Book Blog

The book I read was Teacher Man by Frank McCourt. For 30 years Frank McCourt taught a high school English class in New York City. As a teacher Frank McCourt thought of himself as a fraud; he wasn't sure of what was his purpose for teaching. His book illustrates the public school system of the fifties and sixties. Frank McCourt always had different teaching methods that other teachers didn't always agree on. He used personal stories to go along with his lessons. McCourt's focused was the students. McCourt used student's slag words, and unique dialect to have a better interaction with them. By his actions he was able to inspire many of his student to look forward to the future. McCourt's purpose for writing this book is to illustrate his struggles and achievements as a teacher in the American public school system. His point is clearly illustrated throughout his novel.

The book is well organized. It begins with his childhood in Ireland and then develops into his school life then this teaching career . From his first year of teaching and so on. The structure of the book was very helpful to fully understand the novel. Because of the layout of the book you could understand why McCourt wanted to become a teacher. Also understand why McCourt used the different teaching strategies that others didn't agree on. Why he didn't stick with teaching from the books but instead to involve a little anecdote to go along with every lesson so his students could interact and understand the lesson better. The layout was very effect to the understanding of the novel.

The author is Frank McCourt, he has also written a very popular book titled Angela's Ashes. Publisher Weekly said: "McCourt throws down the gauntlet on education, asserting that teaching is more than achieving high test scores. It's about educating, about forming intellects, about getting people to think...should be mandatory reading for every teacher in America. And it wouldn't hurt some politicians to read it, too." Teacher Man has received very good reviews from the critics.

The main point of the novel is to illustrate to the public how education works. Show everyone the struggle of teachers and the influence they have on their students. From reading this book novel I've learned that teaching methods don't have to be conventional. The assignment that McCourt gave to his student that stood out the most to me was to write and excused note from Adam or Eve to God. This was interesting because its not an assignment people receive often.

This book tied to my topic because it is based on the American education system and how it can be changed to help the students. This novel help me understand or see that one teacher or classroom can make and impact on the way you learn. One teacher influenced lots of his students by being more interactive with them and helping comprehend everything clearly and in a way that is fun and that they will remember for the rest of their lives.

American Students In the Global Economy

American students may not be globally competent if our education system is falling short from other countries. To educate the American students for the future global economy, we need to ensure the education of the future leaders, and give the students a "world-class" education. Given them a better education will give the students the ability to compete in the 21st century and global economy. We need to teach students other cultures, multiple languages, and several skills so they will know how to interact with people from other countries.

American students are sticking to one language as soon as they began school. From Kindergarten to the 12th grade students are only one language English. They are not learning of global issues or other languages. Even if studies show that kids learn a new or second language easily while the are in elementary school. The education system is not applying this information. They are not including a new language into their year course.

The global economy is giving jobs to those who can communicate, compete and collaborate with the rest of the world. According to the US Department of Commerce one in five jobs today is tied to international trade. American companies are finding greater gain in other countries, so they are moving to succeed in those countries.

If the small companies are moving forward and engage in a global economy we also need to move our students there as well. The Asia Society's Partnership for Global Learning has advanced a series of initiatives to support globally-focused learning in K-12 education. They developed an online curriculum resources to promote global competence and helped raised achievement for undeserved students. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act can be the lever we need to ensure that every student in the U.S. is prepared to engaged in a global economy. This act plans to:

• Benchmark our education system and standards against other countries.
• Encourage and prepare educators to teach the international dimensions of their subjects.
• Build national capacity in world languages from preschool through college.
• Expand federal programs that give U.S. students and teachers the opportunity to engage with the rest of the world.

American is trying to prepare its students to be globally savvy to compete in a global economy. But if this act doesn't follow American students may not be globally competent if our education system is falling short from other countries.

The Great Debate

The "No Child Left Behind" act illustrates different views. Out of the 100 per cent of people asked about the law 34 per cent of people say that the law "has made schools better". 26 per cent say that " it has made the schools worse". 32 per cent say that it hasn't made a difference at all. Lastly 8 per cent of the people "don't know" how the law has impacted the schools.

What is working about the law and what isn't? People that agree with this law cite and agree with "that no child will be left behind, or that struggling students will be brought up to the level of their peers..." and this is why they acclaim the law. Supporters of the law say "that under the law student get more individual attention". Supporters of this law look at improving test scores and think they are escalating because of the law. Supporters say that the law "improves teacher's performance", "and sets standards for new teachers".

Then there are those who say that the law" has made schools worse". These people don't agree with the "excessive focus on the testing", or that teachers only "teach the test" and nothing else. People think the law is altruistic because" the standards are being lowered".

Survey Results

The question for the survey was: Do you think that America has a good education system? This question was asked because most people believe that we have one of the best educational systems in the world. I expected that most people would answer that, yes we do have a good educational system in the U.S. and mostly everyone did.

I gave the survey around REACH time to people around the hallways. I gave the survey to 15 people of different grade levels. 11 people out of the 15 participants answered that yes, America has a good educational system. This answers were arbitrary. The four remaining participants answered that we do not have a good educational system. Most of the 11 people were freshmen and sophomores.

The results came out this way because it was mainly lower class men. Lower class men might think that we have a good system because they haven't researched or are not aware of the educational system and how it has been working out for everyone. If the survey was given to teachers the results might of been very different. The teacher's answers would of been more interesting because they know the educational system better than anyone. The results were not surprising to me because I expected what the results were going to be.

Based on the survey I would probably write about the educational system in the U.S. and write what is working about it and what isn't working at all. Also include what countries have the best systems and what they are doing to keep the students engrossed in learning. What is working for them?

Website

The website is American Education Problems. This website talks about the problems in the American school system. It mentions the problems of too many students, not enough supplies, students are not able to focus and so on.

This website was created by Sandra Price. It was created on the 22 of may in 2001. It does not show the last time it was updated but its publisher is From Reason to Freedom.

Effectiveness: This website is laid out effectively. The information is not easily found and the appearance of the website is not very appealing it is banal. The writing is OK but some things could be changed.
Accuracy: The information is sort of accurate, but it does state some of the problems occurring today. They are not giving all of the sides to the issue. But the basic information about the topic is correct. this website is obsolete.
Credibility: This wouldn't be a trusted source. It doesn't show the last time it was updated. It states lots of the authors opinions on the topic.
Content: People that look at this site can learn some of the problems about the American education system, like not enough supplies, a lot of students per class and other problems. The main point of the site is to illustrate the problems in the education system and suggest ways of fixing some of this problems. The author really doesn't say much about fixing some of the problems so the goal she is trying to make is not meet. There are o visuals about the topic.

Source
Price, Sandra."American Education Problems."
from Reason to Freedom. 22 May 2001.Web. 21 Oct.2010.
http://www.reasontofreedom.com/educationproblems.html.

Current State

Around One hundred years ago about eighty percent of Americans had a high school diploma. Now the U.S. is constantly being outranked by other countries. America is one of the countries that has the shortest school day and school year. Now we need to think of an education reform to improve every students education. During the summer all the students lose what they have learned through out the school year. As a country we need to improve our education if we want to stay acclaimed as the most powerful and influential country in the world. We need to think of programs that will engross the student and escalate his or her learning. People for example Dewayne Matthews, vice president of the Denver-based Education Commission stated that "It is clear that educational disadvantage is born not at school but in the home." "Learning begins at birth." Should every American be en charge of their education or should the government take care of it?

Background Information

This blog is about American education when compared to the rest of the world. Through out this blog I will explore what our school system is all about. About how much money "we" spend on our countries education. What countries are the best and so on.

The issue is that America is falling behind other countries when it come down to our education. We need to be more adamant when it comes down to "our" education system. Our education system seems to obsolete when compared to other countries.

This is consideration because of 30 comparable countries, the U.S. ranks near the bottom at 25 for math and 21 for science and 20th on high school graduation rates. Our graduation rate is 75 percent while other countries have a 90 percent rate. The U.S. does outrank other countries when it comes to the amount of money we spend per student. We spend over $129,000 per student from k to 12. Other countries spend 95,000 per student also from k to 12. Some members of the board of education agreed that part of why the U.S ranks near the bottom is that we have have one of the shorter school year. Teachers might spend more time on re-teaching or reviewing what their students forgot over the extensive summer. The worlds education systems are changing rapidly and we are not keeping up.