3) What do you think is the most significant problem in education today? How would you recommend alleviating this problem?
Prior to entering the education system I did not have a complete understanding of it
inner workings. Now that I have gotten a glimpse at how the education system functions, I see
that it should be labeled as a work in progress. Improvements need to be made in the area of
grouping students. From my student internship experiences, I have inferred that the grouping of
students is often subjective and not objective. I understand the concept of ability grouping and
school rely on this to increase student achievement; however, I do not understand why the
students who are excelling in their ability groupings are overlooked. In my opinion the most
significant problem with the school systems today is that they rely on grouping students based on
their prior academic history. Through personal experience I have found that once you are behind
in reading and mathematics it is extremely difficult to catch up.
During my full-time teaching internship in the Spring of 2013, I had the opportunity to
attend a staff meeting where students were grouped for the following academic year. While
grouping was taking place the students were rated by their teacher for reading and mathematics
with a number of their academic standing. In the course of this meeting, approximately six
students placed in the “below grade level” were considered for transition to the grade level
ability group. I was shocked when zero out of the six students named were given the opportunity
advance. As the teachers on the team discussed the placement of these students, one teacher
remarked that the teacher next year could move each child as they saw fit.
In my opinion teachers should look at the individual talents of their students and then
determine where they should be placed. Leaving a child in a certain group can negatively or
positively affect...