A Step in the Right Direction
A Step in the Right Direction
A Step in the Right Direction
In his essay, "What Our Education System Needs Is More F's", Carl Singleton touches on a very serious problem with America's education system, K-12 and college. He states that students are just being moved through the system (from one grade to the next) and many high school graduates are illiterate. According to Singleton, getting F's, where deserved, would force parents, principals, and everybody else to wake up and take action. Singleton understands that giving F's will not solve all the problems, but if "the big fat F" in red ink were to appear on more work sheets in high schools and colleges across America, it would be noticed and people would have no choice but to take action(180). He is absolutely correct with his notion that the standards need to be set higher, not lower.
Singleton calls for immediate action to grading students work according to their performance. He states that "illiteracy among high-school graduates is growing because those students have been passed rather than flunked" (180). According to him, the school systems have contributed significantly to this problem by lowering the grading standards over the last twenty plus years. At first, D's were given where F's were warranted, then D's turned to C's and so on (181). Until I had kids of my own, I honestly did not pay much attention to the grading system. This changed drastically once my two boys entered school. Here at Bamberg Elementary School, kids do not even receive real grades until they enter fourth grade. The "grades" they see in their report cards are CD (consistently displayed), P (developing/progressing), and N (not yet evident). So really, in order to get a CD, all they have to do is show up on a regular base and answer a few questions during that time and turn in their work. Not much of an incentive. Now that both are getting real' grades (A-F), they seem to take more pride in their work. Still, the work they show me (I grew up in a much tougher German school system) is at a fairly low standard. Both my children are maintaining a 4.0 GPA with putting forth very little to no effort at all. I remember when I was going to school (the German system), I had to work and study hard to maintain my A's, B's, and C's. The curriculum demanded our full attention while we were at school and homework was given to ensure we understood what we learned during the day. Tests were hard and we were forced to study the assigned material very thoroughly. We had one try to get a good grade on our work. My children hardly ever have homework, and a friend told me recently that her son had the option to retake a test he had failed in the hopes to better himself. What kind of message is that sending to the students?
Singleton suggests that it is not the students who are to be blamed but the "low-quality teaching because of low-quality teachers who never should have been certified in the first place" (180). There is truth to it to a point. Not all teachers who graduate are of "low-quality". With my children I have seen the low-, medium-, and high-quality. My eldest's fourth grade teacher was actually teaching a multi-age class (fourth and fifth grade). Unfortunately, she was on the low end of her profession. More than once did my son bring home a math test graded with an A. However, when I checked it over I found several mistakes. How can a test with only 20 questions and two to four wrong answers get an A? He was so excited when he came home and showed me his test result, but to be fair to my child, I had to tell him that he did not earn this A. He was crushed, but he agreed with me that this is not right and most of all should not have happened in the first place. For second and third grade (also a multi-age class), both my boys had a wonderful teacher who pushed them to excel. She would not accept mediocre work performances. Unfortunately, from what I have seen, the low-quality teachers by far out-weigh the high-quality ones (in Bamberg). Two differences I have noticed with these two teaching styles amazed me. The fourth grade teacher kept all the students on the same level. Unfortunately, the teaching was catered to the slowest kid in class. The second/third grade teacher had every kid working on his or her own personal level. Every kid in that class excelled. Both my boys left her classroom with knowledge way past the third grade curriculum. She is a great example of what teachers can and should do if they are concerned about their students' education.
Singleton recommends "giving F's whenever students have failed to master the material" (181). I do agree with him to give credit where credit is due. Once more F's are handed out for the poor work that is handed in, parents would take notice and maybe get off their duffs and take action. Singleton is right that it is not just up to the teachers to raise the standards and hold the children accountable. Many of my children's classmates could do better in school if parents would get involved in their education. However, it is up to the teachers to grade the work and have the grade reflect the work turned in. If my kids were to come home with F's, I would thoroughly check their homework and get involved. Should that not bring results, I would go to the school and look for answers. It is so important to take an active role in our children's education. We, the parents, need to hold our kids' teachers accountable. When we lived in Pennsylvania, we had a neighbor who was teaching math at the local high school. He told us numerous times about getting in trouble with the leadership in his school as well as parents because he refused to pass a student who did not deserve to pass. What would it help the kids further down in life if they graduated without the ability to read or do basic math? How far would they get? What kind of life could they lead? Good for him and his students to set a higher standard.
Like Singleton, I think that "giving F's will [not] solve all the problems but ... unless and until we start failing those students who should be failed, other suggested solutions will make little progress toward improving education" (181). Once more big red F's are showing up on students' papers, K-12 and college, people will take notice and hopefully strive to leave mediocrity behind. Let's not lower the standards to make students feel adequate. Instead, let's raise the standard to bring out the best in them. Stop pushing them through the system so the numbers' add up and the school looks good'. Bring up the standard and hold the students, parents, educators, and principals accountable. Let us all take a step in the right direction.
Works Cited
Singleton, Carl. "What Our Education System Needs Is More F's." Writing from
Sources. 7th ed. Brenda Spatt. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2007. 180-183.
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