Running head: EDUCATION SYSTEM 1

Karla Tarin
Education system in the United States
The University of Texas at El Paso.

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Annotated bibliography:
Common core of date. (n.d.). National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved October 4,
2014, from http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/datatables.asp.
This source is a government website dealing with the facts that are released to the public
concerning the Educational system. This source is totally unbiased. The information is
given in statistics, as well as exact numbers. This source is convenient in order to
compare and predict the efficacy that the education system is having in many specific
aspects such as the total students, revenues, current expenditures, and future expenditures
on each institution in the United states, as well as generalized data about the results of
standardized tests, and economical issues concerning education in this nation as a whole.
It is interesting that although all data concerning education is free to the public, not
everyone is correctly informed about the actual numbers concerning how much money,
students, and other resources are implicated in the functioning of this system. This source
will help me to either back-up or disprove other sources veracity in their own statistics
and to compare the arguments data with one that is more up to date.
Gray, P. (2009, September 9). Seven Sins of Our System of Forced Education. Psychology
Today. Retrieved October 5, 2014, from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-
learn/200909/seven-sins-our-system-forced-education.
In this article, Peter Gray, a research professor at Boston College, states that current
education institutions can be compared to a prison. He states that students are being
forced to follow certain rules, and most importantly, are not given the liberty to express
themselves in an individual manner for everything has to be graded in a specific way.
Gray encourages the revolution in education which can be linked with Ken Robinsons
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kind of view on the issue. It is interesting the position Gray is taking, for he is a teacher
himself, and states that many of his family members have served in education as well. I
disagree in his point about school been mandatory as his main way of making a parallel
with prison, yet this article will help me because I Gray does have good points on the way
the government implements education in many ways that are contra producing to
students creative capacities, which supports one of the main sides taken on this issue.
Guggenheim, D. (Director). (2011). Waiting for Superman [Documentary]. United States: Take
part's parent company.
This documentary talks about the different paths many students take in order to achieve
their goals in a specific career while being part of the current public education system.
This documentary also focuses on how much sacrifice these kids have to deal with in
order to obtain their desired goals. This documentary takes an interesting point of view
because it seems to have a neutral approach on this issue, and is rather proving by actual
experience the education system. This source is helpful because it takes an initial
unbiased approach on the education system, and shows real life examples of students
going through something that most of the children in the United States go through.
Barr, S. How Many Billionaires Does It Take To Fix a School System?. (2008, March 8). The New York
Times. Retrieved October 12, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/magazine.
This New York Times article deals with the current education system and how the main
contributors and education policy makers are trying to improve it by having in mind the
common complains the public has on this issue. This article tries to explain the many
obstacles these experts have in order to make national changes in the education policy
and curriculum. This article deals with a debate held by many of the top-contributors in
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the education system, and the ways they are trying to satisfy all the demands held upon
them. This article will be helpful to analyze how realistic are the ways in which each
opposing side of the issue wants to reform the current education system. This article is
provided by the experts on the field, aware of the problems, yet unbiased towards any
extreme.
Robinson, K., & Aronica, L. (2009) Finding your element: how to discover your talents and
passions and transform your life (pp. 329-356).New York: Penguin group.
This book is co-authored by Ken Robinson, an English writer, speaker and advisor on
education in the arts. This book deals with ones searching for personal dreams, which
according to Robinson, is often discouraged by the current education system. Robinsons
position is one that opposes the current focus of the core curriculum, and the excessive
amount of importance standardized tests have now a days in testing knowledge for the
future. Robinson encourages the audience to think about art in a more prosperous manner
and revolutionize completely the way education is imparted in the United States by
giving the same importance to all subjects. This book, is really helpful to my research
because this book is the product of one of the first people who actively started standing
against the current education system, and has many points about the ways it is damaging
students; such as with having less opportunities to express themselves.
Stahlberg, P. (2010, January 1). Why Finland's schools are top-notch. CNN. Retrieved October
6, 2014, from http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/06/opinion/sahlberg-finland-education
This CNN article takes in account the other contrasting side of the issue, comparing the
educational system in the United States, to the one in Finland, which is the one who
places higher in math and science around the world. This source helps to compare the
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education system, and point out the flaws of our current education system. This article
also touches upon the excessive monetary investments that parents make throughout their
lives for their childrens education. This article will be helpful to have an idea of the
monetary investment the average American has to put in order to finish a decent
education. This article will also be helpful to contrast the current education system to one
that has fewer flaws, according to this source, which is Finland.
Sue, H., & Lee, S. (2013). Success with STEM: The Classroom and Beyond. New York: Taylor
and Francis.
This book takes on the importance of the STEM (science, technology, math and
engineering) subjects and careers in modern times, and how it should be further
implemented in our current education system. This book adjudicates about how actually;
public schools are behind on what others assumed is excessively focused on. This book
takes a very interesting approach on the topic because it seems to merge both the pro and
cons about our current education system, and not only analyze, but suggest ways in which
it can be improved. Although it is commonly believed that STEM subjects are totally
apart from the arts, Howard and Scott take an approach in which they link the necessity
of creativity and individualized education in order to properly succeed in careers in which
the arts are not perceived as relevant. The authors are teachers that have vast experience
in the field of education, and who have seen the problems, and possible ways of fixing
them, without taking a side on whether or not education works, but on whether or not
students are being encouraged enough to be creative, and interested on certain subjects,
instead of being forced to learn them. This book is really helpful because it takes on
account both sides of the issue and actually provides the reader with possible ways of
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fixing the said issue. This book explains the necessity for our students to understand
STEM subjects along with arts.
TED, t. (Director). (2012). How to escape education's Death Valley [Documentary]. New York:
YouTube.
This documentary is one that contains a viral speech given by Ken Robinson, which
argues about the lack of creative encouragement in the current education system.
Robinson analyses the way in which millions of children are being forced to learn
without having the chance to explore subjects such as arts, and humanities since STEM
subjects take a greater part on the current teaching curriculum. Robinson position states
that although math and science are really important subjects, the ones who do not fit into
these curriculums interests, will have to face many hardships in the future. This source is
helpful because it provides real life examples about people who have had to face
adversities in their lives because of an education that was erroneously based on subjects
they were not interested in.







ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 1