In the last 30-40 years ignorance
has participated as a main contributor to the ever-growing decline of the quality
of education in America, and has presented many challenges in the hopes of
correcting them. It has become a common misconception that America administers
one of the highest levels education in the world, when in reality the
performance of American students on international assessments can be described
as lackluster. For instance during the last three-yearly OECD Program for
International Student Assessment (PISA) ) ( a report which compares the
knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds in 70 countries around the world) the United
States was ranked 14th out of 34 OECD
countries for reading skills, 17th for science and a below-average 25th for
mathematics. It is as if the American educational system is turning a blind eye
to the realities of our test results. This ignorance is similar to that of the
main protagonist of Oedipus Rex. In this drama Oedipus attempts to cloak
himself from the truth, because he believes that if he disregards actuality
then what occurred would be fallacious. It
is this ignorance that has caused Americans to believe that the quality of
education being administered is satisfactory, instead of focusing on how to
constantly improve and re-innovate the current standards of education.1) "U.S. Falls In World Education Rankings, Rated 'Average'." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/07/us-falls-in-world-education-rankings_n_793185.html>
2) Sophocles, and E. H. Plumptre. Oedipus Rex: (Oedipus the King). Stilwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 2005.
3) Gerstein, Jackie M. "User Generated Education." User Generated Education. N.p., Oct. 2007. Web. 29 May 2013.
4) Robinson, Ken, and Lou Aronica. The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything. New York: Viking, 2009. Print.
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