In Conclusion...

1. The ranking of best states for education can vary widely. Part of that is due to the fact that there's also a variety of methods to try to calculate the best in education, another reason is that it's difficult to compare schools when they all teach different things. Regardless, it just shows that the US is inconsistent when evaluating schools. If school rankings have this many discrepancies, shouldn't that be a red flag that education isn't being delivered consistently around the US.

2. Many Americans move each year. If you look at the beginning of the US to now, people are moving more than ever. It would be logical to make sure schools have the same requirements everywhere.

3. A fair amount of high school graduates aren't prepared for college. Isn't one of the functions of high school to prepare students for college? If education requirements were standardized, less time would be wasted trying to calculate how well schools are doing and more time could be spent improving them.

Some Things to Think About...

Education is a very broad and controversial subject. There's a lot of points to discuss, and they all intertwine deeply. Sometimes it can get confusing keeping track of all the various components and whether or not they're really effective. Here are just some questions related to my topic-

1. Are there different kinds of learners? Should teachers be able to know how to teach to each type? Should requirements be adjust based off of what kind of learner a student is? Is that fair?

2. Is high-stakes testing necessary? Is it accurate? Should colleges place more or less importance on these scores?

3. What is intelligence? Are there multiple kinds of intelligence? How do you measure for each kind? Which kinds of intelligence matter? Why do we place so much importance on them?

4. Should classes be solely pass/fail? Is that fair? Are letter grades fair? Does education have to be fair?

5. Is the letter grade system consistent? Does it vary from teacher to teacher?

6. What should be taught in US schools? How do you determine what information is useful and what information isn't? Should we compare ourselves to other countries and the ways they teach?

7. How can schools account for creativity? Is creativity useful? How useful? How can you define creativity? Should colleges place more importance on creativity?