Burns 1

Heather Burns

Ms. Debra Jizi

Universal Writing

6 Nov 2017

#1 Annotated Bibliography

The Article 10 Reasons the U.S. Education System Is Failing written by Education Week

highlights the huge problems the US are facing regarding their education infrastructure. Ranging

from lack of funding to the way teachers approach intuitive learning, this article sums up

beautifully how to make the public education system more efficient. The article touches on the

socioeconomic factors that play along with why certain schools do better than others; richer areas

allow parents to help put money towards the schools and help their children with their work due

to them having a high school diploma or higher. Moreover, the main theme that seems to be

wrong with the US education is the lack of funding going into the schools, thus causing

turbulence in how the students learn; overcrowding, schools shutting down due to lack of

community support, shortage of funding per student, and less planning into how to improve each

students learning experience. The Article includes statistics but keeps to generalizing to keep

their point short and simple.

Ive learned how multiple factors of the US education system has its faults and that others have

noticed it as well. I never knew that parents had such a strong role in helping their children

studies; I assumed if the parents werent as well educated as most that the kids would have

resources at school to accommodate for the disadvantage. In one part of the article the author

mentions the use of technology and its downside; stating that it makes the teachers life difficult
 Burns 2

to teach the kids as certain kids have more technology than others, thus have varying

intelligence. This I disagree with. When I was younger and none of us had more than a computer

at home, we all had different intelligences, so by removing the technology factor, teachers have

always had to adapt to the mean intelligence level. What is much more shocking that I learned

was the fact that the US economy is improving which is great but no money, or little money

is going into the education system. 34 out of the 50 States contribute less to students now; thats

68% of the United States. This article is right to the point of my inquiry. Especially the 7th reason

which is There is a lack of teacher education innovation. Teachers are extremely vital to how

students learn and flourish. School boards know the general knowledge of what students should

know but teachers are there with the students facing the facts. Teachers should have space to

adapt and be creative with learning. Allow teachers to teach in modern times; move with the

cultural shifts. This article agrees with everything I have stated and even provides statistics to

back it up further.

The article I chose came from Education Week. Education Week us a United States national

newspaper covering K-12 education. It is published by Editorial Projects in Education, a

nonprofit organization which is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland in Greater Washington

DC.[1] It was founded in 1981 and has been a successful organization ever since. They pull

information for all over the US. They take reports directly from the schools and each State;

reports such as Chance-for-Success Index, School Finance Analysis and K-12 Achievement

Index. They look at national levels alongside State levels also. Their location is in Washington,

which is the government capital and where the US Education Board resides therefore, making it

easier to get information/data from the government itself. Their reports are up to date, including

reports from 2017 and go back at least 10 years. The article I pulled out of Education Week was
 Burns 3

from a man called Dr. Matthew Lynch. He is an expert on education equity, reform and

innovation. He has his own website where he writes about the educational innovations,

technologies, and reforms. He is an award winning writer and activist. July of 2016 he launched

The Tech Edvocate to cover the P-20 EdTech sector and provide our readers with the latest

news and opinion on the subject. He also looks to the future of education and brings in

international opinions, remains well-rounded and multi-faceted. From this information, I

think its safe to say that Education Week is a reliable and credible source.

[1] Education Week - Google Search, g.co/kgs/aWbubN.