Current Connection 1.1

 

     In a recent article by Greg Toppo in USA Today called, "School is too easy, students report," Toppo informs her readers about the fact that students feel like school isn't challenging for them.

     In paragraph 3, a new analysis of federal survey data says that, "37% of fourth-graders say their math work is "often" or "always" too easy;" "57% of eighth-graders say their history work is "often" or "always" too easy;" and "39% of 12th-graders say they rarely write about what they read in class." This sounds like a big problem to me. If kids aren't being challenged in their school work, then they're not learning anything. Being made to think doesn't just help them in school work, but also in life.

     Ulrich Boser says in the article, in paragraph 7, "It's fairly safe to say that potentially high-achieving kids are probably not as challenged as they could be or ought to be." In other words, the students that are extra gifted or the "smart kids" are not pushing themselves and taking the advanced classes like they should be.This is why so many kids are saying their school work is way too easy.

     In paragraph 6, the article says, "The data suggests that many kids simply aren't pushed academically: only one in five eighth-graders read more than 20 pages a day, either in school or homework. Most report that they read far less." This means that possibly the teachers, the learning experts, aren't pushing their students to read as much as they should be. Which is probably another reason they say school isn't very hard; they're not made to do very much.

      This article reminds me of a lot of the small schools, 2A, 3A, and 4A schools, surrounding Batesville, our small, historic town. I have friends from these schools, and they constantly say their school work is always easy. I find it really weird how students at our school are taking the same advanced courses that some of these students from the other schools are; yet our students seem to struggle more often. Possibly because these other schools' courses are not as challenging?

     Obviously this issue of students saying school is easy isn't just a problem in our area, it's everywhere. I feel like teachers might need to push students to do more work and students should challenge themselves to take the more challenging courses, instead of settling for the easier ones with less work. That's not going to do anything to help their future unless they're learning to think critically and creating a hard working habit.