Kids Say Schoolwork Is Too Easy [Study]

As the American education system continues to crumble it turns out many students feel the work they are given in class is too easy to complete which often leaves them bored.

A survey conducted by the Center for American Progress asked students to rate the difficulty of their class work and many agreed that they were not being challenged by teachers.

According to the study 37% of 4th-graders said the math work they were being assigned was too easy. The study also found that 29% of 8th-graders found their math assignments to be simple, so did 51% of 8th-grade civics students and 57% of history students.

It is not just middle school students who feel that way about their classwork, 56% of 12th-grade civics students and 55% of 12th-grade history students find their classwork too easy while 21% of students in their senior year of high school found math classes to be too simple.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that many students don’t feel challenged these days, almost one-third of 8th-graders said they read less than five pages a day both in school and as part of their homework. When asked about testing one-third said they only write lengthy answers on tests two times a year, often relying on multiple choice tests for most of their schooling.

The studies findings shouldn’t really surprise us, American schools have become nothing more than multiple choice clearing centers meant to push children through the system while ensuring that no child is left behind. That mentality towards teaching often comes at the expense of brighter students who are forced to learn below their level in order to allow less intelligent students to “keep up” with the rest of the class.

Are you surprised that American students don’t feel challenged in the age of “teaching for the test” rather than teaching students to develop analytic skills of their own?