schools operated by government funding. This ensures that all young boys and girls in the US get their basic education (DeBoer 334). Faults in the K-12 Education System However, the K-12 education has a number of laxities that make it inefficient in producing quality students at the end of their course. As such, more students graduating from the K-12 educational system in the United States do not have the necessary skills and knowledge to take on life on their own. This means that the system does not train them adequately to equip themselves with the prerequisite skills and knowledge to become independent in their lives. For instance, most college professors complained in a number of occasions over the unpreparedness of students who join colleges and universities after graduating from high school with exemplary grades. The notion behind this unpopular performance of students outside the K-12 educational system is majorly because of the loopholes within the system, improper performance of teachers in classrooms, lack of reading skills for students graduating at the twelfth grades, and improper impartation of life skills by teachers on to their students throughout their learning skills (Hungerford and Wassmer 42). The main concern of K-12 education system is to impart students with the necessary reading and writing skills. The emphasis of this objective is evident through the government’s introduction of the “No Child Left Behind” policy in education, which ensures that all children in the United States have the knowledge of reading and writing. As such, the emphasis being on the ability to read and write dispels the other need to impart these children with other life skills and dependency measures such as entrepreneurship, initiative, and self-propulsion. Consequently, it is important for the policy makers to come up with proper modifications of the education policy in order to train these children properly on how best to carry themselves once out of school. These children graduate with high grades at school with the sole goal of getting a good job and a high salary. However, the economy does not support creation of more jobs, and as such, it would be better if the education system advocated for these children to create their own jobs rather than looking for lucrative employment opportunities (Keller, Quinn and Schwinggrubber 15). How to Improve the K-12 Education System Today’s global economy requires much more than a high quality education system. The doors that normally opened due to an individual’s possession of a good academic certificate are no longer available. As such, the assumption that child who graduate from the K-12 education system provides them a high chance of landing good jobs is very wrong. The economic progress in the United States inextricably links with the educational achievement of every child who goes through the K-12 educational system. Therefore, it is necessary that every student in the United States graduating from high school be ready to progress for college and to get a good career as a national imperative. Nonetheless, the current curriculum operated by the K-12 education system is not sustainable enough to enable a child to proceed to college or university as a skilled student, rather than a pre-cooked candidate for school (Kutz 25). It is necessary for the policy makers and educational experts to come up with proper policies of education that improve the K-12 education system, and as a result, create it to become more formidable in equipping the students with the right skills and expertise in growing the economy. In fact, even the current president of the country, President barrack Obama, is for the opinion that the best way to improve the economy of the united states is by improving the current educational system, starting from the roots all the way to the top. Therefore, in order to create an economy that will last for a long time, it is necessary to ensure that the current education system provides every child with an education that is both competitive and complete. This will enable the child to succeed in a global economy basing on their knowledge, skills, as well as, innovation (Bank 137). The Critical Aspect in Improving K-12 Education in the United States The key is in changing the learning tactics, such that students focus more on acquiring prerequisite skills for creativity and innovation, rather than passing their exams with good grades and proceeding to college or university. Currently, most of the students who qualify to join universities and colleges in the United States are raw and immature in skills and knowledge of their particular fields because their main aim while in high school was to score good grades instead of getting good skills. The education system should equip students with the right skills to get innovative and creative, thereby become employment creators instead of employment seekers. This move will be profitable to both the students, as well as, to the government because it will bring about positive strides towards improvement of the economy. Students will graduate from the schools as professionals rather than amateurs out to try out new things in a career that they are so green about, only landed on it because of their good grades. The current administration is putting up the necessary measures to ensure that the education system of American students equips them with knowledge, skills and expertise to handle the world on their own rather than pursuing education ignorantly until one get a job (DeBoer 334). Some of the strategies adopted towards improvement of the K-12 education system to make it knowledge intensive rather than academic intensive include higher and better standards of assessment. These will enable students to prepare adequately for their success in college, and at their place of work. In addition, this will trigger the creativity and innovation mind in every student, which would in turn inspire them to design or invent new products and services for their markets. Another strategy is by engaging in ambitious efforts towards the recruitment, preparation, development, and advancement of effective principals and teachers to take these students through the modified education system, especially in classrooms where their demand is very high. A third strategy adopted towards the overall improvement of the K-12 education system is the incorporation of smarter data systems in the education process which will assist teachers and other academic analysts in measuring the growth and success of students, as well as, assist educators to improve their instructions (Hungerford and Wassmer 42). The government through its department of education should also put up spirited efforts to turn around the performance of poor schools into acceptable levels. This will in turn encourage students to go to these schools instead of staying at home or dropping out due to their poor grades. Furthermore, an introduction of computers into the education system would be a great deal in inspiring more creativity and innovation among students attending the k-12 educational curriculum. Consequently, more and more students will attend schools enthusiastically with a changed mind and notion of getting knowledge and skills to improve their future lives rather than getting good grades to proceed to the next class (Keller, Quinn and Schwinggrubber 15). Conclusion The K-12 education system is not bad in itself because it imparts reading and writing skills to the students. However, the only inadequacy of this education system is its inability to impart these students with the proper knowledge and skills to be more creative and innovative instead of just going the conventional way, such as read, gets good grades, join a university or college of choice and do a preferred course, then get a good job using the certificate. The changes recommended above to this education system are to equip these students with both applicable and technical skills and knowledge for their future (Kutz 25). Work Cited Banks, Emma. Teens Reflection on Education. Bloomington, Indiana: Xlibris Corporation, 2010. Print. DeBoer, George. The Role of Public Policy in K-12 Science Education. Charlotte: IAP, 2011. Print. Hungerford, Thomas and Wassmer Robert. K-12 Education in the U.S Economy: It’s Impact on Economic Development, Earnings, and Housing Values. Washington, D.C: National Education Association, 2004. Print. Keller, Thomas, Quinn Hellen and Schweinggruber Heidi. A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Washington, D.C: National Academies Press, 2012. Print. Kutz, Gregory. K-12 Education: Selected Cases of Public and Private Schools That Hired or Retained Individual with Histories of Sexual Misconduct. Darby, PA: Diane Publishing, 2011. Print. Read More