Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Blog9: Can American Students Compete?

“Can America Students Compete”
According to the article America school system is deteriorating.  With dropout rates increasing, 1.3 million every year, many are worried how America can compete with the rest of the world.  Fifty percent of minorities, African American and Hispanics, are not completing school due to achievement gaps. Two thirds of eighth graders in 2007 failed at reading.  In 2011, only 32 percent of eighth graders at public and private schools passed the NAEP standards. The US ranked 32th place in the world. The article states that 42 percent of white students are proficient in math while only 11 percent of African American is proficient in math.  Fifteen percent Hispanics are proficient in math and sixteen percent for Native Americans.  Other countries such as Korea, Finland, Australia, France and Germany students are ranking above average in subjects like math and reading.  We have failed in educating our students. 
This is a global problem because with 1.3 million students dropping out of school, about 7,200 each day, the US cannot compete with other countries.  I think that it is sad that we still have inequalities in America.  It makes no sense that minorities are so low in the proficiency of math.  According to Vinton Cerf, “America is not producing enough innovators.”  The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports,” thirty occupations to rapidly grow over the next ten years will require at least a college degree.”  America is really failing when it comes to education.   I believe that we need to invest in human capitalism to ensure the future of America. Stephane Garelli states that:
“One of its key contributions to classical economic theories is that competitiveness encompasses the economic consequences of non-economic issues, such as education, sciences, and political stability or value systems. It is precisely because it is a multifaceted concept that it has led to a proliferation of definitions.This diversity should however be welcomed in order to refine such an important concept, which has the ambition to provide a dynamic and systemic approach to the creation of wealth for nations and the long-term prosperity of people.”
If America does not change and make education the top priority we are looking at a dark future.

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