Could education have saved Rome?

Education problems today are in a way similar to the education problems of Rome. Near the end of the Roman Empire, things were falling apart in all areas. In general, education was only given to the wealthy children and all others went uneducated. Many people could not read or write. Girls were not given the same educational opportunities as the boys were. This problem was made worse as they had children. These children were not able to be taught by their parents how to read or write. The Romans realized too late that everyone needed to be educated in order for their society to survive.

Today, society realizes the importance of education for all. Funding is most school districts biggest problems. States are reducing money that local school districts receive. Here locally in the Forest Hills School District, funding is a big issue. The Forest Hills school district today and the Romans were both struggling to pay for teacher’s salaries and the many other things that go along with running an educational system. But unlike the Romans, Forest Hills is getting help and making a little headway on the problem. Groups such as the Forest Hills Foundation for Education are raising money by sponsoring 5K marathons and alumni games to pay for after-school activities such as the new 24/7 after school club. The purpose of this club is so students can get access to technology and get teacher help on assignments. Forest Hills is trying to cut as few employees as possible by shifting people to try to cover positions of staff that have retired or quit. Forest Hills is also trying to combine classes such as advanced foreign language classes. The school district is also trying to look at current technology to help combine class room using Skype. This would help reduce money spent on teachers salaries. They are trying to make changes rather than go to the taxpayers for tax levies.

Rome could not have been saved by using today's knowledge and technology because we are still having this problem in our school districts today. We do not have ll of the solutions. 

Compare & contrast: American SAT and Chinese Gaokao

Many American high school students take an SAT to determine what college the are eligible to apply to. Many Chinese students take a test called a Gaokao to see if they can even get into college. For American students, if you happen to score low on the SAT, you will still be able to apply to a community college and be accepted. Students in China who score low on the Gaokao, will not be able to get into any college.
To American students, a four hour test seems quite long. Imagine taking a test that lasts 9 hours. This is exactly what the students in China do for the Gaokao.

The college entrance tests in China are taken so seriously that if a student does not do well on it and then is not accepted in to college, they are shamed by their families. An example of this is a student failing the Gaokao and his mother did not speak a word to him for weeks. This is not the case for most families in America. If an American student fails the SAT, they just retake it for a better score. Parents generally are not too upset.
The Gaokao includes several sections. These include a section on Chinese, English and mathematics. On the SAT, students are tested on American reading and writing and mathematics.
A sample question from a SAT might be; in triangle ABC, the length of line BC is 2, the length of side AC is 12. What could be the length of line AB?
 A sample question on the Gaokao is; in a square with sides a, b, c and d, the intersection of lines AC and BD are O, and e is the midpoint of section OD. AE is the extended line, which intersects with line CD at F. If the length of line AC is A, and the length of line BD is B, then what is the length of line AF?

Needing to do well on the Gaokao is a necessity for students in China. This puts China on the forefront of technology and education because Chinese students take education very seriously.