POOR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

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POOR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
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Poor Academic Performance in High Schools
From a small, poor village to the most advanced and developed cities, everyone
knows that education is a valuable and essential tool. It can open doors for better
opportunities, thus for a better future. Despite the recent and previous global financial crisis,
parents and whole communities have tried their best to make sure their children receive
appropriate education and training. They wish to provide them with an opportunity to get
better jobs in future for better lives. Unfortunately, many students entering University level
perform poorly on proficiency tests. High school graduates experience a lack of necessary
skills needed for university level. Because of this, many place the blame directly on high and
elementary schools for failing to educate their pupils/students appropriately. Many problems
are facing elementary and high school education systems today, and some of them might
have adverse effects on student performance at the end. Some of the issues that have led to
high school poor performance rate include student reading ability, teacher attrition and
parental involvement. The problems exist within high and elementary levels, and hopefully,
there are promising solutions to bring better education for students. The goal of this paper is
to discuss specific problems, facing elementary and high school educational performance,
and to search for solutions on how to ensure better performance of school leavers.
Problems
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POOR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
1. Reading problems
The problem here is the reading epidemic booming among elementary and high
school students. As suggested by Holmes (1998), most of the high school students cannot
read what they are supposed to read on their grade level. The majority of these high school
students lack the literacy skills needed to be successful in life (Holmes, 1998), tens of
thousands of these students drop out of school every day, and some of them do not get a high
school diploma. The most contributing reason that causes these difficulties hides behind
improper schooling back at a lower grade. Because of certain circumstances, they did not
learn to read properly, and this gap creates a lot of problems with their current education.
Reading skills of high school graduates have not improved for the last decade (USA Today).
2. Attrition rate
The main contributor to the poor performance of high school children is the high
attrition rate of teachers. Many people underestimate the duties done by high school teachers,
and, for that case, many think teaching high school kids is an easy job. In reality, it is a
demanding profession with a lot of responsibilities. It is also a rewarding profession at the
end of the day. Unfortunately, many new teachers cannot withstand the overwhelming duties
expected of them and thus quit teaching after five years or less. According to Holmes (1998),
up to 90% of teachers hired in developed countries, like the U.S.A, are replacements for
teachers who just quit without any justified reasons. Because of the shocking teacher turnover
rates, high school students are believed to perform poorly. Another problem is the amount of
money spent by governments in search of new teachers. Every year, the number grows and
takes a toll on the education budget. The money paid to hire these teachers could have been
otherwise used for valuable expenditures, like textbooks and computers.
3. Parental involvement 
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POOR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
The final problem is the lack of parental involvement with children education,
especially when it comes to homework activities. Unfortunately, parents nowadays do not
show any interest in helping their kids with their everyday homework, which mainly the
teachers have to deal with. Children, with parents involved in a child’s education, show
higher G.P.A, higher test scores and higher graduation rates (Elish-Piper, 2008). We all know
that parents can offer help, encourage, stimulate ideas, support, and provide their children
with basics skills better than most teachers can do.
Solutions
As proved by the above facts, reading is an issue that teachers need to pay more
attention to. Moreover, it is a serious problem that needs to be controlled by all teachers of all
subjects, not just by the language and reading teachers only (Silverman, 2006). As suggested
by Silverman (2006), as a responsibility, all teachers regardless of the grade level, should
have reading instructions for their students. Teachers can help out struggling readers,
especially if they get the parents involved in the student’s reading activities. Some parents
may have noticed something, at one point, at home while listening how their child read, and
this will help the teacher diagnose the trouble, and that is where to begin the help (Ediger,
2008, p.47). It is not an easy thing to diagnose the reading pr