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Summary Of Botstein's Critique Of The American High School System

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While there are major problems with the American high school system and it may be beneficial to abolish it, Botstein's plan is not a good enough replacement. His critiques of the system are agreeable but his solution is only acceptable for part of the population. Some students could easily finish early and go right to work, other students need the whole time to get ready for college, and some need the whole time just to understand the basics. To fix this problem educators need to get away from the one size fits all mentality. Creating a whole new system that is just as rigid as before, which was suggested by Leon Botstein, will not help.
In his essay Botstein tries to convince people that sixteen year olds have the same level of mental and biological maturity as eighteen year olds had when high school was invented. Whether this is true or not ending school two years early would not allow enough time to learn all the necessary skills needed for college. He suggests starting school earlier as well but this would deprive students of a valuable part of their childhood.
Some students may be ready to leave high school early but many others are not. Joining the world sooner will not benefit everyone. …show more content…

She claims the “No Child Left Behind” system is to blame for the problems with the American School System and that many of the problems will be solved if it is stopped. She believes this systems’ “simpleminded and singular focus on test scores distorts and degrades the meaning and practice of education.” (Ravitch) All students have different learning styles and needs. Because of this the school system only needs to be modified so it fits the individual needs of students. Botstein’s answer to the problem is to extreme. The students just need more freedom of choice and a less structured, less test oriented

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