Outliers Essay
It’s time for a change. The U.S. public school system was established almost 200 years ago and based on current thinking at that time (Malcolm 252). Considering Illinois just became a state, 200 years ago, I believe that it is time for a change in regards to the school system. After reading chapter nine of the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, I began to question the school system that I have been a part of for the last 10 years. Thesis: I think that there should be a new school calendar, longer length of school day and we should relook at subjects taught.
Gladwell believes that “the problem with school, for kids who aren’t achieving, is that there isn’t enough of it” (Gladwell 259). His argument that the length of the school year needs to be increased, is supported by research completed by Karl Alexander which found the reason rich kids had higher scores than poor kids was because the rich kids continued to learn over the summer, while learning opportunities stopped for the poor kids (Gladwell 259). As a hard-working high school student, I often feel that we have too many days of school, but I now agree with Gladwell that if the length of our summer break is shortened, kids would learn more, and …show more content…
After lots of research I decided that we shouldn’t have the same classes 5 days a week and that some classes we don’t need as many years as we get. What I figured out is that we shouldn't have the same classes all 5 days each week but should instead change it up like they do in college. Colleges have found this helps lighten the homework load and make students feel better about it. After I thought of this I also thought do Chem, History, Gym, English, Math, and a foreign language really need as much time as we put into it. After I did lot of research I learned that the majority such as math and history don't and that they should actually have more of gym and some music classes
It’s time for a change. The U.S. public school system was established almost 200 years ago and based on current thinking at that time (Malcolm 252). Considering Illinois just became a state, 200 years ago, I believe that it is time for a change in regards to the school system. After reading chapter nine of the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, I began to question the school system that I have been a part of for the last 10 years. Thesis: I think that there should be a new school calendar, longer length of school day and we should relook at subjects taught.
Gladwell believes that “the problem with school, for kids who aren’t achieving, is that there isn’t enough of it” (Gladwell 259). His argument that the length of the school year needs to be increased, is supported by research completed by Karl Alexander which found the reason rich kids had higher scores than poor kids was because the rich kids continued to learn over the summer, while learning opportunities stopped for the poor kids (Gladwell 259). As a hard-working high school student, I often feel that we have too many days of school, but I now agree with Gladwell that if the length of our summer break is shortened, kids would learn more, and …show more content…
After lots of research I decided that we shouldn’t have the same classes 5 days a week and that some classes we don’t need as many years as we get. What I figured out is that we shouldn't have the same classes all 5 days each week but should instead change it up like they do in college. Colleges have found this helps lighten the homework load and make students feel better about it. After I thought of this I also thought do Chem, History, Gym, English, Math, and a foreign language really need as much time as we put into it. After I did lot of research I learned that the majority such as math and history don't and that they should actually have more of gym and some music classes