My name is Ashley Romo

Ashley Romo

Ashley Romo is my name. PSJA Memorial High School in Alamo, Texas, is where I graduated. As a college freshman, I am officially studying at South Texas College, where I am reading at a 7th-grade standard. The school system of the seventh-grade reading level expects better than it delivers. I write in shock and anxiety to see how the letter will further raise educational standards. The viewpoint is shared by a number of other pupils, the majority of whom are my classmates at school (Arum and Melissa, 279). As a result, several issues of underperformance rise in the system, and are evident from the student system of work. With a review from several schools, we hope that this letter will be informative and put to a tunnel the beginning of solutions to this problem. Arum and Melissa (278) stresses the importance of a good education, which must account for the relevance of the work done to the students regarding their future lives.

The Basic Premise Behind Education

The basic premise behind education is that all students will be college and career ready for the hypothetical labor force of tomorrow. However, this is not the case. What is happening is opposite. After the end of the system, students are not career or college worthy. All this can be attributed to the reading level epidemic that is happening at 7th grade. A Professor Emerita at the University of Arkansas, Dr. Sandra Stotsky calls the standards inferior. The standards meant to prepare students for science, technology, engineering and math careers are left out. Current education trends have sought to eliminate areas of progress and hope. (Jackson 153). A multitude of problems features in the freshman 7th-grade reading level. At the forefront is the failure to reach expert levels of performance in reading, mathematics, and science on national achievement tests. The causes of poor performance are quite a number. For starters, conditions for learning are sub-optimal (Jackson 155). This means they do not gain all the necessary skills to drive them to the next levels. Failure to garner the skills poses a dangerous path to the revolving corporate world that is currently open only to the highly skilled personnel in different fields. Particularly important for students is an environment that promises growth because it enhances performance. Other than the learning conditions, the parental support wanes as students’ progress higher in their education. Parents must participate by helping their children in all the ways they need that can improve their education. However, the school did not clarify that to them. It is the duty of schools to ensure the parents become participative, by informing them regularly of what they need to do and change in their responses towards students’ needs. Additionally, the standards lack difficulty and complexity. 7th graders are assigned reading materials using Renaissance Learning readability formula rated 7.56 which requires a lot of maturities. The books are outdated with no reflection of our world right now. Many schoolteachers and principals lack appropriate training and support. This is a key factor that leads to the epidemic with 7th grade education.

Causes and Remedies

There are causes to the issues above. First, the revision to different school systems brings technical and improved ways of handling the systems of education. Most of the teaching techniques have an old system, in which students made their ways to success through their learning without pressure. Today, in most developed countries, the corporate world informs education specialists about the right systems they need to pick on for improvements (Robertson 5). The systems include the syllabi and teaching models, depending on the roles graduates handle after schools. In the corporate world, most jobs encompass technological applications and duties. More of computing and machine operations are coming into the industry due to the efficiency and ease of work. As a result, students need to train on the duties to take after their schools. It makes no sense to do most of the work theoretically, and then one goes out to start a different training (Robertson 5). Hands on training can perfectly improve the reading systems, to the tune of making it beneficial to the people. Apart from revision of courses, the teaching methods should also improve. We recognize that the computer revolution developed several learning methods and made it easy for students to develop in their learnings (Gibson, 230). Absorption of different concepts and improving on the cognitive skills is necessary for the students. Learning methods become attractive to students when they use aided systems. An example is computer-aided calculations. Mathematics and complex subjects become tedious as one advances. Students find it difficult at times to apply the concepts themselves. However, learning using the computer-aided systems like programming eases the work and improves on the education by aiding understanding to reduce strain (Gibson 231). From a comparison with other education systems, learning improves through different means and technology is at the forefront of this. Adopting new technology and integrating software applications the cognitive skills and abilities of the students.

Remedies for Improvement

It is important to find means to remedy these problems to anticipate for a future with sufficient growth and quality in various fields. For starters, evidence-based models of specialized improvement for teachers should be implemented to advance subject-area expertise and pedagogical expertise. Teacher education reforms needs to address several levels, including teacher retention. (Hammond & Sykes, 2003) The schools should try to involve parents more. Many school administrators and leaders have recognized that involving parents and community members is effective than working alone (Acton 463) and (Warren 2011). It can be through arranging of activities such as a weekend subject fair for parents to see what their children are capable of doing. After such an exercise, it is wise to show the parents their intervention areas, like following up and providing all the support a student knows. Support to students can be emotional, financial or other ways defined by the teachers (Acton 479). The parental intervention should be coupled by a follow-up for the best results. In addition to parental intervention, improvement plans of the school learning conditions should ensure a comprehensive work and delivery of courses. Changing school programs should focus on the corporate-oriented teaching t conform to the corporate needs once student graduate. Different institutions can define what they need and the improvements they need to make learning better. When designing the education plans, schools need to take these into account and model students to these goals (Acton 466). An example is a computer-engineering field that demands students to learn programming languages. Programming languages in the current computer word vary, with different functionalities. It is proper to change these computer languages as a preparation for students to join the working environment. Reasons for this diverse training are to equip students with knowledge to handle any type of challenge in the computing world. It is unlike the old days, when computers had a fixed language. With improvements in diversity and fields covered, it is wise to build on infrastructure like super computers for the education system. Super infrastructure augurs well with the revolving world and improves delivery of services.

The Importance of Reforms

A good education system is fundamental in the development of a country. In ensuring reforms are in place, an innovative thinking should be established. We say with great confidence that when we take on these steps, education systems and standards will improve. Our position draws examples from experts in different fields in the corporate world. One of the things these people did was to expand their knowledge to cover more areas. An example is an auditor, who studied finance and statistics. If another accountant does not include statistical data analysis on their education, these two people walk with different professional skills. A company seeking to employ a few people in their firm advertises and makes it clear that the candidates they need in their working environment must have knowledge in statistics and computing. Only a candidate who crowned his studies with statistical analysis has a higher advantage and is confident towards the job. Such a candidate has a great impact on the company and professional improvement, an evidence that diversity works well. With the exception of diversity, parental support works magic in ensuring mental and psychological impacts. Students miss support from parents to realize the dreams set out for them. One of the ways of doing this is by identifying the problems a student goes through. When the problem is solved, a student gains confidence, and all the energies centralize on their education. As the students become free of any psychological and mental troubles, the courage with which they approach their studies increases. Finally, improvements in learning technology improve the rate at which absorption takes place. One important thing about technology-aided learning is the speed at which it can formulate and solve complex issues in education, which Gunter and Radolph (99) discuss. Principal subjects of concerns are sciences and mathematics. When solution ties reduce, the energy to absorb and do more in learning improves. Reducing strain increases absorption and proper education to the students. Taking measures and improving on these concerns adds to the skills and improvements in education (Gunter and Radolph 99). Parents, teachers and school administration should make this their chief concern to realize the best for us. It is better if corporate bodies and comparative studies of how other schools and countries apply these steps to do the best in their teaching for the success of students. It is our hope that this happens to improve learning of students for future benefits.

Conclusion

Thank you for your time and I hope you will go through this and be convinced by our plea and diagnose their viability. I hope to hear from you. It would be a pleasure to discuss with you promising solutions to improve our education and future. I am available at your disposal.

Thank you in advance.

Yours faithfully,

Ashley Romo.

Works Cited

Acton, Ashton. "From heroes to organizers; principal and education organizing in urban schools reform." Issues in teaching and education policy, research, and special topics, Scholarly Editions, 2013, pp. 463-479.

Arum, Richard, and Melissa Velez. Improving Learning Environments: School Discipline and Student Achievement in Comparative Perspective. 2012.

David, Gibson. "Using simulation for teacher training." Digital simulations for improving education: Learning through artificial teaching environments: Learning through artificial teaching environments, IGI Global, 2009, pp. 230-231.

Gunter, Glender, and Gunter Radolph. Teachers Discovering Computers: Integrating Technology in a Changing World. Cengage Learning, 2014.

Robertson, William. Action Science: Relevant Teaching and Active Learning. Sage Publications, 2014.

Yvette, Jackson. The Pedagogy of Confidence: Inspiring High Intellectual Performance in Urban Schools. Teachers College Press, 2015.