OAKLEE EWING
MIND & BODY EDITOR
MIND & BODY EDITOR
| The education system in the United States has been flawed and failing for too long. Most kids might tell you they don’t even remember what today’s lessons were on, but they sure could tell you how good/bad their grades are. Schools today have put more emphasis on trying to pass with an A rather than actually learning material and understanding core concepts. “In most schools, memorization is mistaken for learning.” (Wharton) This quote is from an essay dated back to 2008. Students are taught to memorize material that will be used for a test, and once that test is over, much of said material is then forgotten to make room for the next units’ information. Then, by the end of the year or semester, students are forced to cram as much information from the entire course into their brain for a final exam that basically determines their final grade. Once that class is over, however, everything is long forgotten. John Taylor, an educator, lines out his ideal classroom on aeon. He goes on to explain the importance of seminar-style classrooms, and classroom design that inspires discussion and inquiry. Taylor says, “...[T]he classroom of today resembles a military training ground, where students are drilled to produce perfect answers to potential [test] questions.” Classrooms are not for the student to learn, just to be filled with information from either a textbook, teacher lectures, or pointless assignments that do them no good for the future since, once the test has passed, the information goes out the door. The grading scale is stupid. Most students worry only about their grades and not about what they’re learning. Asking teachers for extra credit or to be able to redo this and that to bump them up just enough points for the next letter grade. Not because they deserve it, but because that letter grade on their transcript could make or break their ability to go to that dream college they’ve been looking at since they were in elementary school. The stress students feel purely to have good grades completely defeats the purpose of education. One thing I can attest to is that I hardly ever strive for 100% on tests to demonstrate a full understanding, I only strive for a 93%. Why? Because that’s an A, and as long as I have an A I’m good. I also know there is a large number of students that feel the same. There is something really wrong with that mindset and the education system needs to fix it. | What part of the education system do you think truly failed you? “Standardized Testing” - Maci Waldron (Senior) “Testing System” - Harrison Taggart (Senior) “Standardized Testing” - Kerklyn Hoff (Junior) “Not stringent enough, they just want as many kids to pass” - Coach Kjar “The grading scale” - Addie Kjar (Sophomore) “The math curriculum is difficult and stupid the way they’ve adapted it.” - Ellie Horrocks (Sophomore) “Not allowing us to redo assignments, we are never allowed to get better” - Vee Witzel (Senior) “Not retaking tests or even talking through test answers so cheating is less of an issue since they can do it again and actually learn” - Emma Gleason (Senior)  |
