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Usilode Beresford-Cole Diana Watkins Comp. 2 9:00 A.M. 9/04/13 The Educational Balance Education is the key word to our main focus for todays generation. My essay will be based off of two very important topics. One subject is expressing the unpreparedness of students on a college-level and the other focused on the quote Students will float to the mark you set. My opinion on both of these topics are very strong and focused. These are things that not only myself, but other students should talk about. In my opinion, students will very much so float to the mark the educational system, teachers and parents all set. It is a statement based off of standards and students adjusting to those specific standards. From my own personal experience, I moved up throughout grade school living up to the quote Students will float to the mark you set. There are many different factors that tie into the subject, but the main focus is the educational system that allowed me to live up to those standards. K-12 education was a breeze for me. The actual break down where I discovered this pattern started in middle school. Most of my teachers were there to fill voids rather than teach us anything. It also did not help that most of my teachers were coaches or just office staff. School was more of a social outing rather than a place of learning, and we mostly engaged in extracurricular activities during school hours. This same pattern carried on into high school for me. Although school work was a bit more challenging, the same trends took place and became even worse. I passed through high school with much ease and relaxation because thats what we

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received from our teachers and the system in whole. I never had to work hard because the standards were not set very high throughout my middle and high school educational level. There is a lack of motivation built into our educational system. If the system actually set higher standards then our students would float higher to that mark set. I do believe that we students play a very big role in this subject as well. We have to be the one to make a difference. We have to push ourselves, as well as the teachers to improve and set higher standards for all of us. But all in all, it takes more than just the teachers and students. It takes the system, parents, good teaching ethics, environment and economy to enhance students educational performance. We all have to work together to get the job done so that we all can make improvements and ultimately float to the highest mark. There has obviously been a big debate about students being unprepared for college-level courses. This is a big issue that has effected many students, including myself. Tying in to the first subject, it goes back to students not receiving the proper education or tools they need to be prepared. Most teachers are going to express or teach a subject the way they know how and not necessarily teaching it the way the students can understand or master these subjects. From my personal experience, although I was learning things, I wasnt necessarily receiving the tools I needed to be ready for the next level. It caused me to struggle in later subjects and till this day I am playing catch up. It is an unfair system and is unfair to us students. A lot of this issue is coming from the disorderly classrooms. There are those teachers that cant keep their students under control. As a result of that, the students are not being disciplined so that they can be taught. We are consistently getting by with excellent grades but are testing with low inaccurate scores. For example, I excelled through grade school with high math scores but tested low on my

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ACT. Because of that, I came to college unprepared and had to pay for a remedial course. This lack of education really does hurt us down the line, financial, mentally and educationally. There are many different solutions to this one challenge. Referring back to the quote Were Number Umpteenth in the Washington post is a prime reason of why we need to make these adjustments. As a country, we need to start with a foundation. This foundation needs to set standards that incorporate the tools needed to provide a stable educational system. Once the system has been set then the teachers can improve their teaching ethics. Another solution could be more time. Most classes are in session for an hour or less. It is very difficult to teach a large class with a limited time frame. We as students look up to our teachers to help us be successful and for the most part our grades and our knowledge are in there hands. They must mold us with the proper teachings and tools to be college ready. We need that motivational push and pull from our parents as well to make this happen. Most of the time it starts at home as well as the environment youre raised in. With that being said, we need our parents to support and motivate our students to be ready to learn and receive a good education. In conclusion, our educational system has to be improved overall. It will take just about every aspect to make this improvement happen. I believe that it can be done in a timely fashion with the help of that motivational push and pull. Being a part of this educational downfall has really opened my eyes to what my future as well as the younger generation holds. These issues have affected us as students, a system and a country all in one.

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Works Cited Strauss, Valerie. "The Washinton Post." The Myth of Lagging U.S. Schools. The Washington Post Company, 3 May 2013. Web. 3 Aug. 2013.