Did anybody else lose more respect for the American education system after reading some of these questions?
406722
Yes i have lost faith in the American education system by reading some of these questions. When i went to school during the mid 70s Thur the 80s they taught you how to spell and proper grammar.I do not know how some of these young kids make it through college, because they must write reports with proper spelling and grammar. Sigh, they are going to be our future leaders.
844748
lol I didnt really think about it until i read your question then i scrolled down and started really reading the questions. I do agree with you. It seems they are more strange than usual
116932
No. I think that the education system in the US is terrible. The schools here don't get students ready for college. When I made the transition from high school to college it was very difficult. I was not ready and I think that the schools need to do more to get high school grads ready for life outside of school.
929986
That`s the trouble with the education system, You are only taught what the so called mainstream academics think you ought to know, which is their accepted view of the world and no other alternate theories will be allowed to surface. Children and college students will be drowning in censorship sooner rather than later. The system is fundamentally flawed, and that`s exactly what American academia is looking for. I dread to think how the next generation will turn out, it`s an obscenity.
352815
This type of 'mental gibberish' is very indicative of the fundamental problems in the academic world of education.  Better to ask 'hard' questions that require real research, real thinking, and real opportunity for rational critiquing.  This type of question is sadly pathetic. It explains why American school children can't think, can't perform basic math, and are totally afraid of anything labeled 'science'.  But... they sure 'feel good about themselves' and 'their opinions'!
315184
Not necessarily. It's really a reflection of how well you put up with having to jump through the hoops of an educational system.
532650
From what I have seen, American High schools pale in comparison to schools in other developed countries.  What we seem to be about a school behind.  Our college is their high school, out high school is their middle school.\n\nWhen I went to Europe on an exchange, the students in 10th grade were learning calculus and they had to take like 4 languages.  At home I was taking geometry and one measly Spanish class.\n\nAnd Asia is a WHOLE different story.  Their 5 year olds are smarter than American high schoolers.\n\nI think its a bit of a shame, but our government is so scared to single people out or leave people behind.  Everyone has to have an equal opportunity.  And I am all for equal opportunity, but if a student refuses to take advantage of his opportunity, then screw him.  Our laws keep "dumbing down" the curriculum and forcing homogeneous grouping (no smart kids classes and dumb kids classes) so the motivated kids get bored and aren't challenged, and the lazy kids don't do any better because they don't want to and they have no intent of trying any harder.  Schools can't kick out students who don't want to learn, and teachers get put in the middle of the whole mess.\n\nAnyway, I will stop ranting now...
243822
If it's not the worst, it's certainly in the running.\n\nUnder-funded???  Beth, you are mad!  There is more money wasted on public education in this country than is spent altogether in most other countries.\n\nThe problem seems to be the extent to which two basic entities have taken over control of what was traditionally a very locally-controlled institution.  The first is the teacher's union, which turns upside-down every value that made those great old teachers I had as a child so worthwhile.  They stayed in their jobs because they were good at them, got good results.  Nowadays the union protects the marginal, makes war on the superior teacher (makes the rest look bad, you know), and makes seniority virtually the only criterion they will consider valid.\n\nThe other thing that happened was the federal government getting involved in funding programs that they then control.  This means the local school board has less and less control over what goes on in their school, because they don't dare risk losing that federal money.  So the textbooks are all Politically Correct, even if they don't teach the kids anything useful at all.  The teachers are actually disciplined for creativity, because they can't get any creative program approved if it cannot be used "for everyone."  They are ordered to teach for the purpose of preparation for the exit exams, and discipline is nothing but a game they play with the students.\n\nI do not envy any kid going to a public school these days, but one:  the one who had a black tee shirt that read "School prepares you for the real world, which also s**ks."
418652
Interesting question (I think it is a question.) Seems to me there is enough blame to go around...let's not stop with teachers. How about the students themselves? How about the parents? We have seen a huge dumbing down of students in the past 30 years...lowest common denominator effect, or "let no child be left behind." When students are pushed further into classes they cannot understand, when the quality of education is such that many students are left in the dark, when parents remain detached from their children and expect teachers to do it all, we have what we now have...a nation of illiterate kids graduating from high school Not all students are illiterate, but you don't have to look further than the questions/answers here to see that many kids cannot spell, cannot write a sentence, and cannot communicate clearly with written words. We have spawned a system where it is NOT cool to be educated, and certainly NOT cool to achieve anything in public schools. NERD is all but a curse word, isn't it? Yet it is the Nerds who inherit the jobs, the salaries, the world. Kids may think it is "cool" to be ignorant, but there comes a day when they must look around and wonder how they were left out ... of everything. IF I were to come home with a bad grade, IF I were to not do my homework, IF I were to mouth off to a teacher, I wouldn't sit for a week. So, to avoid the punishment, I did the work. Isn't it strange today that when a child misbehaves, the parents are up in the face of the teacher with accusations, threats, etc. Is it any wonder that teachers give up trying to educate a bunch of students who have no interest beyond text messaging? Teachers head into the career thinking they will make a difference. It doesn't take long for them to find out they are underpaid baby sitters of out-of-control thugs and brats. Unfortunatly, time has a way of evening things out. Sad to say, but I am glad I do not have to face the daily challenges of gangs, bullies, and "cool" people that students are surrounded by today.
1182146
I graduated in the class of '99 and I must say I was nowhere near as studious as you. I tended to blow off assignments if I didn't feel like doing them, but I have a photographic memory so I always aced my tests without cheating. I never skipped class but that could've been because my very strict father taught Physics at my high school and if I missed class he'd know about it. Besides being lazy and generally not caring much about my education I was not a terrible student. I've never done drugs and didn't start drinking or having sex until after I graduated high school. Since then I spent some time in the military which taught me discipline and I recently started college. I don't think kids are any worse now than they were when we were in school... I knew about a lot of my peers doing the same things you mentioned your students doing, I just didn't do the same things.
456035
No kidding.  I have passed on some of the questions because they were written so badly I couldn't figure them out!  I'm no English major, but I sure look like one next to some of these people.
474870
I feel very suspicious about it. Everyone of my age can see that standards of education are lower than they were forty years ago: children can barely read, write or do arithmetic, let alone read a map, name a handful of British heroes or whistle a few bars of a piece of classical music. Yet the results of all the tests, from the ones that five year olds have to do right up to the A levels, go up and up and up,  rising relentlessly. I believe that the tests are falsified.
808326
If you mean, the free education we have that has taught less than 35% of our children to read at a 3rd grade level,  low standards for children, lack of education for the educator and general chaos in our schools as the way we know it today.. I HOPE SO!   I really hope the new changes to the American Education Act (No Child Left Behind) really improves our schools.  The one good thing Bush gave us.  No one is accountable and our children are among the least educated in the world... shameful!
275757
u r right.... American students are weak in math and chemistry, they cant spell things right and their writing is wormy.\nEnglish system gives the students more confidence through a well designed program.... Amercan educ should restablish it self again
1145674
That's not a dumb question at all.  Yes, the spelling and grammar that I see online frightens me too.  I understand things like saying u instead of you or stuff like lol, because it's just to shorten things a bit.  But some of it is just plain lack of education, and that scares me.  Obviously, our country's education system just plain sucks.  Illiteracy is dangerous- without information, people do stupid things.  Without proper language skills, people have trouble getting jobs or functioning in life.  That illiteracy is so widespread today is sickening.  Even our President's grammar is horrible.  For example, "is our children learning?"  Evidently not.  This truly is the age of "every child left behind."
556368
Damien, you have to admit that the level of education, as a whole, has been degraded. I was in retail management and noticed the change as far back as the mid 70's.  When Reagan was governor he did lower the curve out here to accomodate the slower learners. As an end result, we are now a nation of dittoheads, are too stupid to protest the most visible and blatant misuse of our federal government and the corruption of our voting rights.  \nOur young heroes are like lemmings, running out to attack a country who's biggest crime against America was having a leader who threatened to kill some richkids dad!  \nI am not impressed.
894146
Yeah...welcome to the land of the free. This type of conduct is why we Americans are great. Thats why we have these lovely things like Columbine and a host of other student killing students over the years. You see my African friend...just because an American kid goes to school doesn't mean that he or she learn anything. I mean why should they? That's an adult responsibility.\n\nYou're better than them all. Every last one of them. My advice to you is this. Absorb all of the education you can. Take advantage of any oppurtunity the United States of America gives you and run with it. You'll see. The best part of finishing high scholl is all the worms whov'e treated you lousy are divorced, alcoholics or working in dead end jobs making Ipods for some company. making them mind you....not designing because that takes brains.\nMark my words....you'll be splitting atoms or looking for a cure for cancer and after a good days work you'll stop in the local 7-11 for a couple gallons of gas and a cup of coffee and guess who'll be making ice slushies behind the counter? Yep...thats right! An old class mate.\nHead down to the local restaraunt with you spouse for dinner and guess who'll be working the valet lot? Oooo..another classmate. Finally...you get a flat tire on the way home. Call for a tow truck and guess who shows up to bust the tire and change it for you? Yep...you guessed it.\n\nDon't give up hope. You're hands above the rest. You have class and brains. As hard as it may be you must remember you're dealing with people of a lesser intelligence level.