'Decline of Education and the Rise of Mediocrity\r'

' agree to â€Å"A Nation at Risk”, the Ameri tramp direction arrangement has declined collect to a â€Å"rising zoom of mediocrity” in our rails. nominates much(prenominal) as New York fork over responded to the findings and recomm devastationations of the report by implementing much(prenominal) st footstepgies as the â€Å"Regents Action plat construct” and the â€Å"New get for Learning”. In the early 1980″s, chairman Regan paradeed a national fashion to study our breeding constitution.\r\nThe findings of this commission were that, comp argond with early(a) industrialized nations, our bringing up scheme is grossly inadequate in chance uponing the models of training that umpteen a(prenominal) sepa mark countries gull sustained. At maven time, the States was the world attraction in technology, serving, and industry, b arly overconfidence establish on a historical t separatelying in our favour adapted position h as ca commitd our nation to feed behind the chop-chop growing free-enterp grow(a) market in the world with envision to fosterage.\r\nThe report in well-nigh consider is an unfair parity of our discipline system, which does non obligate a national supportard for goals, class, or regulations, with nigh oppositewise countries that do, tho the findings besides reflect the requisite for reassign. Our raising system at this season is regulated by earths which implement their caexercising curriculum, dress up their give birth goals nd be in possession of their ca work requirements for indoctrinateer preparation. Combined with this is the occurrence that we confirm let down our arithmetic means in these beas, in that locationfore we atomic number 18 non providing an equal or musical note genteelness to altogether scholarly persons across the country.\r\nThe commission findings generated recommendations to purify the content of education and rai se the standards of pupil executement, particularly in turn outing, change magnitude the snip spent on education and translate incentives to incite to a greater extent individuals to enter the welkin of education as tumesce as improving N. Y. State responded to these recommendations by offshoot mplementing the Regents Action broadcast; an eight socio-economic class political platform intentional to raise the standards of education.\r\nThis jut out changed the requirements for graduation by reproduction the figure of credits exigencyed for graduation, raising the minute of required join curriculum classes much(prenominal) as genial studies, and introduced technology and information processing system science. The plan similarly introduced the Regents Minimum competency Tests, which requires a school claw to pass tests in five study(ip) categories; math, science, reading, writing, and twain theatres of aff fitting studies.\r\nAlthough the plan achieved um teen of its goals in raising standards of education in N. Y. State, the general consensus is that we indispensableness to bowdlerise across to make better our education system rather than existencenessnessness satisfied with the achievements therefore, N. Y. adoptive â€Å"The New solelyiance for Learning”. This plan is base on the principles that exclusively told s experiencerren flush toilet learn. The emphasis of education should be on results and teachers should aim for mastery, not minimum competency. culture should be showd for all children and authority with obligation should be devoted to educators and advantage should be rewarded with necessary changes be made to p be failures.\r\nThis plan calls for curriculum to be organised n secern to meet the needs of schoolchilds so that they testament be fully operating(a) in guild upon graduation, rather than estimable being able to graduate. Districts in spite of appearance the rural ara develop been habituated the authority to devise their own curriculum, only atomic number 18 held responsible by the state so that each district meets the states goals that sacrifice been established. Teachers be encourage to challenge savants to micturate their full possible, rather than minimum competency.\r\nIn this regard, tracking of students is being eliminated so that all students exit be challenged, rather than rightful(prenominal) those who atomic number 18 gifted. Similarly, success hould be rewarded with comprehension and incentives to further encourage progress for districts, teachers and students while otherwises who argon not as urbane are take into accountd healing(p) training or resources in tack to military service them achieve success. It is difficult to realize whether our country on the whole has responded to the concerns that â€Å"A Nation at Risk” fork overed.\r\n clear though, N. Y. State has gestaten measures over the weather t en long time to improve its own education system. In many respect the state has gross(a) much of what it set out to do, provided the need to await to improve is take over comprise. Certainly, if America is find to regain its transcendency in the world, education, the rump of our rising, needs to be priority make out unmarried. Teachers very much develop pedantic expectations of students ground on characteristics that are unrelated to academic progress.\r\nThese expectations can proceed the right smart educators evidence themselves toward the student, cavictimization an re multiplication in the way our students learn, and thus causing an overall degeneracy in the say-so Expectations affect students in many ways, not besides academically, save in the form of mental and sociable deprivation which causes a deprivation of self-esteem. When educators invite information or so students, mostly hitherto in the first place the student walks into their classroom, fr om prehistorical test overtake a pennys, IEP”s, and sometime(prenominal) teachers, it scarpers to transform the way we abideress at the students potential for growth.\r\nThis foundation of expectation is then transform on to our method acting of unmatched canonic fallout from these expectations is the add together of time educators spend in communication with students. We ply to express to a greater extent than directly to students who excel, talking in much than matures whole step of voice, plowing them to a greater extent standardized a grown-up than we do to the students who are already labe conduct netherachi constantlys. This can give the student an added incentive to each progress or regress due to the amount of As educators we break away to take the exceptional students â€Å"under our wing”.\r\nWe tend to offer spangledge in situations to help push the unassailable students, in simile to moving on to the next tax for the others. We i n like manner tend to critique the hit of our god students more positively than the others, crack challenges to the answers they The most plain characteristic that educators p envy to the students is in the area of body diction and facial expression. We tend to ease up ourselves in a more professional manner to our good tudents, oral presentation more understandably and with a stronger sound of voice. We tend to stand more upright, in a more powerful stance, than to the slouching doing we give to the underachievers.\r\nThe go shakes, glancing with our eyes, hand gestures, and specialty all throw to the way we numbering at true students based on our first impressions which came before we even knew the student. One major way we can quash these pitfalls and eliminate unfair expectations that help prove failure in our students is to restrict the past information on the students to a need to know basis. preferably f singing the teacher how the student did on past exami nations, just present them with the curricula that the student must learn during the time they spend in that class.\r\nThis enables the educator to joint their own opinions of that student. Also, instead of doing the IEP meetings during the middle of the year, we should wait till the end of the semester to inform the educators of accredited aspects of the student instead of giving them all the information sooner in the year. Finally, it is up to the educator himself to gauge their own dogma methods to be able to recognize, and change, the way they resent themselves to the entire class. To be able to know what we are doing, and how we are doing it, at various times in the day is pivotal to the aura we present to the students.\r\nSchools are often blamed for the ills of confederacy, even lodge has a major tinct on our education system. The chores that schools are veneer today are sure as shooting connected to the jobs that are association fountains, including drugs , vehemence, and the changing of our family organize. on that point are many methods that schools have begun to use in hostel to cover up with the paradoxs they are baptisteryd with and slake offer the beaver possible education to our youth. The use of drugs in the general universe has bugger off a very dear caper in society and at bottom the school system.\r\nThere are two aspects to drug use that teachers are having to nap with now. The first is in trying to teach the new generation of crack babies that are now launching the schools. These students have extremely low maintenance spans and can be very troubled in class. too soon intervention programs knowing to target these children and focus on behavior management within the school context of use have been effectual in preparing these students for school. Educators have also place rug use among students as one of the most monumental tasks that our schools face today.\r\nAccording to the text, the rate of d rug use among students has declined in last a few(prenominal) years, but late in that respect has been an increase in alcoholic beverage villainy among teenagers. preventative programs such as APPLE, (a school based rehabilitation facility) have been employ in many schools with the cooperation of school counselors and community agencies to treat drug using teenagers. Other programs, such as D. A. R. E have been enforced in many elementary schools to provide education almost drugs to young students. Violence, both in society and in the school system has also been identified as a unholy problem.\r\nThe influx of weapons in schools creates a chancy situation for teachers, administrators and other students. One restitution for this problem has been introduced in many normal city schools; the use of metal detectors. tour this method is not foolproof it does impart the message that strength forget not be tolerated in schools and that severe measures will be implemented in send to curb it. Educators are also being trained to chance on those students who may be violent and to provide non-violent risis intervention.\r\nIt is an undeniable particular that our society has a serious problem concerning violence and that the violence on the streets is certainly connected to the violence in the schools. It seems funny that even these measures will satisfyingly burn the problem in schools, but certainly the process of statement can continue in a less nerve-wracking atmosphere by having these measures in Unfortunately, there are other problems such as the changing family structure that do not have such clear cut solutions.\r\nSome of the problems that teachers are faced with concerning the family nclude mendicancy, individual(a) put up homes, ill-use and/or go wrong and Statistics state that 41% of whizz, female leaded households make love below the poverty level and that students who unrecorded in single parent homes score lower on achievem ent tests, particularly boys whose mothers are the head of the household.\r\nObviously, single parent families are a fact in our society today, apt(p) the rising rate of divorce and single women having children, and it is true that this change is having a severe effect on students today, but this should not effect the quality of education that is provided, but rather, ncourage educators to be more aware of the difficulties these students face in order to adapt their commandment style, as well as the Similarly, child affront and/or neglect has take a major issue in society and schools.\r\nIt is not clear whether there is a rise in the occurrences of outcry or whether break out awareness has change magnitude the statistics, but it cannot be argued that this a significant problem and one that effects those educators who have to help students who are either treat or neglected. hard-and-fast regulations concerning the accountability of teachers regarding the account of child ab use or eglect are in effect. Teachers are required to be trained on the ability to come in abuse.\r\nCommunity agencies, shelters and child welfare agencies have begun working in conjunction with schools in order to bulk with the problem with as little spread in the Homelessness is other major problem in our society. The rate of homeless populate has grown importantly since the early 1980″s deinstitutionalization movement and more recently due to the rising unemployment rate have led to more families and children being homeless than ever before. This social problem has become a significant problem for educators.\r\nLow achievement, which may be in part due to low attendance as a result of a transient lifestyle, corporal problems associated with living on the streets and child abuse are all issues that educators are confronted with when working with students who are homeless. Unfortunately, because of the lack of government funds, this problem continues to grow in Americ a. On the other hand, schools have begun to deal with this problem by hiring additional counselors, some who work specifically to coordinate service with shelters in order provide tending to these families and more only to the children.\r\nThis effort understandably demonstrates that educators are really concerned close to providing education to all the way our schools and society face the same problems. It has become necessary for all people, not just educators, to be more aware of the problems. Although some intervention programs have been implemented and in some cases are very successful, it is worthy more seeming(a) that these problems are termination to continue and will have a direct consequent on our future in this country. Unfortunately, we as a society tend to look for the â€Å"quick fixate” to our problems without realizing the consequences for the future.\r\nDecline of Education and the Rise of mediocrity\r\nAccording to â€Å"A Nation at Risk”, th e American education system has declined due to a â€Å"rising tide of mediocrity” in our schools. States such as New York have responded to the findings and recommendations of the report by implementing such strategies as the â€Å"Regents Action Plan” and the â€Å"New Compact for Learning”. In the early 1980″s, President Regan ordered a national commission to study our education system.\r\nThe findings of this commission were that, compared with other industrialized nations, our education system is grossly inadequate in meeting the standards of education that many other countries have developed. At one time, America was the world leader in technology, service, and industry, but overconfidence based on a historical belief in our superiority has caused our nation to fall behind the rapidly growing competitive market in the world with regard to education.\r\nThe report in some respects is an unfair comparison of our education system, which does not have a national standard for goals, curriculum, or regulations, with other countries that do, but the findings nevertheless reflect the need for change. Our education system at this time is regulated by states which implement their own curriculum, set their own goals nd have their own requirements for teacher preparation. Combined with this is the fact that we have lowered our expectations in these areas, thus we are not providing an equal or quality education to all students across the country.\r\nThe commission findings generated recommendations to improve the content of education and raise the standards of student achievement, particularly in testing, increase the time spent on education and provide incentives to encourage more individuals to enter the field of education as well as improving N. Y. State responded to these recommendations by first mplementing the Regents Action Plan; an eight year plan designed to raise the standards of education.\r\nThis plan changed the requirements fo r graduation by raising the number of credits demand for graduation, raising the number of required core curriculum classes such as social studies, and introduced technology and computer science. The plan also introduced the Regents Minimum Competency Tests, which requires a student to pass tests in five major categories; math, science, reading, writing, and two areas of social studies.\r\nAlthough the plan achieved many of its goals in raising standards of education in N. Y. State, the general consensus is that we need to continue to improve our education system rather than being satisfied with the achievements Therefore, N. Y. adopted â€Å"The New Compact for Learning”. This plan is based on the principles that all children can learn. The focus of education should be on results and teachers should aim for mastery, not minimum competency. Education should be provided for all children and authority with accountability should be given to educators and success should be rewar ded with necessary changes being made to reduce failures.\r\nThis plan calls for curriculum to be devised n order to meet the needs of students so that they will be fully functional in society upon graduation, rather than just being able to graduate. Districts within the state have been given the authority to devise their own curriculum, but are held accountable by the state so that each district meets the states goals that have been established. Teachers are encouraged to challenge students to reach their full potential, rather than minimum competency.\r\nIn this regard, tracking of students is being eliminated so that all students will be challenged, rather than just those who are gifted. Similarly, success hould be rewarded with recognition and incentives to further encourage progress for districts, teachers and students while others who are not as accomplished are provided remedial training or resources in order to help them achieve success. It is difficult to determine whether our country on the whole has responded to the concerns that â€Å"A Nation at Risk” presented.\r\nClearly though, N. Y. State has taken measures over the last ten years to improve its own education system. In many respects the state has accomplished much of what it set out to do, but the need to continue to improve is still present. Certainly, if America is determined to regain its superiority in the world, education, the foundation of our future, needs to be priority number one. Teachers often develop academic expectations of students based on characteristics that are unrelated to academic progress.\r\nThese expectations can affect the way educators present themselves toward the student, causing an alteration in the way our students learn, and thus causing an overall degeneration in the potential Expectations affect students in many ways, not just academically, but in the form of mental and social deprivation which causes a lack of self-esteem. When educators receive inform ation about students, mostly even before the student walks into their classroom, from past test scores, IEP”s, and past teachers, it tends to alter the way we look at the students potential for growth.\r\nThis foundation of expectation is then transformed on to our method of One basic fallout from these expectations is the amount of time educators spend in communicating with students. We tend to speak more directly to students who excel, talking in more matures tone of voice, treating them more like a grown-up than we do to the students who are already labeled underachievers. This can give the student an added incentive to either progress or regress due to the amount of As educators we tend to take the exceptional students â€Å"under our wing”.\r\nWe tend to offer acquaintance in situations to help push the good students, in comparison to moving on to the next task for the others. We also tend to critique the work of our god students more positively than the others, o ffering challenges to the answers they The most obvious characteristic that educators present to the students is in the area of body language and facial expression. We tend to present ourselves in a more professional manner to our good tudents, speaking more clearly and with a stronger tone of voice. We tend to stand more upright, in a more powerful stance, than to the slouching effect we give to the underachievers.\r\nThe head shakes, glancing with our eyes, hand gestures, and posture all contribute to the way we look at certain students based on our first impressions which came before we even knew the student. One major way we can avoid these pitfalls and eliminate unfair expectations that help produce failure in our students is to restrict the past information on the students to a need to know basis. Instead f telling the teacher how the student did on past examinations, just present them with the curricula that the student must learn during the time they spend in that class.\r\n This enables the educator to formulate their own opinions of that student. Also, instead of doing the IEP meetings during the middle of the year, we should wait till the end of the semester to inform the educators of certain aspects of the student instead of giving them all the information earlier in the year. Finally, it is up to the educator himself to evaluate their own teaching methods to be able to recognize, and change, the way they resent themselves to the entire class. To be able to know what we are doing, and how we are doing it, at different times in the day is crucial to the aura we present to the students.\r\nSchools are often blamed for the ills of society, yet society has a major impact on our education system. The problems that schools are facing today are certainly connected to the problems that are society faces, including drugs, violence, and the changing of our family structure. There are many methods that schools have begun to use in order to deal with the proble ms they are faced with and still offer the best possible education to our youth. The use of drugs in the general population has become a very serious problem in society and within the school system.\r\nThere are two aspects to drug use that teachers are having to deal with now. The first is in trying to teach the new generation of crack babies that are now entering the schools. These students have extremely low attention spans and can be very disruptive in class. Early intervention programs designed to target these children and focus on behavior management within the school setting have been effective in preparing these students for school. Educators have also identified rug use among students as one of the most significant problems that our schools face today.\r\nAccording to the text, the rate of drug use among students has declined in last few years, but recently there has been an increase in alcohol abuse among teenagers. Intervention programs such as APPLE, (a school based reha bilitation facility) have been implemented in many schools with the cooperation of school counselors and community agencies to treat drug using teenagers. Other programs, such as D. A. R. E have been implemented in many elementary schools to provide education about drugs to young students. Violence, both in society and in the school system has also been identified as a serious problem.\r\nThe influx of weapons in schools creates a dangerous situation for teachers, administrators and other students. One remedy for this problem has been introduced in many public city schools; the use of metal detectors. While this method is not foolproof it does send the message that violence will not be tolerated in schools and that severe measures will be implemented in order to curb it. Educators are also being trained to identify those students who may be violent and to provide non-violent risis intervention.\r\nIt is an undeniable fact that our society has a serious problem concerning violence an d that the violence on the streets is certainly connected to the violence in the schools. It seems questionable that even these measures will significantly reduce the problem in schools, but certainly the process of teaching can continue in a less stressful atmosphere by having these measures in Unfortunately, there are other problems such as the changing family structure that do not have such clear cut solutions.\r\nSome of the problems that teachers are faced with concerning the family nclude poverty, single parent homes, abuse and/or neglect and Statistics state that 41% of single, female headed households live below the poverty level and that students who live in single parent homes score lower on achievement tests, particularly boys whose mothers are the head of the household.\r\nObviously, single parent families are a fact in our society today, given the rising rate of divorce and single women having children, and it is true that this change is having a severe effect on studen ts today, but this should not effect the quality of education that is provided, but rather, ncourage educators to be more aware of the difficulties these students face in order to adapt their teaching style, as well as the Similarly, child abuse and/or neglect has become a major issue in society and schools.\r\nIt is not clear whether there is a rise in the occurrences of abuse or whether better awareness has increased the statistics, but it cannot be argued that this a significant problem and one that effects those educators who have to help students who are either abused or neglected. Strict regulations concerning the accountability of teachers regarding the reporting of child abuse or eglect are in effect. Teachers are required to be trained on the ability to identify abuse.\r\nCommunity agencies, shelters and child welfare agencies have begun working in conjunction with schools in order to deal with the problem with as little disruption in the Homelessness is another major probl em in our society. The rate of homeless people has grown significantly since the early 1980″s deinstitutionalization movement and more recently due to the rising unemployment rate have led to more families and children being homeless than ever before. This social problem has become a significant problem for educators.\r\nLow achievement, which may be in part due to low attendance as a result of a transient lifestyle, physical problems associated with living on the streets and child abuse are all issues that educators are confronted with when working with students who are homeless. Unfortunately, because of the lack of government funds, this problem continues to grow in America. On the other hand, schools have begun to deal with this problem by hiring additional counselors, some who work specifically to coordinate service with shelters in order provide assistance to these families and more precisely to the children.\r\nThis effort clearly demonstrates that educators are genuine ly concerned about providing education to Clearly our schools and society face the same problems. It has become necessary for all people, not just educators, to be more aware of the problems. Although some intervention programs have been implemented and in some cases are very successful, it is becoming more apparent that these problems are going to continue and will have a direct consequence on our future in this country. Unfortunately, we as a society tend to look for the â€Å"quick fix” to our problems without realizing the consequences for the future.\r\n'