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American Teachers Problems

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The Major Problem Faced by Teachers in America Throughout the history of mankind, teachers have played a pivotal and irreplaceable role in the development of society. One could argue that teachers are the powerhouses that maintain the world full of innovation and creativity. They are the individuals responsible for educating the influential minds that have left significant marks in history as it is known today. However, even with the several years of formal and informal education teachers have to surpass in order to obtain their degrees, teachers are not given the praise and recognition they are worthy of. Although teachers have to demonstrate dedication and perseverance in their job to provide an effective education to their students, teachers …show more content…
According to Peter Brunn, in the Lesson Planning Handbook,’Great teachers often make teaching look almost effortless but, inevitably, if you look closer, you'll discover their ""perfect lessons"" are the result of thoughtful planning and strategic organization”(Brunn); nevertheless, the monetary appreciation they receive from the government is subpar. While reading a book, creating a lesson plan, and presenting it to the class may appear as an easy task to some, educators have to have a form of strategy to transfer ideas from their mind to the minds of dozens of developing students in a clear and effective way, which can take a significant amount of effort and expertise. According to a study conducted by the International Journal of Educational Research, “Although new teachers in the U.S. are paid higher than the international average, U.S. investment to the salary of experienced teachers was lower than the international average. The study also found that the countries with higher average salary for experienced teachers are more likely to have higher national achievement”(Akiba et al. p 171-181.). Therefore, when hardened, American teachers continue to deal with all the hardships there are in the educational field for years and discover that there are teachers in other countries making more money on average for the identical profession, they feel …show more content…
Consequently, a system should be implemented to compensate effective teachers based on good academic performances reflected by their students to encourage competition among educators in the field to fulfill their potential and prove their own worth, causing an exponential increase in the standard of teaching in the American educational system. For instance, a study performed by expert Eric Hanushek stated, “A teacher one standard deviation above the mean effectiveness annually generates marginal gains of over $400,000 in present value of student future earnings with a class size of 20 and proportionately higher with larger class sizes. Alternatively, replacing the bottom 5–8 percent of teachers with average teachers could move the U.S. near the top of international math and science rankings with a present value of $100 trillion”(Hanushek p 466-479). In other words, the overall quality of education in the United States could be greatly increased if school districts start releasing underperforming teachers and replacing them with average, effective instructors. Since the study shows that educators with a higher number of students in each class can prove to be more successful, having slightly more students in each classroom should not hinder the learning potential of the entire group. While some may argue against this

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