As an American teenager I cannot remember a time where I wasn't
stressing over a test or a piece of homework that was due. As I was
researching the American school system it surprised me to find out that
the United States wasn't higher up on the PISA (Programme for
International Student Assessment). The United States ranks at 14th in reading and 25th in maths; which
is good but there is still room for improvement (Sheppard 2010). Looking
at other countries and how they run their school systems leaves me thinking about our own and how to help it. The first thing I found was that the Netherlands has the happiest children in the world. These kids have little to no homework until they are older than 10 (Acosta 2013). They focus on learning and the importance of playing. Many would say that the less focus on work would lead to bad test scores, but the Netherlands ranked 7th in reading and 6th in maths on the PISA showing that its okay for kids to just be kids. Secondly I found out that capping the class sizes at 25 can lead to a more one on one experience for the students that is beneficial for the children and the teachers. Having less kids in one room will lead to a more family experience to the learning and will let teachers help any misunderstandings without kids being overlooked. In other countries such as Singapore, Finland, or South Korea they pay teachers more than the average American starting at a salary of $39,000 (Jacques 2013). Having higher salaries would ensure that more people pursue their passion for teaching whereas going for other better paying jobs so they can survive this economy. Johnny Chatin said, "In both Korea and Finland though, eduaction is held in high regards and teachers are treated with great respect (equal to how we revere doctors or lawyers in the west.)" which is an interesting statement because aren't teachers as important as doctors and lawyers? They are teaching the next generation of doctors, lawyers, scientists, artists, builders, pilots, etc. America has a good education system, but we can make it great.
http://www.findingdutchland.com/five-impressions-of-the-dutch-educational-system/
https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/dec/07/world-education-rankings-maths-science-reading
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/09/foreign-education-policies_n_4385583.html
http://www.mbctimes.com/english/20-best-education-systems-world
