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Julian Mucha
Professor Thomas
UWRT 1102-017
5 November 2015
After combing through the Internet for sources which would support my stance factually,
I was able to successfully locate enough information that I could comfortable construct a final
product for my thesis. Initially it required a great deal of time to find enough quality sources for
which I could use for my thesis paper. I found that the suggestions that I received at the peer
conference was especially helpful due to the fact that it was suggested to me that I do a bit more
analysis of the sources and to critically read through each piece to pick out potential talking
points in my thesis. I first tried to locate pieces and just provided a summary of the source
without properly analyzing the source for information that would be vital. I made it a goal to
reverse this policy. I chose to later abandon the first three sources in favor of the final four due
to a change in the direction of my topic.
Annotated Bibliography
a). "11 Facts About Education Around the World." 11 Facts About Education Around the World.
DoSomething.org, n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.
b).

This list of facts gives an overview of how education differs around the world and details

the state of education in the world. In sub-Saharan Africa, 11.07 million students do not finish
primary school. This gives them a tremendous disadvantage in learning and can negatively affect
their lives in the future. There are also differences in gender when it comes to education around
the world. For example, girls are less likely to begin school but boys are more likely to repeat a

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grade or drop out of school completely. Developing countries suffer greatly from a lack of
education with each year of education adding a potential of 10% to potential income. Higher
income countries such as those in Europe bolster youth literacy rates from 90-100% while
countries in Africa struggle to achieve a 50% literacy rate in children.
Where you live can also affect the education a child may receive. Studies show that rural
children can be twice as likely as urban children to not be in school. Wealth also plays a role
considering the fact that the top 20% wealthiest of the worlds population have children who are
4 times more likely to attend school than the worlds poorest 20%. Drop out numbers and the
repetition of grades has also become a problem when it comes to the worlds education.
According to the source, 31 million primary school children dropped out of school with 32
million children repeating a grade. According to UNESCO, 61 million primary school children
are not attending school with nearly half of this number not even planning to begin attending
school, just above a quarter is actually planning on attending in the future.
c). This article was extremely easy to comprehend due to the bullet points that were utilized in
order to spell out the facts in an easy fashion. Poverty plays an important role in the ability of a
child to receive an education. In the world it is apparent that once a child exits the system it is
very rare that the child will return for schooling. There is quite obviously a wealth disparity in
the success of children through the world with the top 20% having children attend school 4 times
more than the poorest 20%.

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a). Zhao, Emmeline. "Best Education In The World: Finland, South Korea Top Country
Rankings, U.S. Rated Average." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web.
22 Oct. 2015.
b).

This article from the Huffington Post analyzes how the education here in the United

States is lagging behind countries such as Finland and South Korea. The study found that the
cultures in these countries heavily support the importance of education and can act as a
cornerstone for educational success. The ranking were compiled from data using test scores,
graduation rates, and the number of students seeking higher education. The study offers some
solutions for other countries to follow suit behind Finland, South Korea, and other high ranking
Asian countries. The study suggests that money alone cant fix an education system. It finds that
long-term commitment to improving the system is much more effective. The study also suggests
that teachers be well respected as they are in these higher level educational countries listed
above. Good teachers that are well respected are an essential part to the development of students
learning since they are facilitators of learning.
They should be valued as professionals rather than be treated as pieces of a large
educational machine. This is especially true when you realize that North Carolina is one the
states which treats teachers the worst. The study then goes on to suggest that our education
system should begin to prepare students for future job positions rather than simply focusing on
the careers that are currently available. There are positions available now that did not exist just
20 years ago. With the technological boom, it is vital that educational systems prepare their
students for the future in a highly competitive and taxing work environment. All these factors are
suggestions from the study as how to better tune education around the world by following the
example of Finland and South Korea.

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c). This article is one that is easy to understand with very little jargon. The purpose of this article
for my inquiry project was to display that the United States is lagging behind the rest of the
world in terms of education. It also serves as an article to discuss some examples of why exactly
other countries such as Finland and South Korea are beating out the United States. There is a
greater respect for teachers.

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a). Right to Education : Situation around the World. Humanium Together for Childrens Rights.
Web. 4 Nov. 2015.
b).

The author of this article discusses the various reasons for why education in the world is

not up to par. The author cites poverty and the financial deficit in developing countries as the key
reason as to why their education systems are lagging far behind the rest of the world. The most
affected regions in the world include Sub-Saharan Africa as well as Central and Eastern Asia.
Half of the children in countries such as Sub-Saharan Africa receive less than 4 years of
education. 50% of children in countries such as Somalia receive less than 2 years of education. In
terms of gender, girls are at the greatest disadvantage, making up 54% of the children not
currently enrolled in school.
This problem is more apparent in the Arab countries where women are not given the
same equal treatment as men are privileged with. The culture in Arab countries calls for women
to stay at home and for the men to receive an education. In Africa, 12 million girls are at risk of
never actually receiving any education at all. About 80% of girls living in Sub-Saharan Africa
will never have an opportunity to attend primary school. One of the greatest problems is caused
by countries that are not making any effort to reduce this gender education gap. Countries such
as this include Afghanistan and Somalia. The author points out that factors such as poverty,
illness, unemployment and parental illiteracy can increase the chance of non-schooling by a
factor of 2. Children who grow up in such an unfortunate environment are not allocated a chance
to better themselves and are put at a disadvantage purely due to the status of their birth. This is
an issue that needs to be addressed in order for countries to raise literacy within their borders and
for the world to take a stand against this violation.

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c). This article was very simple to read with many examples of how education in the rest of the
world differs greatly from my personal experience with education. It was of great interest to me
how women are at such a disadvantage when it comes to learning in the Middle East. Poverty
plays a very distinct role in the education of the youth around the world and most likely is
present in the United States education system as well.

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a). Board, The Editorial. "Why Other Countries Teach Better." The New York Times. The New
York Times, 17 Dec. 2013. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.
b). The piece is written by a collection of writers that make up the editorial board of the New
York Times. The article seeks to sift through why other countries such as Finland, China, and
Canada are more successful when it comes to education in relation to the United States.
According to a survey cited in the piece, the United States scored fall below average and better
than only two of 12 other developed comparison countries, Italy and Spain. In the case of
Finland, the article points out that the system provided in Finland provide various services for
their students including hot meals and health and dental services while offering a rigorous
curriculum with courses including physics, chemistry, biology, and philosophy. It is also noted
that the teachers are held to a higher standard and are treated in a more professional manner than
teachers in the United States.
The article then goes to discuss the issue of school funding which has been solved by
Canada. The article states that in the United States, funding for the school systems is provided by
property taxes. Therefore areas with a higher income will in turn receive more funding for
schools while funding for schools in lower income areas will receive less in funding for
resources. State taxes are not sufficient enough to make up this disparity so the difference in
education is apparent. Canada fixed this problem by determining how much money each district
needed based on size and need and distributed tax revenue based on these factors.
Then to the topic of combatting elitism which has been solved by the city of Shanghai,
China. China has embraced its various workers and has sought to eliminate the income
disparities in its schools. Shanghais solution to combatting elitism included closing poor
schools, reorganizing the district and merging poorer schools with higher income schools.

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Teachers were transferred in order to better the education of those who may have not received a
higher quality of education before.
c). The article was fairly easy to read with very few words that may prove difficult to understand.
The examples of the solutions brought forth by the respective countries are vital to my thesis. I
believe that this section will allow me to construct a solution to the same problems being faced in
the United States in order to better the education present here.

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a). Swallow, Erica. "Creating Innovators: Why America's Education System Is Obsolete."
Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 25 Apr. 2012. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
b). The article is written by Erica Swallow, a contributor, but overwhelmingly relies on the work
of Tony Wagner, a Harvard Innovation Educaton Fellow. Wagner spends the majority of the
article discussing why the current education system in the United States is killing Americas
ability to raise innovators. He argues that while the system focuses on filling children with
knowledge, instead they should be focusing on developing students innovation skills and
motivation to succeed. He has created a series of core ideas that students in the United States
should master in order to innovate. His ideas include Critical thinking and problem solving (the
ability to ask the right questions), collaboration across networks and leading by influence Agility
and adaptability, initiative and entrepreneurialism, accessing and analyzing information, effective
written and oral communication, and curiosity and imagination.
He then seeks to analyze why our education is killing innovation. He argues that
individual achievement is focused on too much and should be replaced with practices that build
teamwork. When it comes to specialization, he greatly frowns upon it, choosing to have
innovators cross various areas of learning to solve problems from different angles. He also
claims that taking risks is greatly frowned upon in our education, a concept that he says is vital to
the innovation process. Without risk taking there can be no innovation. He also discusses how
learning in the United States is passive in the fact that information is consumed instead of
created. He also makes a point in how education in America extrinsically motivates students
instead of intrinsically motivating them which is proven to be much more effective.

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c). The article is mostly focused around the ideas of Wagner. The wording is not too difficult to
read and offers a vast array of ideas that would do well in my paper. One of the main sticking
points for why America will remain great as an economy comes down to Americas ability to
innovate and create new things. If our ability to innovate begins to suffer, this is of a great
concern to us all. He brings up many points that I have personally encountered such as a heavy
focus on GPA and extrinsic motivation. These are all points that I could use in my paper and
relate to.

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a). Strauss, Valerie. "Poll: Most Americans Oppose Key Tenets of Modern School

Reform." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 23 Aug. 2015. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
b). Valerie Strauss is a reporter for the Washington Post who covers education. The article serves
mostly to show the results of the 47th Annual PDK/Gallup Poll. The results of the poll show that
respondents found that there is too much of an emphasis on standardized testing and that the
number one problem faced by schools relates to insufficient funding which the piece finds is a
consistent finding for the past ten years. 64% of respondents found that there was too much
standardized testing going on with a majority finding a problem with teachers being evaluated
based on the scores on these standardized tests. about 80 percent of Americans said that
student engagement with classwork and a high level of hope for the future are very important for
measuring the effectiveness of public schools in their communities. Testing was found to be the
least effective measure of effectiveness with 14% of the parents finding it to be very important.

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When it comes to assessing the Common Core State Standards pushed forth by the
federal government, the majority of respondents opposed the standards. The point where most
people opposed the standards had to relate to comparing standardized test scores between states.
c). The article is composed of a great deal of graphics of statistics with a summary of the
findings. This article serves mainly as a series of facts and statistics for me to use in my thesis.
The findings that standardized tests are greatly frowned upon serves my cause greatly due to the
fact that I believe that the use of standardized tests to evaluate teachers is a poor choice. Also the
finding that the number one problem according to parents has to relate to insufficient funding.
This is a point that I can hammer home with many other sources to show that even parents
believe that funding in our education system is a problem.

a). Gerber, Scott. "Here's the Real Problem With America's Educational System." Time. Time, 2

June 2014. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.

b). This article is written by Scott Gerber, an entrepreneur and writer for Time magazine. The
article discusses why the education provided in the United States is failing. The main arguments
revolve around the idea that the education presented to students does not foster entrepreneurship.
The article states that from a survey conducted by the writer, 87% of those surveyed where
interested in potentially pursuing entrepreneurship. Gerber however argues that the K-12 system
does not adequately allow for these people to pursue their goals. He states that organizations
such as Junior Achievement which strives to educate students in business is gravely underfunded.

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Gerber then goes to state that financial literacy and business concepts are simply not
emphasized enough in our system. His survey interviewed college students and found an
overwhelming 97 percent of our survey respondents believe that entrepreneurship education is
important yet, of the mere 38 percent that were offered a class, 62 percent said that it wasnt
adequate enough to start a new business post-graduation. He wishes that graduates engage
themselves into startups in order to foster these ideas for entrepreneurship. He also desires an
education system where each college graduate would have the skills necessary for business or to
freelance whether they wish to utilize these skills or not.
c). I found this article to be very easy to understand with many points that I can agree with. I
have had a personal experience with Junior Achievement way back in elementary school but
since then I have not had a single interaction with them. Gerber brings up many good points
about how financial literacy and business concepts are simply not being emphasized enough in
our education. All the business and financial literacy that I have been subject to has been a result
of elective courses that I had chosen for myself. Business and entrepreneurial concepts were
completely absent from the core classes required of students in my high school.