Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt's The Deliberate Dumbing Down Of America

Did you know that the United States ranks 17th in education performance? That is a huge drop from 1980 when the United States was ranked 1st. Clearly, our education system has gone in a downward spiral and is struggling to keep up with other countries. The documentary, “Waiting for Superman” by David Guggenheim, and the article, “Idiot Nation” by Michael Moore, discuss the weaknesses in our education system. Although both authors offer compelling arguments, “Waiting for Superman” contained a better argument because of its abundance of rhetorical strategies, whereas “Idiot Nation” contained some logical fallacies.

America’s educational institutions continue to evolve in order to provide “the one best system” that will benefit students in their present and future educational endeavors. The One Best System written by David B. Tyack, interprets the challenges and criticisms of America’s beginning formal education institutions as well as discusses how the solutions were used to perpetuate existing power structures and social classes to shape education entirely. As the idea of educating America’s children began to spread, schools were viewed as a community due to the tightly knit groups that were formed among individuals. Community members believed that educational institutions were an opportunity for social amusement as they provided social contact with

The educational policy is for teachers to teach children and teenagers in all states the same curriculum, with a purpose for everyone to not fall behind in the area of attending college and have the skills for their career (Evers, 1). Although this may seem to be the best solution, students are not doing any better in learning the materials because teachers are only teaching the standards that are on the examinations. In the article “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work”, Jean Anyon argues that in the working class schools and middle class schools, students are expected to solve a problem with minimal decision-making and get the right answer through finding it in teacher’s notes and textbooks (163-79). Anyon’s studies are not accurate because her data does not show the entire U.S population; however, her studies do show the problems within working and middle class schools (DeNavas, and Proctor,

In the essay “Education,” written by E.B. White, two educational philosophies are evaluated in attempt to inform America about the contrasting forms of schooling offered to our nation’s children. Author Jack Selzer pursues a rhetorical analysis of White’s essay, taking credibility, fairness, and overall quality of the essay into consideration. White’s style of writing, language usage, and persuasive tactics are all components that factor into the effectiveness of the essay, and therefore, are some of the main facets evaluated by Selzer. Selzer’s analysis is extremely accurate, and is essentially identical to my analysis of the essay.

When taking a look into Jean Anyon’s “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work”, readers are apprised of the hidden agendas many schools have. In this article, Anyon focuses on the curriculum and student-teacher interaction from five New Jersey elementary schools located in different communities with different levels of socioeconomic status. Anyon attempts to find evidence of the differences in student work in schools in wealthy communities versus those in poor communities, in an effort to bolster the argument that public schools in society provide different forms of knowledge. Through her researcher, she was able to determine that working class schools limited students; the students were given steps to follow and they were graded based on how well they followed directions—this level of education was preparing students for the labor force as blue collar workers. In addition, the affluent professional school and the middle-class school focused on attaining the correct answer, but allowed individuals to have a choice of appropriate method and material.

Against School by John Gatto is an essay that attempts to persuade the reader that public education fails to educate its students. The main way Gatto tries to persuade his audience is by presenting anecdotal evidence and by showing the historical narrative to the education system of the Untied States. Gatto attempts also attempts to reach out to his audience by referring to commonalities in the public education system that have been experienced by many people. Overall the essay is persuasive but lacks any practical authority. The first thing the author does is provide background, background on himself and the situation with education in the United States; and, this is what the author primarily does.

The idea of classroom causing problems for America’s society is elaborated when President Johnson explains that many children in America don’t have enough money to afford school. “There your children’s lives will be shaped. Our society will not be great until every young mind is set free to scan the farthest reaches of thought and imagination.” In order for a society to be great, education is the foundation; schools are where child learn about their world, and what it is they will do in the future to earn money to live a good life. And to better prove his idea Johnson states, “Each year more than 100,000 high school graduates, with proved ability, do not enter college because they cannot afford it,” then questions what will happen in years when time has become elapsed to conclude any efforts are needed to come into play for there to be a Great Society.

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." —Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004. In a society notorious for its oblivious politicians, questionable educational system, and money hungry big corporations, this senseless quote made by the forty-third president of the United States George W. Bush, is only one of the many incidents validating Moore’s claim that we as Americans lack sufficient articulation and education. If there could be a spokesperson for criticizing American politicians, the educational system, globalization, large corporations, the war in Iraq, and many other debatable issues, American author of “Idiot Nation”, Michael Moore would be the ideal candidate.

In Grant Penrod 's essay, Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids, Penrod argues that intellectualism is declining in America, not because of poor education or electronics, but because of the current public perception of intellectuals (Penrod 762). Penrod first supports his argument with the example of an Arizona high school football team who receives praise and attention from their peers for winning the championship, while the debate team, science team, and the decathletes, who achieved the same feat, were barely recognized: The football team from Mountain View High School won the Arizona state championship last year. Again. Unbeknownst to the vast majority of the school 's student body, so did the Science Bowl Team, the Speech and Debate Team, and the Academic Decathlon Team.

In “here I stand”, Erica Goldson encourages change in the American schooling system. Erica points out a lot of flaws in the schooling system. No one is learning to learn, everyone is learning to graduate. People aren’t studying in order to learn more, people are studying in order to get through school faster. School puts down the creativity located in each and every one of us.

Publication Information Mantsios, Gregory. “Class in America: Myths and Realities (2000).” Rereading America. Ed. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, Bonnie Lisle.

Dwight Okita, and Sandra Cisneros both make common theme 's of being "American". One of the ways they develop this feeling is kind of comparable, however very different. Over this essay, I will compare these difference 's. I will also try to list how the writer 's are feeling in the situations they were subjected to. The emotions and feelings they state when accused of "not being American" or needing to claim to be American. The method of how Okita develops this started from her experiences.

Students who report lower average grades will be sent a link to a survey. The survey will ask various statements regarding their learning experience in the course and ask them to rate each item, including questions about the professor’s teaching style. The students that do not have lower average grades will be sent a link to a survey about their general attitudes towards their university. Therefore,

Movie Summary: In the movie Mean Girls, Cady Heron is experiencing her first year in school despite being 16 because her parents are research zoologists and homeschooled all her life since they were in Africa on an assignment. Consequently, she had very little contact with people her age let alone western culture and was not aware of the dealings of high school or adolescence in general. As can be expected it was hard for her to adjust to this new life where adults don’t trust her and she is restricted by unfamiliar rules. She feels lonely until she becomes friends with Janis and Damian, who guide her and teach her about all the cliques in the school.

Clearly, the introduction of public education has had immense impact on American society. With it 's establishment historically, came a substantial accrual in the overall education level of the citizens of the United States. Recently, public education has become perceived as being the “standard” way to educate students. However, the history of public education is rather brief when compared with other education methods, there are numerous misconceptions regarding the quality of public education, and there are many detrimental effects on individuals and families, which are often overlooked in light of a handful of touted benefits.