As I conclude this series of blogs regarding education as a civic issue, I hope I have been able to highlight facets of the public education system in the United States. I had intended to research and portray issues with the direction of the system currently and how we value it in our community. It was my hope to highlight these underlying issues of the role of the education system from assessing students to valuing our teachers, so that we can learn from where we are struggling. I wanted to challenge the current style with which our students are learning and being taught so that moving forward, we can begin to help them get a better education and become better leaders. With that, I wanted to focus on the culmination of stress and pressure across the whole educational body. Students and teachers bear the greatest levels of stress and pressure in school environments, and it is a growing problem.

Students across the nation are experiencing greater levels of pressure and stress to ensure that their academic performance is the best. A little bit of stress can be a good thing. This is the level of stress where students are feeling tingly in their stomachs which can then be focused into increased energy that can then help students on tests or presentations. However, the experience of stress described by students nowadays is not the same. We all will feel pressure in our daily lives, but there is a different kind of issue brewing with this. A Pew survey found that 70% of teens categorize anxiety and stress as a “major problem” among their peers (Flannery). There is also research showcasing that academic pressures are at the top of concerns for students with 61% reporting they face the greatest stress to achieve good grades (Flannery). These could be tossed up to several academic factors such as growing up in the increased age of standardization and monotonous homework, but it can also be attributed to issues of technology and social media. Both nonetheless, play a great role and prove inhibitory to student’s successes.

Growing up in the age of the No Child Left Behind and Every Student Succeeds Act, this generation of students has constantly combatted standardized tests at all grade levels. Repetition of this has instilled a great ideology of standardization and rising to the top. This has further placed pressure on students to ensure that they are rising to the top. As they moved to high school, they were introduced to AP level classes that continued this tradition of rising to the top and challenging oneself. Fundamentally they do challenge students. Yet, there is a misconception that students have to take the classes, and they must always receive an A in them as well (Walker). Instead of creating an environment where education was valued, it shifted to a competitive mindset of who can acquire all of the knowledge of the test. As students wanted to excel, so did the teachers. Teachers wanted to ensure that their students were performing with their best potential especially since those scores would be used as a reflection on the teacher. This created a cycle of stress revolving from teacher to student. This then further detracts from the role of education and shifts the meaning to testing. Even with great performances on the tests, students still suffer through great stress. Students that have been performing well and attending high achieving schools have been added to the “at-risk” category in regards to elevated chronic stress levels and general health and well-being concerns (Wallace).

As I mentioned earlier, we are also the generation that have grown with great exposure to social media and technology. Of course we all know of studies of stress and anxiety from these tools. The general concern from this source of stress is that it translates into the educational environment which then inhibits appropriate performance academically. Students may get distracted on the devices and stress accumulates from the lack of work being done. Furthermore, students get distracted by unrealistic expectations that they feel they must perform such as acceptances into prestigious colleges (Wallace). This places elevated pressure on students to keep performing until they get there, and if they don’t, then it won’t be significant. These mindsets are detrimental to the well-being of students, and it must be changed. The initial goal in educating our students are to allow them to become passionate that they want to learn for the sake of interest and curiosity. However, these principles are being challenged as we produce stressful environments through comparison, competition, and standardization. We must call out this issue and address it. It will be challenging, but it will provide a better educational environment and future for students.

Works Cited:

Flannery, Mary Ellen. “The Epidemic of Anxiety Among Today’s Students.” NEA Today, 18 June 2019, neatoday.org/2018/03/28/the-epidemic-of-student-anxiety/.

Walker, Tim. “Schools Look to Parents and Communities To Help Reduce Student Stress.” NEA Today, 5 Apr. 2018, neatoday.org/2016/09/16/reducing-student-stress/.

Wallace, Jennifer Breheny. “Perspective | Students in High-Achieving Schools Are Now Named an ‘at-Risk’ Group, Study Says.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 26 Sept. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2019/09/26/students-high-achieving-schools-are-now-named-an-at-risk-group/.

After understanding that students across the nation are not performing as well as students in other countries, people look for a source to blame. They want to know what is causing this and why their students are not the best. Often this blame lands on the desks of teachers. It is the public school teachers that are mainly criticized for low test scores or low academic performance beyond scores. The teachers routinely carry the weight of these accusations and criticisms when they walk into their schools, and it creates an unjust educational system for students to enroll in. There is an issue of the lack of respect teachers receive from communities, and it further stems into the argument of low pay for teachers in the public school system. Teachers are routinely dissatisfied with the problems they face such as salary cuts, lack of resources, and neglect from leaders (Lynch). If teachers continually express these concerns, but no step is taken to resolve it, then the future of students and education is at stake.

As a country, we claim to value education. However, it is not valued as heavily as it should be if we wish to see significant improvements. Focusing on education and the root of its problems such as low respect for teachers would allow us to improve in other categories of issues as well such as presenting a strong economy. Nonetheless, we are still realistically undermining the education system and as a result, we undermine the teachers involved. Teacher salaries have dropped 4.5 percent over the past decade, and they are paid 21.4 percent less than what others receive in fields with similar educational requirements (Robbins). These teachers are preparing the next generation and creating a difference for the future, yet this great role is insufficiently rewarded through pay, attention, or resources. Recent decisions of school closings due to the coronavirus pandemic have affected teachers in different ways, but it has further stressed the lack of attention granted to teachers and their importance. School districts have been claimed to be hesitant on closing their schools because of concerns that parents wouldn’t be able to work efficiently (Robbins). Still, this brings light to the idea that schools are not to serve as drop-off/day care centers and teachers are not to be considered babysitters. This example presents just one way in which the prominence of our teachers are undercut.

Teachers are growing concerned about this treatment. As many as 61 percent of high school teachers considered quitting the profession due to long hours and low pay (Robbins). There is already a shortage of teachers and proper educational resources, so if this continues as teachers quit, we will find ourselves questioning whether we can effectively fix the educational system we have. A fix could come from the increase in respect towards teachers. The 2018 Global Teacher Status Index evaluated this relationship of respect and performance. They were able to find that countries with greater teacher respect had higher scores of student achievement per the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) (Walker). Countries with high scores in both categories included China and Malaysia, whereas the United States ranked 16th with a score of 39 in terms of teacher value. Other countries also express great respect to the profession through the competitive selection of the teachers and offering of standards that are equivalent to those of doctors and lawyers in the US (Lynch). As we see this rise in scores from greater appreciation of teachers, we can also see greater economic growth in the US. Increasing scores in a competitive global climate could result in a gain of trillions of dollars in the American economy, but once again we must stress where this would stem from; respect towards our teachers.

We can be hopeful that this will come to fruition. Yet, we must understand that until we appropriately support and appreciate the profession, improvements will not occur. Teachers will continue to do their work to the best of their ability, but it is still a community effort of support that ensures both teachers and students achieve the best at their greatest potential. It is a cooperative effort to ensure that their are enough resources, compensation, and acknowledgement. This will overall create a far better educational environment currently and in the future as well. After all, that is what we think of when we think of education. We want to make sure our students can perform the best for the future, so we must help the teachers in the same manner.

Works Cited:

Lynch, Matthew. “Respect for Teaching: Why Is Education So Low on the Priority List?” The Edvocate, 2 May 2016, www.theedadvocate.org/respect-for-teaching-why-is-education-so-low-on-the-priority-list/.

Robbins, Alexandra. “Teachers Deserve More Respect.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 20 Mar. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/opinion/sunday/teachers-coronavirus.html.

Walker, Tim. “Where Do Teachers Get the Most Respect?” NEA Today, National Education Association, 6 Dec. 2018, neatoday.org/2018/11/28/where-do-teachers-get-the-most-respect/.