High School Senior Paper Essay Example

school and any participating parties will gain credibility in front of the donors and the surrounding community.

Modern teaching curriculums were designed for the average student, yet one can argue that the average student does not exist. The result is hundreds of unmotivated kids dropping out before their high school graduation. As of May 2018, Idaho's graduation rate stood at a staggering 77.2% (Boyington), which means that 32.8 % of Idaho's high school students were not educationally stimulated enough to stay.

A variety of teaching methods are changing the course of the future of education, and schools across the nation should take the initiative to adopt them. Personalized learning, project-based learning, place-based education, formative assessment, and maker education are just a few of these proposed methods.

Project-Based Learning (PBL) prepares students for a competitive, project-based, global economy and provides a more visual, hands-on learning environment for students. Place-Based Education (PBE) puts students into real-life problem-solving situations by moving their education from the classroom to the community.

PBE increases student-teacher engagement, improves academic outcomes, and overall impacts local communities. 'Formative assessment differs fundamentally from traditional summative assessment in that it is designed to provide the information necessary to make minor ‘course corrections’ along the way, rather than judge whether or not a student ‘reached their goal’ at the end of a unit' (Day).

Formative assessment is the least stressful for both the teacher and the student, as well as being the easiest teaching method to incorporate into daily education. Lastly, Maker Education is essentially described as setting aside a portion of class time during the week to allow students to create something and learn about various machinery, tools, paints, etc. By

allowing more funds to be utilized in schools, the students' education could benefit tremendously if invested in adopting different methods of teaching.

When teachers aren't properly acknowledged and compensated for their efforts in the classroom it is not just the teacher suffering, but the students as well. As the American author Gordon Hinckley once said, “You can not build a great building on a weak foundation.” This can also be applied to staff and other associates in a school setting. The materials required to teach in today's schools are not always covered by the limited funding provided, which takes a huge toll on teachers' income. As of January 18th, 2018, the average teacher salary in Idaho was $48,113 according to journalist and blogger Kevin Richart.

The cost of living in Boise, Idaho is estimated to be about $58,000; this does not include the extra expenses such as car payments, food, clothes, or school supplies. How can we expect the instructors of our students to live so minimally and provide maximum effort in the workplace? If funding for schools was raised to a comfortable nationwide standard, everyone involved in the daily affairs of that school would benefit. With sufficiently compensated teachers in our education system, students and communities alike will thrive.