What should we do to create a strong US education system that works for all, that improves student outcomes and enables our country to regain its leadership position in the field of education?
Below is the beginning of the essay I submitted.
In a famous parable, a group of animals get together to establish a school for their young:
[The animals] adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming and flying. To make it easy to administer, all animals took all the subjects.
The duck was excellent in swimming, better in fact than his instructor, and made excellent grades in flying, but he was very poor in running. Since he was low in running he had to stay after school and also drop swimming to practice running. This was kept up until his webbed feet were badly worn and he was only average in swimming. But average was acceptable in school, so nobody worried about that except the duck.
Other animals fared no better than the duck. Each animal had its own strength and weakness, but the one-size-fits-all approach of the school wouldn’t let the animals focus on their strengths. Real schools suffer from a similar problem. Every child is unique, with his or her own interests, capabilities and style of learning. However, the schools lump everyone together into one system, with one curriculum, one pace, and one style of teaching. This prevents students from studying the subjects they enjoy in the way they learn best. The American school system needs to diversify its approach to education. Schools should offer more subjects outside the standard curriculum, teach in new ways besides the traditional lecture, and make greater use of technology in learning. This will ensure that all students will be able to learn the subjects important to them in the way that works best for them...
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