It is quite obvious that the current education systems it outdated and not working as well as it once did. So I believe some radical changes need to be made one being that people out of school decide on it. Although many say they know from experience what would be the best, things have already changed since their departure. The second thing is completely dismantling the grade system. This system does more bad than good and needs a suitable replacement. Finally seeing how the proficiency level of a student will affect the teacher.

The current curriculum is usually made by the state, voted for and then others will have to follow it. I believe the best people to choose the curriculum would be the government who makes a skeleton outline and for the teachers to go off of it and make changes where needed. “The single most important source of knowledge on student learning comes from thoughtful teachers. They have firsthand experience in helping students acquire science, mathematics, and technology knowledge and skills. Their input is limited; however, by the realities of the usual teaching situation, they lack instruments for assessing richly connected learning and higher-order thinking skills, and rarely have opportunities to compare their experiences with others who teach the same concepts and skills.”(Designs for science literature) This is why I would keep the government part of the curriculum, because someone needs to be able to collect data to formulate what students need. While at the same time someone with past experience of teaching must have input for real time data.

The current grading system in the U.S has led to anxiety for students and a high drop-out rate. I believe it should be replaced by the idea of levels as if in a videogame after a certain amount of points you proceed to the next level. Thus removing the stress of if I fail this test I might not pass the class. Chris Aviles makes a great point by saying, “A Total Points, xp grading system is great because it allows you to start students with a zero. I never understood why we start students with a hundred and tell them all they have to do is keep it. We know that’s not possible; all they can do in that system is fail.” This is true while most would say grades are the only way to let students know if they are progressing or not, this strategy will work better and make class fun. In a system where there is no failure you can only get better because you stay motivated to achieve your goal, at the same time not being oppressed by failure. This process also makes it easier to compare the growth of a student throughout the year.

If everything else is already done how will we calculate the teacher payment if there is no grade system? Well we won’t the amount of money paid to a teacher will be the same across the map. This is due in part to keep everything fair and the efficiency of the teacher will be looked at through the advancement of the students. If the student is high in level this does not tell the teacher is great but the student is. So instead the average of the class will be compared to the state set level. This level will be the minimum a student must achieve or pass. If more than 80 percent of students are above this level then the teacher has done their job. While some would say it’s the teacher fault if a student fails. It must be considered that the student may have learned from a different teacher, and now this teacher must try to teach him/her in their way. So to make it fair the class will be considered not individual students. Any evidence for the efficiency of this new method is little to none because the other two possibilities must be there to accurately do this strategy. As Lindsay Humphrey a ninth grade English teacher put it, “the idea that a teacher’s year-long performance boils down to a single day of testing is troubling. This is very true a teacher performance shouldn’t be based on a student’s test grade because many factors affect the student’s performance.

I believe all these changes will usher in a new era of learning one that will be used for generations. The evidence I have provided shows results and agrees with my actions. Though the old system will be hard to be removed and the changes could take years to implement I believe this is the best way. But the best way for now may not be the best way in the future just as the current one is outdated. This new method of education may be useless to the future generations but it will shape the future none the less. In the words of William Deresiewicz, “The true purpose of education is to make minds, not careers.”

Citations
Aviles, Chris. "Gamify Your Class Level I: Xp Grading System." Teched Up Teacher. 14 Feb. 2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. .
Humphrey, Lindsay. "Op-Ed: Teacher Evaluations Shouldn't Just Be Based on Standardized Tests." TakePart. 12 Apr. 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. .
"Designs for Science Literacy." Web. 25 Apr. 2015. .