Civic Issues Blog

  Hello everyone! For my last discussion, I am going to be talking about a third and very important party in the education system, especially during early childhood. These are the parents or guardians. Yes, an efficient school system is crucial to the quality of education that a child receives. At some point, our attitude in school also makes a significant contribution to our progress. However, this is as we grow older, at younger ages (elementary level) parent involvement in education is quite important.

Now, I know that not every household has parents that are available to be involved in their child’s school life. A lot of American parents both work, and it is becoming more and more common day by day. In the past, this was common amongst families who lived through financial difficulty. However, currently, in the twenty-first century, it is becoming a norm across all socioeconomic classes.  A lot of children are now sent to afterschool or daycare, and those who are financially comfortable pay live-in nannies. This is exactly why I am here to place emphasis on this issue. Although it is becoming more difficult and less common to actively engage in children’s lives and education, it is crucial.

When I say “engage” I do not necessarily mean checking that the student has decent grades or is completing their homework. Now, this is something that an afterschool can actually do very well on their own. The parents should be more involved in the children’s friendships, activities, or hobbies. We have passed the time where there are kids who are “sporty” or “artsy” or “smart.” A child should be encouraged to try all of the things that they want to. Parents should sign kids up for the activities that kids want to try, and not all of them require money! A lot of recreational centers provide free activities for younger kids with new interests.

The reason why all of this is so important is that the mental health and eagerness to learn within a school environment is an attitude developed at a younger age. I can personally speak for this because I work at a small children’s academy at the moment. There are about ten kids, but each one has a different attitude when it comes to trying new things or studying. Some are excited, eager, and confident. However, others are ALREADY insecure, shy, and unwilling to show “bad” sides of themselves. Children develop a sense of pride much earlier than society seems to recall, and it is important to encourage growth and new ventures at a younger age.

Given that we are all university students, we have all experienced the process of college applications. Senior year was truly a grueling time period where everyone was unsure of their next step in life. Handling multiple applications to different institutions was burdensome both physically and mentally. It becomes even more complicated when some universities make it so that students have to apply directly through their undergraduate admission website. An example would be Georgetown University. However, most of the universities in this country use two platforms for a convenient application process: CommonAPP and Coalition. While experiencing the college application process personally, there were a few things that surprised me, even while using platforms such as CommonAPP and Coalition.

Firstly, it was shocking that there were still universities that required a type of standardized testing. Of course, standardized testing is a great way to show a student’s standing on an international academic percentile. But at this point, it has already been discussed and studied through social experiments (for many years) that the SAT and ACT are no longer a suitable way to test a student’s true intellectual aptitude.

Secondly, I was utterly shocked to find that some colleges openly announced their applicant preferences to their potential applicants. Of course, a college must seek out a student that suits their standards and academic lifestyle. However, publicly setting a standard of their “bare minimum” in the type of students that they accept completely contradicted their “holistic review process.” A holistic review should really be pursued by more and more institutions, however, it should not be mistitled in this way. Colleges should not be allowed to publicly hint at their non – required application style preferences via the internet, yet claim that every component of the application is equally important.

Third, Colleges should become more transparent about the competition that students face while applying to their school. Some universities have begun to show different acceptance rates per college so that students are aware of the competition that they face. Colleges expect students to throw in their all and risk rejection, while many students are unaware of the school’s acceptance system. Colleges should release more statistics on their actual acceptance rates and process in order to increase transparency. This is especially directed to the top twenty-five schools in the country. Being prestigious and successfully producing multi-millionaire alumni is commendable, however, this “mysterious” and “selective” image should not be milked.

Overall, the college application process seems thorough and organized, yet there are so many unspoken parts that lead to a student’s acceptance or rejection. I definitely think that the standards should be readjusted and that universities overall should become more clear and honest about their application review process.

This week, rather than posing an issue, this post contains a proposal about a way to improve the school curriculum. A lot of successful billionaires have either funded or launched programs in order to improve the educational system in this country. All of them had different ideas. However, one idea that stood out the most was Elon Musk’s Ad Astra School.

This school was created for his children and some of the children of SpaceX employees. Apparently, this school follows by a non – traditional school curriculum, as students learn about simulations, case studies, fabrication and design projects, labs, and corporate collaboration. This was interesting because it became an innovative and somewhat crazy approach to educate the younger generation. There were a few pros and cons of his program specifically. On the bright side, these students will grow to learn skills actually used in the working field in school. However, the choice of their career path has been made as the responsibility has fallen completely into their parent’s hands.

Although Elon Musk’s idea is probably a stretch for a lot of the people in this generation, the mindset of this billionaire should be taken into account. The current United States school curriculum is very rigid and there is no room to take classes as per student interests until college. There should be room for a career exploring at a younger grade level. Of course having basic knowledge in mathematics, English, science, and social sciences is important. However, 12 years of public education should reflect more than that. An example of a way of changing a school is to sort the students into “academies” or “pre-majors.” I went to a technical high school where students were tested and placed into seven different academies. I was in the medical academy and throughout the four years, I was able to take three-hour labs, specific medical classes, and participate in medical/research clubs. It was almost like a taste-testing of what college would be like. In the end, I chose to major in economics but having this high school experience helped me decide what I as a person liked and was more suited to study.

In the end, widening the field of experimentation in education at a younger age will help students make secure decisions about their future. Although the decisions do not need to be made earlier, a student can gain an idea of what they want to specialize in. A continuous improvement in rates of specialization will also be beneficial to the economy in the long run. Education is a form of investment, and it should be done right!

Throughout the past decade, there has been much controversy about the school’s role in assisting the mental health of a student. According to many college staff, there has been a steady increase in reports of stress about managing mental health. In a way, it is very concerning because the headcount is consistently increasing. However, on the bright side, because more students are able to come out and admit their struggles the school departments are able to recognize that they need to be more active in helping out their students. A few things that universities have been doing well is providing opportunities for students to attend therapy and connect with other people (such as alumni) to provide aid throughout the course of the students’ 4+ years of attendance. On top of that, PennState among other schools has implemented wellness days for both students and staff, so they may enjoy a day to themselves.

On a slightly off-topic note, There are still debates on this subject where people are unsure if the expectations and innovations of modern society are causing a true increase in mental health issues among students, or if the new generations are more willing to acknowledge their internal conflicts and seek help. Honestly, it could be both. To specifically address the younger generation, multiple e-platforms such as social media accounts have become a daily part of their lives. This makes it so much easier to track the progress of others and compare their own lives to more “successful and happier” people. What’s worse is that people on social media are usually only projecting the better parts of their life, therefore subconsciously heightening the standards for everything in people’s minds. To address the second hypothesis, it also hasn’t been long since the general population as a whole began to accept how common mental illnesses are, and how important it is to seek help. Therefore, many people may just be breaking out of their shells after many years of avoiding confrontations within themselves.

Returning back to the main point, what should schools be doing from here on out to provide help? Well, one thing is providing constant reassurance to students that struggles are common (although caused by different reasons and impact lives to different extents) as an attempt to further normalize seeking help such as therapy. There should also be a permanent increase in seminars and events such as wellness days to allow students to take a breather. Although wellness days were implemented as a result of taking remote classes this year, these dates should remain in the academic calendar even after the pandemic passes over. In general, it is good to see that schools are making an effort but there needs to be more. Of course, this is only possible with a collaborative attitude from the students who seek out these sorts of improvements.

Throughout twelve years of public and/or private education, it is very likely that most students have been required to take some sort of standardized testing. Of many, two of the most widely known standardized tests are the SAT and ACT.  Both are offered by two different non – profit organizations and they have managed to surround themselves with the same controversy for the past few decades. Are the SAT or ACT necessary?

  The primary issue behind SAT and ACT is that both tests are based on limited subjects. The SAT only focuses on English and Math, as the ACT tests the same plus an additional subject, Science. The exam is formatted this way because these are the main few subjects that students study throughout all their years of education. Therefore, from one perspective, it appears to be a logical way of testing the average intellectual aptitude of a student, as it is the common ground in all school curriculums. However, it’s important to look at the purpose of SAT and ACT. For what reason do students in high school take the test? Simple, college applications. What’s funny here is that most universities seek out a student for their individuality and unique abilities. From what standpoint does a standardized test – that only seeks out a limited category of knowledge – provide benefit in a student’s application? Many colleges are realizing this as more no longer require SAT or ACT score reports.

Sometime last week, Collegeboard announced a public decision to cancel subject testing once and for all. These are shorter one-hour exams that students can take to prove their competence in other subjects besides English and Math. The reactions of the public have split both ways. Some thought that this was a positive change as it lessens the pressure on students about having to partake in additional standardized testing. Others were less than thrilled as the main SAT test still remained. For what reason would Collegeboard remove subjects tests that could be used to showcase knowledge in a variety of subjects yet persist in keeping the long and agonizing test that only examines a student on two subjects? Many believe that the reason behind this decision was due to the effects of COVID – 19. The duration of the pandemic proved how stressful test preparations were, and how desperate students had become that they were willing to go to private academies and tutors amidst the current situation in order to accomplish their goals of scoring well. This introduces the second issue behind SAT and ACT preparation. Although the purpose of the two exams is to test the basic knowledge of a student by junior year of high school, many are now paying to prepare separately for the exam. These tests have left their stratosphere of “testing basic skills” as many students are practicing to perfect the art of taking these tests. Even Collegeboard has finally come to a point of acknowledging the benefits of private coaching when in preparation for the SAT. From this comes proof that even the organization agrees expenditure is necessary to increase the possibilities of scoring higher.

Ultimately, it has come to a point where students can no longer be sure if the SAT and ACT are serving the purpose that they were initially created for. Many are paying to perfect their standardized testing skills. It has come to a point where no one can be certain whether a good score comes from a well-built common core knowledge (within the standards deemed by Collegeboard and ACT) or whether it reflects good training for the test. On top of that, the contents of the test look into a limited amount of topics that a student can express their knowledge in. The lack of space to express originality and actual skill is slowly diminishing the actual need or purpose for SAT and ACT to be encouraged to the upcoming younger generation of students.