Thesis help: Education better or worse?

Can anyone help me come up with a thesis for this question:

how the education of your generation is better or worse than the education of your parent's generation.

What else could I add about modern day education?

Could anyone help me improve it further? I am still short on the amount of words and stumped as to what else I could add to it.

It is true that education in America's urban school districts today is worse than what it was twenty or thirty years ago. The quality of education in America, in relation to the rest of the world, is rapidly declining. America's students are falling behind their counterparts in aspects of the world such as Asia and Europe. These days, students are not taking education seriously. Part of the reason is because educators are not focusing or paying enough attention to each student on an individual basis. Faced with financial problems and overcrowding classrooms, neither schools nor teachers can afford to pay special attention to those who do not learn at the same manner as the rest of their peers.

The problem of too many students, often 30 or more, are just too much for teachers to handle. Furthermore, social behavior has become a great concern for educators. Teachers who have to spend a considerable amount of time keeping the class in line; takes away time spent on giving students instructions on how to complete the work properly. Some may argue that there needs to be a set of rules enforced, like a teacher-run court. However, even if the rules were enforced, there is no guarantee of the child's improvements in their academics.

During the 1960s and 1970s, smaller school systems, and classroom sizes were ideal. The averaging size was about 250 students. Students were able to receive an ample amount of attention from their teachers. They were actually learning the information given to them, and the quality of life after high school was promising. Today, however, the classroom sizes and amount of curriculum activities have more than tripled, and the amount of students per school has swollen to an astonishing 3200 students. Nonetheless, many academic communities are adapting to the new digital society in which we live in, and are adopting new technologies into their classrooms. The advancement in computers, particularly the internet, has made some improvements on the quality of education in America.

The new technology has decreased the amount of pressure teachers have endured for so long. It also has allowed students to have access to a larger database filled with essential information, enabling them to learn more than generations pasts could have ever conceived. However, with new technology, comes with new problems. Most educational software and computers are expensive, and schools simply do not have enough financial support to supply the computer labs with brand new computers. In order to make use out of the software, the computers must be able to link together, so that all students are able to connect and learn at the same time. At the present time, the computers are only designed for one-on-one.

Television has a similar story. Instead of contemplating on how to incorporate more technology and computers into the classroom, the television has made it easier for teachers to bring important information to all students at the same time.

Greetings!

The thing that strikes me as the most important distinction between the education of the two generations is the advent of computers, and particularly, the internet. The internet has opened up the world in a way that has never been possible before. How about something like this:

Today's generation of student's has access to more information at their fingertips than could ever have been conceived of before the invention of personal computers and the internet. Although all schools are still not created equal, virtually all allow students some access to the internet, providing them with a far greater potential for learning a wide variety of information in a short period of time. For this reason, the education of today has the potential to be superior to that of previous generations; it is up to educators to make sure it lives up to its potential.

Or, if you prefer, you could argue that it is not living up to its potential because too many schools do not have the money for enough computers. There are many ways you could approach it.

I hope this gives you some ideas!

Thanks,

Sarah, EssayForum.com

COuld anyone proofread my essay? It is suposed to be 750, but does it have to be?

Greetings!

I see you've been working hard! Good job! Whether a shorter paper will be acceptable to your instructor depends on him or her. However, I would expect that normally, if the assignment was for 750 words, 475 would not be a passing grade. You might want to delve a little deeper into some of the disadvantages of computers and the internet and the potential problems, and present some ways that these problems can be overcome.

Be sure to run your paper through a spell-checker; I found quite a few spelling errors and I may have missed some. :-)

Keep up the good work!

Thanks,

Sarah, EssayForum.com

I am still working and perfecting this essay, but would love some ideas or advice as to what other information I could add to it.

THanks!

Greetings!

I think your essay is coming along very well! Here are some editing suggestions:

America's students are falling behind their counterparts in areas of the world such as Asia and Europe.

Part of the reason is because educators are not [delete focusing or] paying enough attention to each student on an individual basis. Faced with financial problems and overcrowded classrooms, neither schools nor teachers can afford to pay special attention to those who do not learn at the same rate as the rest of their peers.

The problem is classes with too many students. There are often 30 or more in a class, which is just too many for teachers to handle.

When teachers have to spend a considerable amount of time keeping the class in line, it takes away from time that could be spent giving students instructions on how to complete the work properly.

The average size was about 250 students.

I think you could expand on the television part. It seems a little brief. You also need to be sure that you answer the question clearly--is it better or worse, and why? Take a position and support your conclusions with evidence.

Keep working, you're almost finished!

Thanks,

Sarah, EssayForum.com

I changed it a bit, but I think this is my final essay. I just have to write a conclusion. But could anyone help me edit what I have so far?

Thanks!

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Reforming America's Educational Values

The one thing that strikes me about the two generations is distinction in the lack of help from the government in our education system and how much school has culturally, ethnically, and racially diverse it has become. For nearly fifty years, the government has been under the impression that besieging students with homework will challenge them to think for themselves. Consequently, American kids have been less concerned with their homework and more fascinated with their Ipods.

I have attended both public school education and private school education in my life time, and the differences are unbelievable! During my time in private school, I felt a sense of understanding. Throughout the years I spent in public school, I was overwhelmed by the excessive amount of homework, the congested classrooms, in which I spent many hours, and the unsafe environment I had to study in. My public education was slighted.

Students today are growing up in a multimedia environment where technology surrounds us. All day long I hear phones buzzing, and radios that speak a foreign language I cannot interpret. I wonder how people made it in the past without cell phones or other high-tech necessities.

American schools are in crisis. I do not understand how we can live in a country full of riches and our education not is the top priority. I am really disappointed at our current leadership. Now-n-days, students are plagued with an onslaught of curriculum our government thinks is plausible. But this is the least of our worries.

In 2001, the No Child Left Behind act was signed into law by President George W. Bush. The law has created a scorn towards teachers. There is little room left to teach the proper way. This new law has forced teachers to coach students and teach them the basics so they can score high in order to obtain funds for their schools. And if they fail, so do the school.

It never cases to amazes me how much the government has humiliated and embarrassed young people for the entire world to see. The nature of school has changed dramatically in the past decade because of these laws. Many teachers and students are feeling betrayed by our government. Sure kids understand what writing is, but because of these laws, teachers are unable to teach their students how to put their thoughts on paper and make sense out of what they are trying to say.

Many parents will often cite the existing problems within our schools are because of the lack of help their children are receiving and are turning to an alternative means of educating their children. Home schooling is steadily becoming the number one choice for parents when it comes to education because the public school system is failing to meet their child's academic, individual, and handicap needs.

How did we get to this point? The answer is simple. It is because the government retains control over the public school system. They decide what type of content will be on our curriculum. Instead of taking two years of English, for instance, we are now forced to endure another two more. Nonetheless, I can not simply place our system; there are many factors to blame.

Students learn from modeling. Their models are programs on MTV. And the only foreign language they are being taught is the Music they listen to. When you ask a student what freedom means to them, they will answer Pepsi or Coke, Verizon or Cingular? Do you blog? This is pushing our children father and farther behind. It's absurd.

If we want to utilize the education system, we must cut back on how many external influences are taking in. Improving our schools does not begin by challenging out system, but rather challenging our kids. The pop culture children are growing up in today threatens to erode them from the very fundamental education that will help them become successful citizens later on in life.

Former President Clinton once said that "We" can make "America" better if we suspend our cynicism. Trusting in our government will only hurt us and our children. Our lives are made up of choices. Why not let our first ethical choice be for a better, school system for all of our children?