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Michael Moore Idiot Nation Summary

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In the article “Idiot Nation”, Michael Moore states that America is a society full of idiots who are falling behind in education compared to other countries around the world. Moore gives examples of how Americans could not figure out how to solve the simplest school problems in their heads, or had a reading proficiency past a fourth grade level. Even so, Americans do not have a clue to where half of the countries are on the map (Moore, 121-40). But is the American education system really that bad in making students fail to succeed beyond what is expected of them? Compared to one of the world’s best education system, South Korean students excel in science and mathematics (Alters, 4). President Barack Obama states that the American education …show more content…

The educational policy is for teachers to teach children and teenagers in all states the same curriculum, with a purpose for everyone to not fall behind in the area of attending college and have the skills for their career (Evers, 1). Although this may seem to be the best solution, students are not doing any better in learning the materials because teachers are only teaching the standards that are on the examinations. In the article “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work”, Jean Anyon argues that in the working class schools and middle class schools, students are expected to solve a problem with minimal decision-making and get the right answer through finding it in teacher’s notes and textbooks (163-79). Anyon’s studies are not accurate because her data does not show the entire U.S population; however, her studies do show the problems within working and middle class schools (DeNavas, and Proctor, …show more content…

The common core standards require students to learn how to solve problems in mathematics and English through complex ways. Catherine Snow, a graduate from Harvard of School of Education, argues, “if you’re never teaching them complex stuff… they never learn complex stuff” (Turner, 1). It is true that by learning things the hard way will increase the child’s critical thinking skills and ability to understand the subject’s content. However, Snow misses a point of the downside of the common core. Teaching students a complex way to solve a problem without the basic knowledge in the first place will make the child even more confused on how to solve the problem. Common core standards should be taught in the dominant way to solve the problem first, and when the majority of the students understand the concept, other complex ways to solve the problem can be taught from a variety of choices to choose from. This process is time consuming, but it is a guaranteed way to increase the child’s brain level of understanding, since they are at an age that is still under developed and have trouble solving challenging

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Summary In Andrew Delbanco's essay, College At Risk, he talks about college education in America and at some different points, he compares them to other countries education systems. In the beginning of his essay, the basis of American college education is discussed, and how furthering your education past high school helps us become productive adults. It is also mentioned how college is a place to expand your knowledge and critical thinking skills. It is pointed out that other countries may have a better education system and possibly outperform the U.S. when it comes to certain jobs.

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643 Words | 3 Pages

America Needs Its Nerds, written by Leonid Fridman, expresses the country’s need for studious people. The United States look down on kids that would rather learn than play sports. Leonid argues that this anti-intellectualism idea is not good for the greater community. Without intellectuals the U.S. will not be as great as countries that value academics. Leonid Fridman uses motifs, hyperboles, and criticizing questions to support his argument on how nerds and geeks are essential to society.

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990 Words | 4 Pages

One of the biggest concerning the need for an increase in rigor in instruction in American schools. She discusses that in Poland students must stay in academic classes for an extra year and teachers are paid bonuses to engage in professional development work. She also notes that in Finland they “rebooted their teacher-training colleges, forcing them to become much more selective and rigorous.” In an article written by Sarah Tantillio on Only Good Books, she recognizes the validity of these statements, but comments that in America “the Common Core States Standards, which most states have adopted, they are definitely rigorous, But how they are implemented (and assessed) from state to state and school to school is still a Very Big Question.” Further in her article she points out the large population differences between Finland, Poland, and the United States, and how this affects our education system.

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1124 Words | 5 Pages

Some of the considerations about education have changed when we compare those considerations by looking closely at the qualifications of the blue-collar workers and students. Two writers looked at different generations, and one of them focused on the experiences of the blue-collar workers; however, the other writer looked at considerations from another perspective by paying attention to statistics. While in “Blue-Collar Brilliance,” Mike Rose claims that college is not necessary in “Are Too Many People Going to College,” Charles Murray believes college is somehow necessary; however, both Rose and Murray agree on how we value knowledge and how we measure intelligence. First of all, although Rose believes that college is not necessary, Murray claims that

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762 Words | 4 Pages

Levine claims that these children are looking up to gang members and drug dealers as a way of life, knowing that their are no educational requirements to fulfill these positions (20). These poor students are simply seeing school as a must do for the time being, and not seeing the the value of the education they could be receiving if they had a better role model to look up to. Similarly, Graff asserts that students are not connecting with Shakespeare or the French Revolution, these students do not value the information because it does not pertain to them; However, sports, fashion or dating interests these students and have values to them (245). Schools and colleges are not connecting the dots.

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944 Words | 4 Pages

In "Idiot Nation", Michael Moore openly and honestly expresses his feelings about the American system and education. He presents this as an essay, selected from his novel Stupid White Men, in which he submits his arguments as a political activist, concerned about the state of this nation. Moore spends most of his time in this selection, proving the sorry situation of American society. His arguments present a current issue that concerns the country today. He aims at politicians and other leaders to make the audience aware of all the corruptness in office.

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2489 Words | 10 Pages

Preamble Perhaps the most essential component of a successful nation is its education system. With an educated population come a more efficient and successful economy, and an overall improvement in quality of life. Despite this being true, the United States has neglected its once great education system in recent years, and has since been left behind by global education giants such as South Korea or Finland. As of 2014, American students rank barely above average in the world on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), and have been overtaken by numerous countries in the past decade with far inferior economic prowess. (Resmovits, 2014)

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1162 Words | 5 Pages

It was discovered that in education there were certain areas that were universal and common among learning. The two main subjects of concern were English language arts and mathematics. Common core is the new curriculum implemented now in school systems to develop learning. Common Core Standards are a clear set of shared goals and expectations for the knowledge and skills students need in English language arts and mathematics at each grade level so they can be prepared to succeed in college, career, and life. Although, Common Core seems to be here to stay this article addresses concerns in reference to content, instruction, and assessment.

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953 Words | 4 Pages

When taking a look into Jean Anyon’s “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work”, readers are apprised of the hidden agendas many schools have. In this article, Anyon focuses on the curriculum and student-teacher interaction from five New Jersey elementary schools located in different communities with different levels of socioeconomic status. Anyon attempts to find evidence of the differences in student work in schools in wealthy communities versus those in poor communities, in an effort to bolster the argument that public schools in society provide different forms of knowledge. Through her researcher, she was able to determine that working class schools limited students; the students were given steps to follow and they were graded based on how well they followed directions—this level of education was preparing students for the labor force as blue collar workers. In addition, the affluent professional school and the middle-class school focused on attaining the correct answer, but allowed individuals to have a choice of appropriate method and material.

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1248 Words | 5 Pages

One of the history's greatest figures, Nelson Mandela, once said: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Over the course of years, this statement has only become more relevant. Maybe that is the reason why the topic of the decline of the American education has been recently spurring such a heated debate among national academic and teaching communities. In “The Chronicle of Higher Education”, Carl Singleton, a faculty member at Fort Hays State University, also presented his reflections concerning the U.S. education system.

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289 Words | 2 Pages

In the article, “Anti-Intellectualism and the “Dumbing Down” of America” Ray Williams discusses the increasing trend of anti-intellectualism in American culture. There is an anti-intellectualism that exists in American culture that is the result of the unpopularity of being smart in High School, the lack of the importance of teachers in the U.S. compared to Japan and the effect of reality TV and pop culture. Williams indicates that one of the reasons that anti-intellectualism exists is that education in the United States is not as strong as it once was. Williams says, “After leading the world for decades in 24-34 year olds with university degrees, the U.S. is now in 12th place. The World Economic Forum ranked the U.S. at 52nd among 139 nations

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569 Words | 3 Pages

In Carl Singleton’s article, “What Our Education System Needs is More F’s,” he argues that students aren’t receiving the failing grades they deserve. School systems are to blame for the lack of quality in America’s education. No other recommendation for improvement will succeed. The only way to fix the American education system is to fail more students. According to Singleton, the real root of the issue is with the parents.

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640 Words | 3 Pages

The world of mathematics is changing and with it comes the integration of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the five process standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), and the 21st Century Learning skills that all teachers and students must now have an in-depth knowledge of. In their pathway for teachers, these three standards have woven a framework of instruction that can help instill a deep conceptual knowledge of mathematics to actively promote students to think more critically. The main focal point of the CCSS is to advocate values about learning math by contributing different standards that will focus on conceptual understanding in which students must participate. Within the CCSS mathematics framework,

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581 Words | 3 Pages

American Education System Many Americans would argue that America is the best country in the world. Yet statistically speaking, the United States is low ranking in the education division. Surprising right? Well, maybe not. “Sixty six percent of all U.S. fourth graders scored "below proficient" on the 2013 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) reading test, meaning that they are not reading at grade level.

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141 Words | 1 Pages

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the U.S. Constitution did a break down on what the whole Second Amendment really means. The militia clause, the Articles of Confederation said that the states should have militias, but made no mention of individual gun ownership. Sure there was a reason why guns were really included in the Constitution, its because hunting was an important source of food for so many people and of course personal protection. There really wasn’t any political motivations for ensuring gun rights, the Americans themselves mistrusted the armies. It makes me wonder why of all things, that Americans wouldn’t trust their own armies.

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