In the article "What Our Education System Needs Is More F's," Carl Singleton makes use of the startling statement in the title to attract attention and then develops his thesis by examining the title's implications. Singleton wants to emphasize the terrible state of the educational system and his view that the system began to decay when it started passing students who were failing. Restoring standards would be a good first step in bringing the system back under control, says Singleton, even if that would not solve all the problems in education today. Singleton does a thorough job of considering what would happen if his policy were followed and what that would mean to students, parents, instructors, and schools. Singleton asserts the importance of his plan by stating, "The immediate need for our educational system from pre-kindergarten through post-Ph.D. is not more money or better teaching but simply a widespread giving of F's."
Singleton knows that many will dismiss his plan as banal and simplistic, but he says it is not and sets out to prove his point by considering the implications if the plan were followed. Singleton is not recommending giving F's indiscriminately but only to students who have not learned the required material. The basic problem with the educational system now, says Singleton, is that there is a common practice of giving out grades that have not been earned. In this way, school systems--and teachers--have contributed to the growing ignorance of the populace.
Many people have commented on the fact that the educational system is deteriorating and that students are being promoted and graduated without having the requisite knowledge. Many suggestions have been made for correcting this situation, but Singleton says none of them will do the job. Among these suggestions have been getting back to basics, higher salaries for teachers, and more stringent certification procedures, but Singleton says none of...