Running Head: LET’S BRIGHTEN LIGHTBULBS 1

Let’s Brighten Lightbulbs:

The Need to Reform the Secondary Education System

Itzel Jimenez

Lewis University
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Abstract

The objective of this paper is to emphasize the conflicts that are occurring in the American

education system. From there, there is a need to propose an education reform in order to

enlighten students who are bored of doing the same, monotonous, futile tasks every five days

during each week. Also, with teachers, they need to grasp grit in order to earn success and

focus from students who are forced to learn liberal arts classes. Throughout several weeks of

research, many resources that have been gathered are presented to emphasize that there is a vital

action to discuss that many teaching methods and curriculums tend to cause students to lose

attention to any subject they are required to learn for their high school graduation.
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Education is like a mother who nurtures her child (the student) by informing the child on

how to behave and develop spiritual and mental awareness. However, as of now, the United

States is falling behind in the Education system. According to U. S. News & World Report, the

United States is losing in its rank of international education. From this altering decline in

efficiency in the education system, teachers and educational developers have been taking up a lot

of time in training adolescent children on how to work as an industrial robot. From there, many

students view their education as something futile and meaningless when it comes to applying

concepts into real-world situations. For instance, there is no use for utilizing the quadratic

formula when it comes to paying bills and taxes. Students should be treated like a toddler who

wants to venture through a forest because their curiosity is informing them that they want to

discover something unique that shapes their point of view. Learning is more than writing ten

times the same spelling word and memorizing the word itself. Learning has to come from both

the heart of the master and the pupil in order to succeed in any classroom. Whether it be public,

charter, or private; in poverty or wealth; in a diverse nation, united, education is meant to

transform the lives of students into role models of tomorrow. Based on this ideology, it is

therefore necessary to reform the American education system due to many students losing

interest in school and teaching not being efficient with their teaching methods.

To prevent this from eroding individual aspirations, teachers should be able to create

personal appointments. Appointments can be about having a simple tutoring session to a club

that focuses their purpose to learn. The purpose of having this meeting is to also deliver preferred

needs of a student to feel more comfortable to learn and express their thoughts. For instance, the

Principal of Davison Alternative Education Middle and High School Programs in Davison,

Michigan, Sue Kenel claims that the ABCI program caused a major beneficial effect to Bendle
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Middle Students, specifically a pupil emphasizes how she feels safer in a public institution to get

advice on her assignments after school than being home having to deal with drama (Kenel p. 4,

2006). The student of the school felt like the only way to get her assignments finished is to work

on them peacefully in an environment where there are a variety of resources being available to

them. Kenel then points out that not only that the girl is preventing herself from bombing a test

grade, but she is expressing her effort into learning topics with someone who has credentials and

experiences with the topic. Similar to having appointments, Kahn during his TED talk video,

explains in the beginning that if we did not master a certain subject from a class (like getting an

eighty percent from a test on exponents), it would then make the learning process more difficult

when it comes to learning new and advanced mathematical concepts (Kahn 2015). Kahn is

clarifying that test scores should not be the one thing that measures success, it should be

mastering a topic that difficult or easy to understand. The reason Kahn would find the ABCI

curriculum a great idea is that having session with a teacher based on the lack of comprehension

or application of a topic discussed in class can further inspire the teacher to modify their teaching

methods. Also, the student with the knowledge gap and having it improved by a professional like

a teacher or a personal tutor can further inspire the student to be more curious and open-minded

about the environment. An example would be a student who figures out that the area of a triangle

is actually half of a square’s area. Having these minute tutoring sessions can create a large

impact on students when it comes to learning more novel concepts.

Similar to having personal appointments that are based in student interest, teachers

should reach out and understand their student’s desires and incorporate it into their teaching. It

can be from greeting a pupil and getting to understand their way of thinking. From

comprehending their interests, teachers can create assignments that reflects the student’s needs
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and receive positive reinforcement. According to Carol Ann Tomlinson, professor and Chair of

Educational Leadership, Foundation, and Policy in University of Virginia, from the article, Let’s

Celebrate Personalization: But Not Too Fast, she points out that from the Glossary Education

Reform’s (2015) definition of personalization refers to the teaching experiences that reaches out

to students’ desires and aspiration in learning (Tomlinson p. 3 2017). In other words, in order to

gain progress from learning, teachers need to incorporate their desires into their teaching. Kahn

in this case, would connect well with Tomlinson’s educational philosophy of inspiring students

to learn by taking in their desires and present their desires into a teaching method that would

inspire them to further engage in a topic. Similar to Tomlinson’s belief, Kenel would agree as

more teachers use the ABCI curriculum to assign projects to students to explore their thoughts

about a certain subject instead of assigning loose sheet homework (Kenel p. 3 2006). Having

students performing a project––whether it be a presentation, a skit, or a mock trial––will further

require the students to further investigate or research a topic of interest. Tomlinson would

applaud to ABCI since the projects being assigned in class reflects on individual learning and

interests. In fair respect, having separate homework sheets asking about solubility in solutions

from a chemistry class can be difficult to grasp and remember the concept. Fortunately, having

labs that refer to that topic incorporates kinetic and interactive learning that will ensure the

student to fully grasp the knowledge of solubility and remember it without any blank stares.

From there, having more assignments that involve hands-on experimentations, exploration, and

research allows the students to understand a certain topic discussed in class or read from textual

sources.

Aside from assigning projects as a benefit, being an adolescent in secondary level

education can be more difficult than it seems. Just by doing personalization in classrooms, will
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be difficult with time as teenagers tend to have hormones that can affect their thinking in

educational environments. Adolescents, according to a study in Childhood Education, students

tend to lose a lot of self-esteem as time progresses throughout their entire lives in the public

education system (Riczo p. 3 2004). From Riczo’s report, he claims that many high schoolers

face many difficulties when it comes to confronting a new concept being taught at school. The

decrease of self-esteem affects children negatively when it comes to placing commitment into

their secondary studies. From there, teachers and superintendents should focus into having

programs or social activities to help those with who are lost in encountering their impediments in

their social and educational lives. Similar to losing self-esteem, there has been a growing

percentage rate of high school drop outs during senior year of high school to a rate of 10% by

2017 (U. S. Census Brureau, 2017). Aside from the pessimism, there are different manners of

coping with negative self-esteem in the education system. Fortunately, using Professor Lupin as

a great exemplary for classroom management, teachers who support student learning based on

their errors or mistakes they committed make students feel more competent and confident in

developing new skills and mastering them (Belcher p. 20-21, 2011). Belcher portrays a vital

character from the third book of the Harry Potter series, The Prisoner of Azkaban, because Lupin

himself was a charming mentor for those who lacks self-esteem throughout the plot of the book.

Having these kinds of mentors will aid students into finding passionate concepts that will change

their vision about things they believed they could not do. Similar with Kahn’s concept of mastery

into classrooms, both Kahn and Belcher would agree that it is necessary for students to identify

whatever causes them to lack confidence. Kahn emphasizes that there is a need to correct

mistakes and learn from them when it comes to taking a test even though the score is a point

below one hundred percent. For Belcher, she encourages teachers to follow the philosophy of
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teaching from Kahn since her evaluation of Lupin supports that teachers having grit will make

students think that making an error is not the end of the world. Having teachers or social workers

cooperate together to help the student to increase their confidence level will create progress in

forming better teaching methods.

Alongside with coping self-esteem, educators should be aware of applying more grit or

perseverance when it comes to teaching a classroom with multicultural students. For instance,

Andrew teaches an AP English class and facilitates his classroom learning by referencing to a

range of popular media such as music, films, and television as a way to connect with Old English

literature according to Belcher and Stephenson (p. 28, 2011). From the indicated phrase, Belcher

and Stephenson indicates that in order for students to grasp the knowledge they need to be

competent in performing tasks or assessments is not by assigning work every weekday. The

answer from the text is that teachers should have relatable connection to the student so that way

the master will know how to discuss or present topic better. Tomlinson would also applaud the

teaching method Andrew presents in his class. The assertion of claiming that is because

Tomlinson believes that in order to students to be successful in attaining new information and

knowledge, Andrew would have to listen and pay attention to his student’s desires in an aspect of

pop culture. From another TED talk video, psychologist, Duckworth, identifies that the only

determinant of success of having a student graduate or pass a class is grit which is a theory of

having “passion and perseverance for very long-term goals” (Duckworth, 2013). From

Duckworth, in order to have students succeed well in the “college track”, teachers must have a

great amount of passion towards teaching to gather attention from students. From Andrew’s

teaching method in his English classes, he is portraying grit by gathering attention from the

students by taking his time researching and pondering about relating English literature to modern
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and pop culture in the California region. Duckworth would see Andrew as someone who would

stay in teaching for more than ten years. As mentioned, teachers would have to persevere in their

teaching for their students to grow mentally and spiritually.

With resources, there should be a variety of resources available to those who are

incompetent. It can be from having efficient technology so that students can have access to any

internet videos to progress on a topic they do not comprehend. It can also be having a

professional from a field to further explain their experiences and encourage secondary level

students to follow their footsteps. From the perspective of Cutshall, she reports that the high

school, New National Academy Foundation, started to operate a children’s museum, which then

initiated the process of teachers guiding their students closer to actual professional workload

with technology (Cutshall pg. 3, 2003). Cutshall encourages superintendents to invite

professionals from a certain field to cause students to explore their aspirations for their post-

secondary education. Even with Kahn, at the conclusion of his TED Talk video, he mentions that

in order to master topics in a subject a student is learning, they have the power to use the internet

to find videos that guide them to enhance their skills during their learning process (Kahn, 2015).

As Kahn is a founder of Kahn Academy, an educational website that gives free and unlimited

access to videos and lessons on subjects from schools, he indicates that in order to achieve

successfully in the college track, students should use their resources to find different ways of

learning a difficult topic. Unfortunately, there are schools out there who do not have the same

technological advantages and resources in areas where families have a large number of

dependents who utilize finite sources like room space or technology according to Conley (2017,

p. 532). Conley portrays that children who live with low-income parents, perform poorly in

schooling since they are competing with their siblings for the limited number of computers or
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internet efficiency they have. From there, Conley’s claim acknowledges that not every student is

able to access self-tutoring at home with a fingertip or a click. Kenel would agree with Conley as

she refers to the situation where one of her students struggle finishing assignments at home

where she has parental problems that prevent her from finding sources to accomplish her tasks

with limited sources.

From the mentioning of resources, there should be a repeal of standardized tests. Tests

that include the SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test), offered by College Board, and the ACT

(American College Test). The repeal itself further acknowledges that there is social injustice to

those who do not have a good quality education. For instance, Conley, with a Ph. D in sociology,

declares that standardized tests have questions that measure the knowledge and retention of a

student and compare it with a student who came from an elite or private school (like Catholic

schools) (Conley, p. 517 2017). In other words, it is an injustice for minority groups (a group that

has limited rights in a society) answering questions on a test that are based on the rich and

variety knowledge of a student has parents with high income and prestige. Conley also points out

that test scores should not define the success of a student during their time in post-secondary

education since every school with families and neighborhoods with different socioeconomic

statues (SES) have different teaching methods and limited resources from an elite private school.

Similar with the inevitable class conflict in the education system, secondary math teacher,

Vilson, encounters concern about pressuring ELL (English Language Learner) students to take a

load of tests in English, which they are not familiar with the language as he claims that it takes at

least four years to be fluent in a foreign language (Vilson, p. 2 2015). Vilson implores

standardized test creators should forget about writing tests that frustrate immigrant students or

students of immigrant parents. The reason for doing so is that Vilson is frustrated at the idea of
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enforcing students to take an exam that makes them look more ignorant (who are not fully

integrated into the American culture and ideology) than students who are native to the modern

American culture and English language. Similar to this struggling conflict, the U.S. Census

Bureau would also indicate that the United States’ population of teens dropping out of school is

increasing due to challenged students, who are not integrated in the American education system,

not having enough time to digest and understand the language structure and grammar to

comprehend the culture. Even Riczo, as a psychological researcher, would further acknowledge

that the number of dropouts in high school are a result of low self-esteem and lack of

understanding certain content that confuses immigrant students furthermore.

It is urgent and necessary to modify the current American education system because there

have been many students struggling in attaining and learning certain topics. To prevent students

failing in high school by eroding their aspirations, educators should propose students to have a

one-on-one discussion when there is difficulty in a certain topic––regardless if they covered the

topic multiple times. With the same concept of offering private tutoring, teaching methods that

acknowledge student’s aspirations and desires should be presented to students. However, there

are students who are unclear about their college or trade aspirations, causing them to decrease

their low-esteem, should be taken care of. Mentioning low self-esteem present in teenagers,

teachers should put in a lot of effort into educating their students by acknowledging their

strengths and weaknesses. In order to overcome student’s vulnerable points in education, they

should have the right to have access to technological help and professional advice from

professional who works in a field of study. Unfortunately, disadvantage students who live in

families and neighborhoods with low socioeconomic statutes do not have the opportunity to have

these resources. From this claim, it asserts that standardized tests should be banished from the
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education system. As time progresses, modifying the education system will not occur in a snap

of a finger, yet just by observing the needs and attention of students within a classroom can cause

the teacher to reflect on what they can do to improve their students’ learning ability. It is

necessary to perform this action because it will awaken students to encounter their aspirations

with a clearer understanding of what it will be like in their professional future or career.
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References

Belcher, C. L., & Herr-Stephenson, B. (2011). Teaching harry potter: The power of imagination

in multicultural classrooms. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Conley, D. (2017). You may ask yourself: An introduction to thinking like a sociologist (5th ed.).

New York, NY. W. W. Norton.

Cutshall, S. (2003). Is smaller better? When it comes to schools, size does matter. Techniques:

Connecting Education & Careers, 78(3), 22–25. Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.lewisu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&

db=ofm&AN=507815831&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Duckworth, A. L. (Psychologist), & TED (Producer). (2013, April). Grit: The power of passion

and perseverance [Video file]. Retrieved from

https://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_grit_the_power_of_passion_and_perse

verance?language=en.

Kenkel, S., Hoelscher, S., & West, T. (2006). Leading adolescents to mastery. Educational

Leadership, 63(7), 33-37. Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.lewisu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&

db=ofm&AN=507879259&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Khan, S. (Educator & Social Entrepreneur) & TED (Producer). (2015, November). Let’s teach

for mastery—not test scores [Video file]. Retrieved from

https://www.ted.com/talks/sal_khan_let_s_teach_for_mastery_not_test_scores#t-623413.
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Riczo, S. (2004, January). Educational interventions: possibilities for improvement? "It certainly

would be legitimate for taxpayers--who foot the bill for the 90% of students who attend

public schools--to ask why, after three decades of reform, there is no measurable

progress". USA Today, 132(2704), 54+. Retrieved from

http://bi.galegroup.com/global/article/GALE%7CA112022305?u=uiuc_lewis&sid=summ

on.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2017). Let’s celebrate personalization but not too fast. Educational

Leadership, 74(6), 10–15. Retrieved from

http://ezproxy.lewisu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&

db=ehh&AN=121747401&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Vilson, J. L. (2015, September 17). How common core hurts my students. National

Journal. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lewisu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-

com.ezproxy.lewisu.edu/docview/1716969233?accountid=12073.

U. S. Census Bureau. (2017). Figure A-4. Event dropout rate of 10th to 12th grade students, by

grade, 1967-2017. United States of America. Retrieved from

https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/visualizations/time-

series/demo/school-enrollment/FigureA-4_2017.pdf.