The definition of education is the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university. The definition of public education is education in schools, colleges, and universities provided by the government. The definition of curriculum is the subjects comprising a course of study in a school or college. In the United states one of the considered the best things to come from it is the public education system. Bringing US citizens out of poverty and so on it still has its own flaws. The list of flaws with public education could go on for a decently long list. For example some flaws within the public education system are teacher shortages, teacher engagement, lack of funding, standardized testing, and safety such as school shootings. Those are just a few of the problems that are involved in the public education system. The purpose of my survey was really out of my own curiosity of how students at the school I attend feel about their education, how well they pay attention and more. I didn’t really have a specific goal in mind except to hopefully make some sort of change possibly if there was a problem at my school. My sample was highschool students. Limitations would be personal bias, possibly too small of a sample size, and I'm sure a few other things. My methods used were multiple choice, open ended, rankings, and dichotomous questions.

Going by the definition of education and it being attained at a school or university, the history of education begins in the Xia dynasty (2076-1600 BC). Education has then proceeded to evolve into more structured specific classes. Compared to the Xia dynasty and what was taught compared to modern day school are to different sides of a spectrum but both serve for the same purpose of educating the general public. While what they were taught then seems realistic to their time it is bizarre to think about when now we have reformed classes to specific subjects. The one thing that everyone has in common is the teaching of literature or their specific language. Before the invention of public schools for education for the general public, the education wasn’t necessarily based on any curriculum. What was taught to primarily white children would be based on who was educating them. For example such as education funded for by churches, families and parents of the town and or village they live in and more. Before public education was obtainable for all of the general public there were many things that factored into it. Some of the problems would be the ways that schools were funded. Most schools to start off had a tuition that the parents had to pay. Some other methods of funding were property taxes, fuel contributions, charitable contributions, and on some occasions the state helped support. In some cases there were some schools that were free for the public paid for by the public residents at the time of the American revolution. A few northeastern cities had free schools for African American children as well. Public education over the years has taken many turns and hits to get where it is to today. Even today problems as to what has happened in the past is still prevalent today. In the History and evolution of public education in the US, it says that a problem with public education is that there isn’t a centralized standard to how schools are run and so on. While initially it was the intent of the founding fathers to have the public educated so that we the people would be civil and understand the problems in politics and other things across the world. While that was the intent that didn’t really stay true because now when it comes to funding for public schools federal funding is the lowest. A little over 8 percent of funding comes from the federal government, 47 percent from state, and 45 from the local level. Overall the quality of education is determined by each state. Within the constitution there is nothing that says how the governance of education should be throughout the whole country. Since each state dictates their own education which is even sometimes handed down the school boards there is no equity of learning when coming from one school or another, or from another state. Due to being so diverse in a sense it creates a big problem for students to be educated.

After reviewing each survey individually I came to the conclusion that most people say there is no problem, the school dress code is a problem, or teachers are a problem. Some other outliers are that students individually have their own flaws whether being lazy like myself at times. I recently moved here just last school year, and transitioning from a school with really no dress code to khakis and collared shirts almost blew my mind. Some student suggestions for the dress code is to make it more relaxed which I don’t know if it would fix anything but I don’t think that having the dress code does much of anything like what some of the common uses for a dress code being to stop bullying, increase attention in classes, and bring up grades. Already students such as myself can get away with defying the dress code without getting any sort of backlash, so which is why I don’t see much of a change needed to it. Some of the problems with teachers/staff is that they don’t really teach, and don't build bonds with their students. According to a survey conducted by Gallup in 2016 from students from fifth to 12th grade summarized students' answers to eight specific points. Here at Shamokin the students identified some of the problems as to being teacher engagement, the dress code, teachers teaching, and in other sections some of the things voiced by students of minorities was that their public ed hasn't been the best or has been for some due to racism and being unfairly treated. In comparison to surveys by Gallup four of their eight points corroborate my research, such as being engaged and hopeful students fare better on desirable outcomes, such as better self-reported academic performance and less absenteeism; many students have a best friend at school, but few get to do what they do best; many young students but fewer older students feel surrounded by caring adults at school; and Involvement in extracurricular activities boosts positive outcomes for students. Some of the differences between my survey and gallups would be two of their other points. Those being, students become less engaged as they move through high school; engagement and hope are linked to students' plans after high school. Then the two points they also have included don’t have much of a comparison of difference within my research. Those points being, getting to do what they do best drives students' perception of success at school; and entrepreneurial aspiration wanes for high school students. The two points that are different from the end of my research is that students based on the rating they gave themselves are very engaged in their classes. One limitation to that would be their own personal bias of themselves rating them higher than they should. Through reading some of the written responses as to what the point of school is, students usually say it’s either to prepare them for college or to get a job right after high school. Throughout the written responses students never really talked about what they hoped to do or not that I can remember, most usually said I have to be engaged in class for what I want to do in the future and what I want to major in college. 

In conclusion there is a lot more research that could be done to make this better. If this wasn’t already late I would do more research, probably something I’d like to do over the summer. There’s a lot more problems that would have to do with students then there would be with the school from what it seems. How you go about achieving what you want in life is in the hands of yourself. Education goes right along with that, while it is possible not having the “best” teachers might and could possibly make that difficult. That's really an opinion because if you’re just at school because you have to be, not having the “best” teacher for something you could still learn something if you just listen. The definition of education is instruction in a school or at a university, it doesn’t say for anything specifically but some sort of instruction whether that instruction puts you on a path to college or to going right into the workforce after high school. 

Sources 

files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED606970.pdf

gallup.com/education/231752/things-need-know-students.aspx

gallup.com/education/239168/academic-ranking-may-motivate-students-alienate-others.aspx

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_education#:~:text=According%20to%20legendary%20accounts%2C%20the,(2076%E2%80%931600%20BC).