Education Essay Professor Ramos Blog

Education Essay It is widely known that education is the gateway to an overall better standard of living. Yet why are students underperforming in their classes? If education is the path to success, why do many fail at pursuing it? Students in today’s society are taking for granted an opportunity of a lifetime. Although education paves the way for success in life, it not only fails students to develop skills to prepare for the real world, but students also fail to apply what they are taught into the real world. By changing student management, implementing more life skills, and changing the student efficacy, we could further progress the educational system. One potential solution in improving student management is developing students at their own pace. A HuffPost explains that instead of instructing 25 or more students the same task at the same time, by making them learn at their own speed (â€Å"7 Ways to Improve†). By doing this it would facilitate the workload put upon the teacher or instructor while also giving them the opportunity to aid individuals instead of teaching the class in bulk. Moreover, this is beneficial in improving our education system as it would give the students a chance to set goals for themselves and be able to dwell in knowledge on their own accord. Another way to help improve student management is helping the parents and school staff be more involved in the student’s academic journey. More parent involvement with the schools will give an idea of what the parents can and cannot do for their children, communicating with the schools would also pave the way for the possibility of a two-way verbal exch ange between teacher and parent rather a one-way verbal exchange of a teacher (LaBahn). This would not only help establish a relationship between a parent and teacher, but it would also improve mutual contact between both the parent and teacher. Moreover, The Seattle Times post explained that the student administration came up with what they called â€Å"nudge letters† to inform their current problem of absences. These letters helped improved attendance by 62% and were stated that gains persisted then on (Morton). The administration took the matter to their own hands and got the parents involved in what is going on with the student’s life in school. Effectively looking for an outlet to address a consistent problem has and will help with managing students better. Another possible solution that would aid in improving America’s education system is to develop the student’s life skills and educate them to apply these skills into real-life scenarios. One skill that is rarely taught in schools today is critical thinking. When it comes to the real world, making decisions could affect the balance of an individual’s life one way or another (Akins). The failure of learning this skill sets the students up for failure and would give them no preparation in these certain scenarios. Following up on making poor decisions, many students also do not apply what they learned to help them solve problems. Author Jake Akins also accentuated that students learn by rote memorization, failing to fully understand and apply the concept that they have learned (â€Å"20 Life Skills†). By thoroughly understanding academic concepts and topics, students would be able to use what they have learned instead of going through the motions. One consistent problem throughout the education system is the level of student efficacy rates in schools. In other words, student absenteeism is another problem that could be looked into in order to help better education. In The Seattle Times post they addressed that in the city of Tacoma, the absenteeism rate increased from about 19.5% to 22.8% during the span from the years 2012-’13 to 2014-’15 (Morton). Almost a quarter of students are absent from school throughout the academic school year. Absence could imply that the students lack the motivation to even be educated for their sake. Looking at this from a nationwide perspective, throughout the years 2012-2015 the absence rates have slowly crept from 14.7% to 16% on average among all students (Morton). Student efficacy is vital and corresponds with the student’s success and state of participation in academics. How can students even learn if they are not at school at all? By improving efficacy within the student s, it would allow more self-confidence and sustain motivation to learn. Education has been an important aspect in terms of moving up in life and taking the steps to success. History has proven that education was the outlet for a better quality of life, whether that is climbing out of poverty or just improving a better standard of living. But with today’s quickly evolving technologies and developing communities, many of today’s students have taken for granted the educational system that many considered to be a chance at a new life. But by taking initiative, there is a possibility to improve and bring back the education in its prime. By developing skills in order to prepare for the real world will greatly improve the quality of life for students. But many solutions should start with the school itself. Student and administration management would be the simplest and one of the more efficient ways to improve the educational systems. By getting everyone, whether that is the teachers, the parents, or the students themselves, more involved in the a cademics and extracurricular activities, it would help development student-teacher relationships while also keeping the parents in the loop. Although schools and universities are the best places to develop skills needed to pass classes, they certainly lack skills that could be applied to the real world. Learning is more than just going through the motions and it more than what is printed on a piece of paper or written on a whiteboard. Finally, by developing better student efficacy, education systems could improve better student participation and attendance in classes. These solutions are only scratching the surface on how to improve education for students. There are so much more that can factor into greatly improving academics, but by working small and building the way up, it is possible to further progress education. â€Å"20 Life Skills Not Taught In School.† Successful Student, 24 Apr. 2019, successfulstudent.org/20-life-skills-not-taught-in-school/. â€Å"Ask the Experts: 7 Ways to Improve K-12 Public Education.† HuffPost, HuffPost, 20 Apr. 2017, huffpost.com/entry/ask-the-experts-7-ways-to-improve-k-12-public-education_b_58f8d0ffe4b086ce58980e52?guccounter=1 LaBahn, J. Education and parental involvement in secondary schools: Problems, solutions, and effects. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. edpsycinteractive/files/parinvol.html Morton, Neal. â€Å"Is Your Kid Absent More than Classmates? School Nudge Letters Tell Parents Just How Much.† The Seattle Times, The Seattle Times Company, 1 Mar. 2017, seattletimes.com/education-lab/absent-students-schools-attendance-nudge-letters/.