a. financing education b. imprving students test score c. the dropout rate d. what policies can we institute that will reduce violence U.S. schools
136802
None of the above. The problem that confronts American Education is the lack of people who are running our Education system at the top level.  I am an educator but refuse to go into the school system of today because of the hyprocracy that it represents. Our American Education system has started slipping about 30 years ago and is, maybe to your surprise, behind that of China, India and elsewhere. American schools have gotten away from the basics of the three Rs.
399121
a couple ideas off the top of my head:\n\n-Study tips\n-safe, fun stuff to do on weekends\n-bullying awareness\n-profiling teachers (both new/old)
430116
only 50 percent of all students graduate. \n6 percent go on to attend college. \nSix out of 10 male students end up jobless, \n80 percent wind up in jail
642015
Good healthcare and social programs.  Most people dont like people living on the government but studies have proven that when you cut programs like this to enforce "tough love" and make people fend for themselves, crime goes up.  People feel desperate and hopeless.\n\nProvide affordable higher education so people have more options.  It is not about removing guns or other weapons.  It is about giving options to people.
571135
Money.\nCorruption and how to get away with it.\nLobbyist and how to appease them\nCorporations interest in the country\nSelf-defense ( who are we kidding)
618488
Education and healthcare. Call me boring, but that's where it's needed most. I would divide it between the two. And I was reading what one person said about teaching the English language--believe me, that is not a priority. There are special needs kids in schools who aren't getting the attention they deserve due to budget cuts. Do your homework before you open your mouth, or rather, before you type something prejudicial instead of useful. The English studies come secondary to that.
46075
If kids aren't held accountable at home, they suffer in school. Unless the home is a structured environment, much like the school, kids begin to associate school with a lack of freedom; they will rebel, lash out and shut down.
375850
i agree. higher educational standards = higher technology = fewer resources = higher cost of living = more job scope in work = more taxes = need to perform well under higher stress levels \n\nmany more if have time to think--hope these help :)
607367
It's not about helping them succeed in school, it's about helping them succeed in life.  We need to work on the self-confidence issues that will have (as you mentioned) and also help them with the fears and possible nightmares they will suffer from.  We need to help them overcome this awful thing that has happened in their life so that they are no longer a sexually abused child but instead, a person who had the misfortune of being sexually abused.  We cannot let it define who they are and what they do.
311431
What about curfews? Other topics might be dress codes, final exams, changing the time school starts every morning, changing the start/end date of school, changing your school's cell phone policy.  Find something that you want done, and convince the powers that be to do it.
547200
The next logical thing for the US to do is close all the schools they are obviously failing dramatically. Sorry about all the big words.
405762
Critical thinking skills, communication skills (interacting/socialization), reading and writing, and movement. All of these things need to be covered in the context of the topics covered and at the level of the student. \n\nAll states have standards that have been defined by stake-holders as to what is suppose to be covered in each grade.
623127
No child left behind. Too much emphasis on test scores and not on education. Schools will prepare for these standardized tests for weeks
481851
Tuition.\n\nCal States are state schools which are subsidized by taxes.
240777
Teachers, funding, the govt! pressure, stress, home issues, trauma, depression, teasing from other kids, peer pressure, environment issues, ADD, ADHD, learning disabilities, no motives.... etc... there are a number of reasons for a child to do badly in school. the question is too general.
86310
If the kids are not:\nlearning\nbeing TAUGHT \nor\nare being worked or ignored rather than educated\nparents are abusive\nkids are in trouble
250399
One aspect of my work is to help determine whether students are eligible for Special Ed, or for protections under state and federal laws to protect students with disabilities. When we make that decision, we are required by law to look at information from a variety of sources. Usually we do two or three different formal assessments that give us two or three completely different pictures of a student. These are usually standardized, so that you get a score in terms of how this student compares to other students his or her age. The team will review the school records, and get input from teachers, counselors, and family. Often, an objective outsider will observe the student in their usual classroom setting. Fifteen or twenty minutes of quiet observation can give you valuable information about a student.  \n\nAnother reason we need tests is to demonstrate that the students are actually learning what we allegedly teach them. Unfortunately, the yearly state tests we give them in the US each year are profoundly flawed.\n\nAlfie Kohn writes, "Don’t let anyone tell you that standardized tests are not accurate measures.  The truth of the matter is they offer a remarkably precise method for gauging the size of the houses near the school where the test was administered." By that he means that standardized test scores are profoundly affected by the students' social standing and economic condition (or socio-economic status).\n\nBut when it comes to taking away funds from a school, the same requirement of gathering information from a variety of sources does not seem to apply. It seems this is often done because of the scores on a single type of yearly test, one that covers a small fraction of what students should be learning in school, and one which has no direct consequences for the students who take it.  They don't care, and they like to draw pictures with the dots in the bubbles. On the other hand, there are big-time consequences for school staff.\n\nIn one major metropolitan area in the US, a favorite trick of the politicians is to cut the budgets of struggling schools and watch the test scores go down. Then they fire the principal and all the teachers (except the ones with "outstanding" ratings, which principals rarely give), replace the staff with new teachers, give them a highly-scripted curriculum (Teacher: Take out your pencils and open your workbooks to page 41. We are going to complete these sentences...), pour more money into the school, declare the school "Transformed", and take credit when test scores go up again. \n\nTeacher qualifying exams: They make an awful lot of money for the companies that give them, which sometimes charge more than $100 for a test that only takes an hour or two. Often a state will require six or seven of these for a teaching license. They do help protect the schools and the teachers unions from allegations that the teachers can't read or write. But you cannot test what separates a good teacher from a terrible one with a #2 pencil and a bunch of bubbles to fill in. And that's just common sense.