Grade My GRE Issue Essay Please!!

[Cryolite]

 A nation should require all of its students to study the same national curriculum until they enter college.

  

 

Should a nation require its students to all learn the same material until college? Some would state that a nation should require every student to learn the same material in grade school, as this guarantees that every student has an identical opportunity at education. Others would claim that instituting such a policy is counterproductive, as every student has his or her individual needs and preferences that a national curriculum would not be able to provide.  After weighing the evidence, it is clear that a nation should not force all of its students to learn the same national curriculum. Every student is unique and therefore would be best educated in a system that treats them as such.

 

Those that would argue that a nation should require its students to learn the same material until they enter college might claim that instituting a national curriculum would guarantee every student would have an identical opportunity to learn and therefore and an identical opportunity at success. This argument is certainly plausible, but does it truly show that instituting a national curriculum is optimal? Such a program would likely satisfy the educational requirements of the average student, but a national curriculum would also not satisfy the demands of those students who are not average; those with educational disabilities or who are exceptionally gifted. A program such as this would lead to an optimal education for the average student, but would fall short on educating everyone else. Thus, a nation that requires its students to all learn the same material would educate the average student best while neglecting those at the edges, which can hardly be seen as an optimal arrangement. 

 

Now, consider the opposite side. Educating students based on individual needs would allow the needs of students with special needs, such as the aforementioned gifted and students with learning disabilities, to be educated better, while also allowing the average student to recieve the same education that would be provided by a national curriculum. Educating students in a system such as this would not significantly affect the education of students close to the average while also improving the education of those who are not average. Improving the education of those not average students will lead to a better, more productive society. For example, Albert Einstein was seen as a poor, unmotivated student in school. He barely passed his high school, but when he left the grade school system, he obtained a PhD in physics and went on to win a Nobel Prize. During his grade school, where he was pidgeonholed like everyone else into learning the same material, he was a poor student, but when he went to college and recieved an education more suited to his needs, he blossomed and became the most recognized scientist of the 20th century.

 

 

In conclusion, it is clear that instituting a national curriculum is not optimal; a program that treats students on a case-by-case basis would be far more beneficial. A national curriculum would provide a good education to students near the average but would be inadequate. 

[Jarrod]

The main premise in your response is a bit silly. Anyone proposing to adopt a national curriculum wouldn't claim that "gifted" students or students with disabilities should be deprived of individualized attention or support. If anything, a national curriculum would likely provide clearer standards for how people who fall out of the normal range should be treated differently. I understand that if you interpret the question being asked as literally as possible, it seems extremely stupid (should children with learning disabilities and children in the norm learn the exact same material in the exact same way?) but I think they mean for you to interpret it a bit more charitably than that!

 

 

Anyway, you don't make it clear how this is a problem for a national curriculum in particular. The contrast case with "national curriculum" isn't "individualized curriculum" (that aint in the budget!), it would likely be some smaller governing body like a state curriculum, and it seems to me that this problem continues to exist (to the extent that it does exist) in that case.

Edited August 13, 2013 by Jarrod