Below are just a few figures from the wordpress.com who merely compiled several reports from other agencies regarding the ranking systems in education and how the U.S. ranked compared to the other Countries that were evaluated.
Pearson Education: January, 2015: Education: 14th out of 40 evaluated Countries
IPSOS Mori: October, 2014: Ignorance: 2nd out of 14 evaluated Countries
PISA: December, 2013: Literacy: 24th out of 65 evaluated educational systems.
EIU: January, 2015: Educational Performance: 17th out of 40 evaluated Countries
CIA: October, 2010: Educational Expenditure: 54th of 173 evaluated Countries
While statistics alone don't represent the final answer about our current education system in the United States, it does speak volumes about what our Children are going through compared to other places in the World...even some 3rd World countries are getting better results than our current system.
I'd like to propose a poll on opinions of this matter and suggest that our debaters each bring something to the table in the form of a solution to follow their point or argument. If you agree that our Public Schools are more harmful than helpful then please bring a solution and we can debate those as well. If you think the system is acceptable as is then please bring a solution that would bring forth a positive light to our education system that seems to be getting a bad rap.
https://rankingamerica.wordpress.com/category/education/http://www.pearsoned.com/about-us/
"If there's no such thing as a stupid question then what kind of questions do stupid people ask"?
"There's going to be a special place in Hell for people who spread lies through the veil of logical fallacies disguised as rational argument".
"Oh, you don't like my sarcasm? Well I don't much appreciate your stupid".
Debra AI Prediction
Arguments
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  Avg. Grade Level: 7.76  
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There are 3 most important elements that education system should provide:
1) specific knowledge
2) social skills and interactions
3) appetite for future continuous learning
It is extremely inefficient to have kids learn about bunch of generic subjects in a large class setting, trying to memorize bunch of Mildly useful content. The curriculum should be highly individualized, self-paced, and with a much earlier and heavier focus on entrepreneurship, leadership, and hard core technology skills.
why not start teaching all of that at 7 -9 years old?
With invent of great e-learning crowdsourced platforms like udemy, lynda, etc - the learning can be customized and accelerated. Retention of learning would improve exponentially since kids would actually be interested in what they are learning.
I would take draconian measures in establishing core curriculum and would make many generic subjects totally optional with an option of having low intensity on second language, social studies, and etc.
By leveraging e-learning platforms instead of large classes, we can monitor kids performance and make it much transparent. They can progress at their speed, with classrooms taking a role of coaching, instead of primary method to lecture.
  Considerate: 93%  
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  Avg. Grade Level: 12.98  
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I'd like to see a school system designed around 4 fundamental structures:
1. Reasoning - This is your logic portion of education that teaches you how to be a reasonable and prudent person, how to apply sensibility, how to be a critical thinker and how to formulate independent thought.
2. Critical Knowledge - This is the bread and butter of what we have today, only in my perfect school only knowledge that was actually applicable, useful and realistic would be taught. Basic and Advanced mathematics with stress on the BASICS, English, Comprehensive writing ect. History would be something that could be introduced later in education but forcing children to memorize facts about history and to regurgitate them onto paper later doesn't teach anything except how to memorize then forget. Likewise most sciences would come later on in education, life sciences would probably be the only ones included at early ages.
3. Relationships - This pillar would be focused around the every-day relationships we have with people. Kids would learn what it means to be a friend, colleague, subordinate, superior, peer ect. Kids would learn how to function in each of the types of relationships they will encounter throughout their lives, what is acceptable and unacceptable and why. The dynamics of relationships is something lost on our Children today.
4. Society - This is where kids would learn about the world that they live in, what society expects and what won't be tolerated. Laws, rules, codes, ethics, morals standards and the like would be taught and introduced with real-world application so as to prepare children to interact with the world around them. They'd also learn Economics here, how to handle business, free-trade, entrepreneurship. You know...real world training.
I'd also like to see different branches of education. I don't see anything wrong with a Child who displays severe disinterest in academic studies, being sent to learn a trade instead of being sentenced to 8 more years of classroom studies and having a textbook planted in front of their nose. There's nothing wrong with learning at a young age how to be a carpenter, welder, mechanic, blacksmith, metallurgist...trade skills are in higher demand today than they ever have been in the past.
I'm so tired of seeing kids going to school like drones, coming out knowing nothing but what they've been told to believe and having no real life-skills. We expect 18yr old people to make effective and intelligent decisions regarding their future when less than a month prior to that we told them they have to raise their hand to get permission to go potty. We are NOT training our youth to be better than us...we're disabling them and putting them in a prime position to fail.
"There's going to be a special place in Hell for people who spread lies through the veil of logical fallacies disguised as rational argument".
"Oh, you don't like my sarcasm? Well I don't much appreciate your stupid".
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  Spelling & Grammar: 100%  
  Sentiment: Positive  
  Avg. Grade Level: 10.72  
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I agree. Excellent writeup and video.
our society needs to evolve. Transformation of education system will make a profound difference in our future.
our society doesn't give kids the right opportunities, and many of the kids could become high profile entrepreneurs before hitting puberty if they get the right support system. Luckily, with online resources some kids are getting opportunities to get real knowledge.
We actually created a system of age discrimination. Kids should be given opportunities in much earlier age to so something useful, instead of studying meaningless subjects at school.
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Going through the public school system in a nice area, with the right attitude from the student and supporting parent has potential to produce great results.
There is an opportunity to further improve the system regardless, but I wouldn't write it all off as bad.
- Walt Disney
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Only 4 countries spend more per-student than the US yet according to OECD, we're 24th on the list in terms of overall performance. The US is only 3 points ahead of the Czech Republic, 6 points ahead of Latvia, and 17 points behind Slovenia. Whatever stats you use, we aren't getting our money's worth. we need to allow teachers to teach as they see fit and be able to hold them accountable for their performance.
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To clarify something though, I'd like to make it clear that I'm not bashing teachers, yes there are some really bad ones out there but Teachers as a whole represent a tiny fraction of the problem...the real underlying issue is the system. Our educational system is broken, ineffective at best and plagued with failure from the start to finish. We need to get rid of this "One size fits all" approach to learning and education and stop bending individual Children to the system...instead we should make the system fluid enough to fit the needs of the individual so that we can achieve success in education on a wide variety of fronts.
When I was a young man I distinctly remember (And most of you should too) that our educational system crammed this idea down our throats that if you didn't do well in public school then you wouldn't be able to get into college...and that if you didn't get into college then you would NEVER get a job that would allow you to prosper in life. They fear mongered us into believing that College meant success and prosperity and that without it...we couldn't support a Family, couldn't live a full and meaningful life and that we'd never rise to the top. Now look at our Society, the 4-year bachelor degree means less today than the Highschool diploma meant 20 years ago. The floodgates opened and now over 42% of all college graduates with a 4-year degree will go on to take jobs that don't require a 4-year degree...AND they'll have an average of over $37,000 in debt. This is why the unemployment rate of college graduates is higher than it has EVER been. Alot of this is because only 12% of all jobs in the U.S. require a degree. These college graduates will spend YEARS trying to get a job that will allow them to use their degree and meanwhile the skilled labor workforce is over 70% under strength. Electricians, Welders, Carpenters...there's a HUGE shortage of citizens that are skilled in these areas. Ever heard of the Skills Gap?
"There's going to be a special place in Hell for people who spread lies through the veil of logical fallacies disguised as rational argument".
"Oh, you don't like my sarcasm? Well I don't much appreciate your stupid".
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  Considerate: 97%  
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  Considerate: 80%  
  Substantial: 48%  
  Spelling & Grammar: 100%  
  Sentiment: Positive  
  Avg. Grade Level: 9.38  
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  Relevant (Beta): 93%  
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"There's going to be a special place in Hell for people who spread lies through the veil of logical fallacies disguised as rational argument".
"Oh, you don't like my sarcasm? Well I don't much appreciate your stupid".
  Considerate: 69%  
  Substantial: 69%  
  Spelling & Grammar: 85%  
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  Avg. Grade Level: 5.46  
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inner city schools that are overcrowded and underfunded provide horrible education.
  Considerate: 73%  
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  Avg. Grade Level: 10.92  
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  Considerate: 89%  
  Substantial: 16%  
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  Avg. Grade Level: 2.36  
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