Colin Stroin Case

Colin Stroin

English 102

Professor Bingham

February 13, 2014

Artistic Statement

The United States of America has been a thriving country, in practically all aspects ever since it was first established in the 1700’s. As wonderful of a country as it is, and as much opportunity is provided in America, we have been suffering slightly as of late in a critical part of global prosperity; our education system.

America ranks 17th in the world in terms of education, well below what any sane person would believe they should be. For this first project, my partner and I investigated why this problem is occurring, and possible solutions to stop it before it gets any worse, and hopefully restore it to where we believe it needs to be. Through our research we found out that Finland is the highest-ranking country in terms of education on earth. We asked ourselves, “What are the Finnish doing that we can’t do?” And honestly the answer is nothing. We are definitely capable of lowering the drop out rate, giving all students an equal opportunity, and treating teachers with more of the respect they deserve. These small problems are what are creating this huge hole for the American education system. Students with low income but high test scores still have less of a chance of getting into college than a student with low test scores, but a high income. If we could somehow change the way students see teachers, give every an equal chance to succeed, bring more supplies into the schools and get parents and families more involved in schools, maybe we could start to become as successful as Finland in the education system.

This project did more than give me an important grade in English class. This project opened my eyes to a problem that truly does need to be fixed.