How to Fix the Broken Public School System

Students in America place 25th among the top 40 countries in the world. This was reported during a 20/20 broadcast on January 13, 2006. Since we are also considered the richest nation on earth, this is appalling and proves that throwing more money after a broken system is not going to fix the situation.

Educational issues were not always so complex. Children were taught to read, write and do arithmetic. It was very straight forward, very simple and very effective since literacy rates were at the highest around the turn of the Century when this was the norm.

In Kindergarten and 1st grade, teachers will focus on teaching every child to read using phonics, recitation and learning all 100 site words. Each child will learn to print legibly in Kindergarten, then continue to use printing into their first grade year when they begin to learn cursive. The focus will be on quality of work, not just quantity. Each child will learn number recognition which will also include using place value, basic addition facts through the upper addition facts and basic subtraction facts through upper subtraction facts. They will learn this through flash cards, rote memory, oral exercises, games at home and school, and recitation.

At this point, basic writing, reading and math will be established enough for students to read basic instructions on their own. Students will spend 4 hours a day in concentrated study on these subjects and will only practice these concepts further as homework. The rest of the school day will be spent doing computers, P.E. music, art and drama classes. Each child will also be required to keep a personal interest notebook on some topic that they find enjoyable for the school year.

Children will not be sent home with a bunch of busy work. Homework will be a simple issue because parents will be given instructions through mandatory workshops to make or buy specific flashcards, games, and books from a book list and they will know what is expected of their child by the end of 1st grade. They will be instructed to keep it simple and focus on these areas. This will continue into second grade and above. Children will not need to do a lot of homework as long as they are mastering the necessary skills during the school day. This will provide children an opportunity to spend valuable time with their families in the evening. They will also be free to work on their personal interest notebook.

At the end of first grade, each child will be tested on basic skills. If they have not mastered the basic skills, the parents will be instructed further to help their child master these skills during the summer either through parents tutoring their own children or by sending them to summer school specifically for helping children who need to finish mastery of subjects they did not master during the school year. If they still have not mastered the information by the end of summer, they will attend a transitional class until 2nd grade.

When children enter 2nd grade, they will enter a new phase. They will be given a curriculum (which will be the same for every school in America) that is based on independent learning and individual levels. Each child will set goals with their teacher so they understand what needs to be accomplished each day in order to succeed by the end of the school year. Success not based on grades, but on true mastery of each level. They will take a test after each module and if they do not pass, they will redo the module until they do. Thus the first 4 hours of the school day will be spent on independent learning. The rest of the school day will be spent interactively, but children will be allowed to choose their areas of interest.

This model will continue until a child has mastered all information necessary to graduate, whether this takes place at 13 or at 18. Completion will be based on individual level of mastery, not on grades or age. This may sound unrealistic to some, but there are homeschool curriculums based on independent, modular learning after the mastery model and there is no reason this could not be incorporated into a public school venue inexpensively and effectively.

Further, to resolve some behavioral problems, all schools in America will be required to provide uniforms for their students. Every school will have the same uniform so that if a child moves, they will still be able to wear their nationally recognized school uniform.

Children who misbehave will have two choices, the parent will have to come to school with them and sit in a special area or the child will take their work home and work with the parent who will return the work to the school. A lot would be resolved if junior high students thought their parent would be shadowing them at school for a day if they misbehaved.

Further, this student will not be allowed to participate in their special interest classes in the afternoon, but will continue academic and independent learning in a special classroom for those who do not wish to cooperate. So much for suspension where kids just sit at home and watch TV all day, which is essentially a reward instead of a punishment. There will be an absolute zero tolerance for bullying. Students who choose to bully others will spend the majority of their day away from children who choose to treat others with civility. Students will also be rewarded incentives and recognition for accomplishing their independent learning goals.

When American educators make the monumental decision to get back to basics and stop trying to be too smart for their own good, students will succeed and our schools will take their right place in the ranking. They will be number one in the world, instead of being at a dismal 25 even behind nations like Czech and Poland that are not nearly as financially prosperous as the United States of America.