As a new era of education turns the corner, many countries are being sprung into the modern world. But as many countries break into the modern world, the U.S. education system is falling behind at an alarming rate. With the increasingly alarming rate of the U.S. falling behind, if something isn’t done to fix the education system, the next generation of graduates are going to be out of a job. They will be outscored by people from other countries whose education systems have advanced with the modern times, and are prepared for the future of the world. The structures of schools affect the academic success of students through countless factors. How long summer break is, what time school starts, and how the classroom looks all affect the academic achievement of students. Methods of teaching, curriculum the school uses, what kind of classes students are taking, and how qualified teachers are,  are a few main problems that need to be fixed urgently. But whether these things are fixed or not, one thing is true. A good education is the future of the world.

The logistics of school greatly affect students. These factors include but are not limited to what time school starts, the physical layout of the school, and how long breaks are. Many high schools in the United States start before 7:30 am and it is often a complaint from students that school starts too early. Often will students be walking through the hallways, tired because they didn’t get enough sleep. As a study from the University of Michigan Medicine found, “‘If their [teen] bodies don't tell them they're tired until 11 p.m. or later and then they have to be at school before 7:30 a.m., many of these teens experience a chronic sleep debt,’ says Dunietz, also with the U-M Sleep Disorders Center. ‘A lack of zzz's can result in decreased brainpower -- a major issue for high schoolers driving early in the morning -- as well as an increased chance of mood disorders (such as depression), obesity, and risky behaviors,’ Dunietz says” (Otman). Not only did the study find that teens' bodies are likely to not feel sleepy until after they should be going to bed, but the lack of sleep can have very negative effects. Anything under 7 hours of sleep is considered sleep deprivation, so if students have to get up at 6:00 (often earlier) but don’t go to bed until past 11:00, they will not get enough sleep. Sleep deprivation can have very negative consequences, as not only can sleep deprivation result in a lack of brain power, depression, and obesity but also other physical health issues later in life. These issues include but are not limited to, heart disease, stroke, and increased chance of injury. If schools start time was pushed back, this would greatly reduce the issue created by sleep deprivation. Another thing that largely affects students is what their study environment looks like. An article titled “As Pedagodgy Changes, Learning Spaces are Transforming, too” states that “A growing body of research suggests that the design of a learning space can have a significant effect on student success. For instance, a study by researchers at the University of Salford in England found that classroom design can have a 25 percent impact, either positive or negative, on student achievement over an academic year — with factors such as color, complexity, flexibility, lighting and student choice having the most influence” (Pierce). This is a factor often overlooked but is just as important as any other factor. Many classrooms around the U.S. have straight rows of desks and students are assigned seats. Schools in many high-performing school systems have flexible seating, kids are allowed to move around,  and sit where they like.

In an article titled “How school building, classroom design can affect learning” the author wrote: “Students learning in classrooms with more natural light perform better than their peers in the same schools in classrooms with less daylight, and open classroom designs, where students can learn at stations and have comfortable seats to settle into projects, generally show better results”(Mathewson). Not only is flexible seating a large factor in better student performance and productivity, but light, especially natural light is a big factor. Natural light affects something called the cortisol pulse. This pulse releases hormones that wake you up and keep you alert. Without natural light, you will have a cortisol pulse much later in the day, making you sleepy in the mornings and wide awake at night. So, natural light in classrooms will help students be alert and focused. Having a Cortisol pulse in the afternoon can even lead to depression and anxiety, an even worse detriment to students. A distinct issue that plagues the U.S. system in particular is the summer slide. The summer slide is when students lose what they had learned over summer break. This is mainly an issue in the U.S. because of how long summer break is in comparison to other places. The summer slide is found to not be present in almost any wealthy students. However, the case is the opposite for poor students. As the author of Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell writes “The wealthiest kids come back in September and their reading scores have jumped more than 15 points [first grade]. The poorest kids come back from the holidays and their reading scores have dropped almost 4 points…The reading scores of poor kids go up by .26 points [total of 1st-4th grade gain and loss of score]. The reading scores of rich kids, in contrast, go up by a whopping 52.49 points”(Gladwell, 258). The summer slide seems to only affect poor students. It not only puts poor kids at a disadvantage but it puts rich kids at an advantage. Malcolm Gladwell put it simply: “The long summer vacation--a peculiar and distinctive American legacy that has had profound consequences for the learning patterns of students”(254-255). Another factor affecting the success of not only students but also teachers is the lack of control over education that the local authority has in the U.S. As Ripley writes “The new system would demand more accountability for results while granting more autonomy for methods. That dynamic could be found in all countries that had dramatically improved their results[P.I.S.A.* test results]...and in every high-performing organization from the U.S. Coast Guard to Apple”(133). In the U.S., there is a mess of local, state, and national requirements that schools have to meet. This leads to a large redundancy in the information and a confusing curriculum. Students learn less and teachers' jobs are more difficult. From what content to teach to what textbook to use, there are multiple regulations for everything. In successful education systems, the local authority has a large of control over education. One more thing that the U.S. seems to have gotten wrong is that the more money that is spent on each child, the better their education. Poland in 2009 spent less than half the amount on each pupil as the U.S. and outscored the U.S. in math, science, and reading, although Poland had much poorer kids and a higher poverty rate. (Ripley 136). This proves that how much money is spent on these students is not the main determining factor of their success in school. Much of this extra spending is getting wasted, when if used properly, could increase student scores. The layout of areas and how early kids wake up both have major effects on academic performance. Long breaks are putting poor kids at a large disadvantage. The lack of control from local authorities is making learning and teaching extremely difficult and spending on students is being wasted. 

Nevertheless, there are even more factors. From the methods of teaching and curriculum to the teachers, factors of teaching have the most impact on student academic success. One subject that has plagued the conversations about school is homework. There are benefits and drawbacks to giving a large amount of homework to students. However, homework normally does more harm than good when in moderation and is an essential part of the most successful school systems around the world. As an article in the effects of homework writes, “In a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class communities, results indicated that students in these schools average more than 3 hr of homework per night. Students who did more hours of homework experienced greater behavioral engagement in school but also more academic stress”(Galloway) Homework helps students engage in school. It keeps their interest and makes sure they are understanding the topics taught in the classroom. It is also shown to improve student effort in class. However, over 3 hours of homework comes with negatives too. Much academic stress can be placed on students if they have this much work. However, one way to combat this is to help students learn time management skills. Students would be able to effectively complete their assigned homework in less time with these skills. This would not only make academic stress from homework less of an issue, but also academic stress from studying for tests and exams. Farther, it is important to teach to prepare students for the real world is creativity. Right now, schools are often know for downplaying creativity as part of a core education. When machines are slowly taking over more labor-intensive work, humans need to think creatively to be able to adapt to the situation for the future that is developing. As one source puts it, “Nurturing creativity…requires focus, time, training on the part of teachers, and a supportive learning environment. Unlike our current focus on core skills, creativity is a nebulous concept, evidenced through time, mastery, and products, rather than a one-size-fits-all multiple-choice exam. Nonetheless, it’s a leap of faith we must all be willing to take if we are to authentically prepare our students for success in a global world”(Riddle). The “field” of creativity will never stop adapting. Someone will always be able to think of something different and if you are innovative enough, there will always be something to create. Without creativity in this modern world, many people would be left stranded and out of a job. As the world advances, the subjects taught in classrooms need to advance as well. As Amanda Ripley writes, “[Finland] had unbundled education down to the one in school variable that mattered the most: the teacher”(171). One thing that sets apart the best education systems in the world, especially in Finland, is the qualifications of the teachers. In 2000 only ⅕ of American teachers had graduated at the top of their class, while in Finland every single teacher had graduated in the top ⅓ of their class. And in some U.S. colleges, you needed to have a better academic performance to be eligible for the football team than for the education program. (Ripley, 93) Also, instead of math teachers taking rigorous math courses that other math majors would, teachers in the U.S. may take classes designed specifically for students who do not like math. (Ripley, 87). So, although the teacher is the most important component in school for a kid's education, the U.S. school system has some of the least qualified teachers which directly relates to their low scores on the P.I.S.A.* test. On the other hand, teachers in Finland are the most educated teachers, and their expertise is directly shown through their high performance of Finland on the P.I.S.A.* test. As mentioned earlier, it can be very difficult for teachers to pick out textbooks that are both fulfilling for the student and that meet the local, state, and country requirements. As Amanda Ripley writes: “American textbooks tended to be far too long--covering (and repeating) way too many topics in too little depth. Internationally, the average eighth-grade math textbook was 225 pages long; in the United States, eighth-grade math texts averaged 800 pages” (Ripley, 74). Another large issue with schools and their curriculum is tracking. Tracking is the process in which kids who are gifted (or determined to be by a test) are placed into different, more difficult classes. Tracking is known to decrease academic achievement among kids in lower-level classes and be a negative practice. As a sociologist notes, “A study on tracking in high schools shows the system of placing some students in college preparatory courses and others in easier math and science courses is ‘harming millions of students in American society,’ …Eighth-grade test scores are critical to students' high school placement, yet many who do weft on those exams--particularly Latinos and African-Americans--are misplaced in courses below their abilities…Student grades indicated that ‘being at the bottom of the high track appears to bring better educational returns than being at the top of the low track. High-ability students in the lower tracks learn little and get lower grades than those of equal ability in the higher track’(“‘Tracking’ harms”). This is another example of how minorities and people who are of low socioeconomic status are being affected by the unfair system that U.S. school system. The grades were reviewed and showed that students with the same academic ability when placed in higher classes began to do much better than their counterparts with the same academic ability placed in a lower track. If people who are of lower academic ability are placed in higher-level classes, they will adapt and do better than if they were on an easier track. Growth only comes with challenges, and students will not increase in their academic standings if they are not pushing themselves. So if tracking is stopped until later in a student's schooling, they will be far more successful and be able to score much higher than if they weren’t placed in higher classes. As Amanda Ripley put it, “kids that were told that they were gifted at age eight probably tended to see themselves that way, and kids who did not probably do not”(138). So whether it be the classes a student is taking, methods of teaching, teachers, or curriculum, they all have large effects on the students.

As provided earlier, the U.S. school system could be a lot better. Many kids graduate high school with limited skills that will be set up for failure in the real world. So what needs to happen to change the system? As Amanda Ripley writes, “Maybe, unlike generations before them, these young Americans will decide that their own children, like the children in Finland, deserve to be taught by the best-educated, best-trained professionals in the world…All major shifts, though, require a feeling that spreads among people…until enough of them agree that something must be done. The stories of Finland, Korea, and Poland are complicated and unfinished. But they reveal what is possible. All children must learn rigorous and higher-order thinking to thrive in the modern world. The only way to do that is by creating a serious intellectual culture in schools, one that kids can sense is real and true”(199). There is a multitude of events stated that will need to happen to lead to change. The first step mentioned is that new parents of children will need to decide that their children deserve a better education. Nothing will happen if the parents do not want change. The parents are truly the people that need to advocate for change in the education system, as kids, especially at young ages, are not able to advocate for themselves and a better education system. Also mentioned, a feeling of “intellectual culture in schools” needs to spread. The only way kids are going to be motivated to do well in school is if it feels like it is very important to do well in school. Without a culture that promotes the importance of education, how will kids be motivated to try hard in school? Looking at countries with a culture that emphasizes the importance of education, one of those countries is China. Malcolm Gladwell begins this excerpt by citing Chinese proverbs “‘No one who can rise before dawn three hundred and sixty days a year fails to make his family rich.’ [the most outstanding proverb from China supporting the hardworking culture]...Go to any Western college campus and you’ll find that Asian students have a reputation for being in the library long after everyone else has left. … Virtually every success story we’ve seen in this book[Outliers] so far involves someone or some group working harder than their peers”(239). Malcolm Gladwell states that successful people in school have to work very hard. A culture that embraces the importance of education will promote this hardworking trait. Many people may believe that talent is the key to success. However, talent is nothing without hard work, and hard work can create talent. However, if you are not prepared to work hard, you will almost certainly get nowhere in life. There was a study done about Violinists and natural talent. There was a study done in the early 1990s by researchers. They took the violinists and grouped them into 3 groups, group 1 being the best performing and group 3 being the worst performing. All of the violinists were then asked the same question: how many hours have you practiced since you started? The students in group one practiced far more than anyone else. At 20 years old, the elite performers had each totaled 10,000 hours of practice. Group 2 had only 8,000 hours, and group 3 had merely 4,000 hours (Gladwell, 38-39). As the study shows, students who work harder are the ones who are going to have the talent. Another very interesting thing that the researcher's study found is that they were not able to find any people who practiced a fraction of the time and had the same success as others who practiced far more. When you want to be successful at something, slacking off because of having a natural talent  isn’t going to cut it. Ericsson and his colleagues were also unsuccessful in finding any person who worked harder than almost anyone else but could not get to the top ranks. This study displays that to be able to make it to the top and become truly great at what you do, hard work must be done. Cultures that create a feeling of hard work and instill the trait in their kids are far more likely to have kids who can succeed in adulthood and stand out amongst peers who are merely “talented” but don’t work hard. An excuse commonly used in the American education system is that kids won’t be able to become better than the kids with talent because of exactly that. They have “talent” and there is no way someone can work hard to become successful if they don’t have this magic trait that so very few seem to have. If America as a whole can change this feeling that hardworking kids won’t ever become successful without talent, the education system would already increase by leaps and bounds. Another thing that Amanda Ripley mentions is that students need to learn “rigorous and high-order thinking” to be successful. As an article from the National Center for Education writes, “Thirty countries now outperform the United States in mathematics at the high school level. Many are ahead in science, too. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the millennials in our workforce are tied for last on tests of mathematics and problem-solving among the millennials in the workforces of all the industrial countries tested. We now have the worst-educated workforce in the industrialized world. Because our workers are among the most highly paid in the world, that makes a lot of Americans uncompetitive in the global economy. And uncompetitive against increasingly smart machines. It is a formula for a grim future”(Tucker). American children are not being taught the “rigorous and higher-order thinking to thrive in the modern world”. As kids are put through American public schools and there is no change to the way they are taught, they are being provided with “a formula for a grim future”. If American kids continue to learn math and science through one of the worst education systems in the industrial world, American kids will soon be out of a job. Success in subjects of Math and Science continues to become increasingly important as the world and jobs become more and more S.T.E.M. based every day. Parents need to want to change their children's education,  instill the culture of the importance of school and hard work, and demanding more rigorous and high-order thinking of children. There are many ways America can and must change its education system so its children can succeed in the modern world.

Schools are the greatest influence on a student's academic success. They are where a great student and a terrible student are made. But what factors affect students? From the curriculum, the teachers, and the methods of teaching. What time school starts and where does your study look like, and how long vacations are? As the world advances, if people don’t do something, soon the U.S. will be left behind in the modern world. Education will make or break a country. Will it break the United States?

Work Cited

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Gladwell, Malcolm. “Outliers: The Story of Success.” Little, Brown and Company, 2008

“How School Building, Classroom Design Can Affect Learning.” K-12 Dive, 13 July 2016, www.k12dive.com/news/how-school-building-classroom-design-can-affect-learning/422537.

“Nonacademic Effects of Homework in Privileged, High-Performing High Schools.” Taylor & Francis, www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220973.2012.745469?journalCode=vjxe20.

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Ripley, Amanda. “The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way.” Reprint, Simon and Schuster, 2014.

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