Education in America

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/education/technology-is-changing-how-students-learn-teachers-say.html As technology is constantly being improved, it brings many benefits for modern society but at the same time it is causing many of problems. For instance, while statistics show that children are becoming more advanced in most aspects of better education, technology still have several drawbacks for learning. Reduced attention spans and the need for immediate satisfaction are detrimental to student's work ethic, believed to be caused by overexposure to electronic devices. According to the article, though 75% of teacher think that the search engine and the internet had a “mostly positive” impact on student research skills, yet 90% said that digital technologies were creating “an easily distracted generation with short attention spans.” Search engines provide information almost immediately to students when looking for references, however may too easily grant immediate satisfaction w...

Understanding the American Education System Qingyang Chen The American education system offers a rich field of choices for international students. There is such an array of schools, programs and locations that the choices may overwhelm students, even those from the U.S. As you begin your school search, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the American education system. Understanding the system will help you narrow your choices and develop your education plan. GRADING SYSTEM Just like American students, you will have to submit your academic transcripts as part of your application for admission to university or college. Academic transcripts are official copies of your academic work. In the U.S. this includes your “grades” and “grade point average” (GPA), which are measurements of your academic achievement. Courses are commonly graded using percentages, which are converted into letter grades. The grading system and GPA in the U.S. can be confusing, especially fo...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/08/magazine/education-by-the-numbers.html In this article, there were many statistics of high school students with different races and how there are predictions of how they are going to succeed in school. Throughout the reading, there are different percentages of predictions of how students are going to do in the future with their education. There is also a topic about segregation and it shows us the percentages of how different the students education is. Statistics show us that students that been segregated had the most difficult time in school.

College students studying together. This is either cooperative learning or collaborative learning.

Lila Soomalelagi Ken Zijing Zheng English 1AF                                     The importance of time management within education and especially college is crucial. To my knowledge, I know that for college students, depending on the amount of units they're taking, that's how many hours it takes to complete the work for that class. Typically, education isn't the only thing college students have to worry about. Most times finances is a big worry and if a student does not have the money to pay off school fees then they have no choice but to get a job. This adds on to their plate, meaning they must fit their work schedules into their day on top of the 10-15 hours of homework and studying. Sleep is sometimes not even an option for college students let alone eating, and failure to keep a good diet results in weight gain and bad health. This phenomenon is known to most as Freshman 15. I...

College students studying in a classroom. We chose this picture because we thought it's relevant to the topic. How does this picture relate to the topic?

When writing posts on this blog, make sure to always title the post with either the article or pictures name or the topic related to it, e.g. for a graphic showing the amount of funding each state contributes to education from K-12, a suitable title would be State Funding For Education Before College.  Make to explain the picture or article and what is your reasoning in choosing this specific item. Make sure to always leave your name at the bottom of the post so that we know who the blogger is. Always leave a link to the article or the artist/photographer, not the Google Images link. Please refrain from using inappropriate language and try your best to be grammatically correct and spell correctly. For commenting, do your best to be grammatically correct and be civil about the discussion. All topics should be in some way relevant to education or the education system. -Ethan Lam

Priscilla Castro https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/magazine/who-benefits-from-the-expansion-of-ap-classes.html The College Board persuaded politicians and policy makers that A.P. classes and tests are one of the best ways to raise standards in poorer schools. "What started as a program for accelerating the education of gifted students is now being used as a means of broadening access to challenging material, " Chester Finn says, a former assistant secretary of education.  Federal and state governments cumulatively have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on A.P. tests and teacher training. However,  the percentage of students scoring between 2 and 5 remained is fairly stable, the percentage of students scoring 1 has grown to 19 percent from 12 percent.  Diane Ravitch, a former assistant secretary of education appointed by President George H.W. Bush puts it succinctly: “The A.P. has become a cash cow for the College Board. If it really wants to promote equity, offe...

Most universities determine admission based on several criteria. They base admission on a students GPA, extracurricular activities, personal essay or their SAT and ACT exam scores. Students regularly take the SAT and ACT exam during their junior or senior year of high school. The SAT exam tests a students critical reading, mathematics, and writing skills. The ACT exam tests a students English, mathematics, reading, and science reasoning skills, and includes an optional writing test. Each university sets a minimum SAT or ACT an applicant must reach in order to gain admission. Stephanie Torres

Is teacher tenure too easy to obtain and given to unsatisfactory teachers? California gubernatorial candidates take on — or don't — the issue of teacher tenure In the article, educators suggest the need for reform in regards to acquiring teacher tenure. The argument includes the idea that teacher tenure is given to teachers in too short amount of time, thus said teachers are not properly analyzed before given tenure. Several teachers, especially those in low-income schools, are easily given tenure, for a sense of stability and security for the school. Teachers walk on eggshells the first few years of their employment, hoping to achieve teacher tenure. After they are able to obtain it, their performance diminishes. Teacher tenure provides a sense of security for the teacher, making it extremely difficult for them to lose their occupation at the school. Educational facilities claim to analyze the teacher until they prove themselves competent enough to remain teaching at the...

Unlike high school, college is more or less an optional choice, and a huge investment racking up thousands in tuition and housing. That said, make sure that you get what you pay for, it's an experience entirely dependent on the amount of time you invest in it. Too many people make the mistake of leaving their dorm doors closed and not going out. Turn off the computer and go and hang out with people, college campuses are very diverse, so there will almost always be at least one person with the same interests. That can mean joining a club or an organization, and even though people are there for the degree, enjoy the ride because everyone is only a freshman once. -Ethan Lam, San Jose State University '21 Let me know what advice you guys have incoming freshman in the comments.