TREND Fall 2018 | Page 31

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There are also so many dynamics involved with the student ’ s life that the schools have absolutely no control over , as in the culture they live in , or what their home life is like . What the child brings to school from their home environment is critical for their learning , yet as a school we have no control over that .
We constantly hear how we compare to other countries in education . Especially in regards to test scores . My question is , “ are we comparing oranges to oranges or oranges to apples ?” In the US , we attempt to educate and test each and every child . We have laws that require children to attend school or their parents face certain consequences . What about other countries ? It is my understanding that many countries , especially some Asian countries , categorize their students at a young age and direct them ; give them the education or training that will make them successful as an adult whether it is academic or vocational . We hear in the news how China is about to pass us as economical power . I know as an American , I too , hate to concede that position . But let ’ s look at a few facts . First , China is the most populated country in the world . Not sure if that factors in or not but it surely must have an effect or their ability to succeed . Second , look at the label of just about everything we buy . Most everything has a “ Made in China ” label . If not China , it ’ s usually from another country . Why is that ? We may have an uncomfortable percentage rate of unemployment , and other countries are making everything for us ? We in this country would not support child labor or poor working conditions , but in an indirect way do we find ourselves supporting such possible conditions and pay for that we would not tolerate on our own land ?
Speaking of test scores , is it fair we compare our scores to other countries when we test each and every child ? I have seen many an unmotivated child just randomly choose answers during a standardized test . I have seen children with special issues make random marks for that is all they can do . We all know folks who are just not good test takers even though they know the material . But yet these scores go into our overall average thus bringing it down . Do all countries we compare ourselves to test and use the average of all their students as we do , or are their averages a result of a pre selective system ? I think that is important to know .
I feel that in education today , our lawmakers are pushing to prepare each student for college . That is a great goal , but not all students are college material . Not all students want to go to college . Why do we not try to help those students ? Let ’ s take it at face value of what the law makers want . Let ’ s say that all students will be educated and they go to college . Now my question is , “ who is going to build our houses ?