America: Land of Opportunity and... a Failing Education System?
America is known all over the world as the land of opportunity. Individuals from foreign countries look to America as a way for them to make it big. More importantly, they see it as place for their children to prosper and continue their legacy. The number one thing parents look to as an indication of their kids future and one of the only ways they can prosper in their education. Education has been a crucial part of people’s lives as long as one can remember. Whether it was China and the examination system or intellectuals with enlightenment, people have always looked to education as a way to enhance themselves either in society or personally. So, it is not surprising that people …show more content…
Ivy league’s have a reputation as being the pinnacle of higher education, so anything being wrong with them would be problematic to people in America. Ivy league’s only let in the most qualified, distinguished students. One would ask what could go wrong mentally with those well educated individuals. However, according to William Deresiewicz, author of “Don’t Send Your Kid to an Ivy League” these schools create limitations but in a social and mental way(202). He explains that the people who get into Ivy Leagues “are smart and talented and driven… but also anxious, timid, and lost, with little intellectual curiosity and a stunted sense of purpose”(Deresiewicz 202). People might find this shocking to hear that the most qualified schools are actually detrimental to a person’s well being. The author elaborates that these students are so focused on being perfect that being perfect is all they know. They lack an “intellectual curiosity” because they are not worried about learning outside of what they need to learn for the curriculum. They perfected what they needed to know for the test and did not go above that point. That level of perfection and the pressure of meeting the standards of an ivy league can also cause a student to feel constantly nervous. Any little imperfection can render them a mediocre student and being anything less than …show more content…
Not only do teachers have to worry about standardized testing, but they have to also worry about california standards. Jonathan Kozol, author of “Still Separate, Still Unequal” illustrated a situation where a teacher wanted to bring in a pumpkin for Halloween, but she knew that it had nothing to do with the California Standards. So, she had to juggle around how to incorporate the pumpkin into the studies even if it was
America is known all over the world as the land of opportunity. Individuals from foreign countries look to America as a way for them to make it big. More importantly, they see it as place for their children to prosper and continue their legacy. The number one thing parents look to as an indication of their kids future and one of the only ways they can prosper in their education. Education has been a crucial part of people’s lives as long as one can remember. Whether it was China and the examination system or intellectuals with enlightenment, people have always looked to education as a way to enhance themselves either in society or personally. So, it is not surprising that people …show more content…
Ivy league’s have a reputation as being the pinnacle of higher education, so anything being wrong with them would be problematic to people in America. Ivy league’s only let in the most qualified, distinguished students. One would ask what could go wrong mentally with those well educated individuals. However, according to William Deresiewicz, author of “Don’t Send Your Kid to an Ivy League” these schools create limitations but in a social and mental way(202). He explains that the people who get into Ivy Leagues “are smart and talented and driven… but also anxious, timid, and lost, with little intellectual curiosity and a stunted sense of purpose”(Deresiewicz 202). People might find this shocking to hear that the most qualified schools are actually detrimental to a person’s well being. The author elaborates that these students are so focused on being perfect that being perfect is all they know. They lack an “intellectual curiosity” because they are not worried about learning outside of what they need to learn for the curriculum. They perfected what they needed to know for the test and did not go above that point. That level of perfection and the pressure of meeting the standards of an ivy league can also cause a student to feel constantly nervous. Any little imperfection can render them a mediocre student and being anything less than …show more content…
Not only do teachers have to worry about standardized testing, but they have to also worry about california standards. Jonathan Kozol, author of “Still Separate, Still Unequal” illustrated a situation where a teacher wanted to bring in a pumpkin for Halloween, but she knew that it had nothing to do with the California Standards. So, she had to juggle around how to incorporate the pumpkin into the studies even if it was