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This Week in the "We Are So Screwed!" Department...
While Chinese tiger-moms flip-out on their kids if they don't get into Harvard AND Julliard by age 16 (if not earlier!), according to a report released last month,
it seems many - too many - American parents are content to let their
children fail basic scientific proficiency tests. This does not bode
well for our role as the most innovative Country in the world, to say
the least...
Here's some background:
The figures, which cover tests in 2009, come from the
National Assessment of Educational Assessment Progress, which is also
known by the catchier brand name “The Nation’s Report Card.”
It’s not a test of all students, but rather 156,500 fourth-graders,
15,100 eighth-graders and a surprisingly low 11,100 twelfth-graders.The selection process involved picking schools
that best represented the national, state and local demographics, and
then picking students at random from these schools. Students with
disabilities or other special educational needs were given special
conditions (such as additional time) along the lines of what they would
receive on a state exam basis. The results led to students being
graded as achieving a basic, proficient or advanced level for their age
group
The numbers really speak for themselves, and what they're saying certainly ain't good (emphasis mine).
Among fourth graders, 72% reached at least the basic grade, 34% reached at least proficient, and 1% reached the advanced level. That left 28% that failed to reach the basic grade.
Among eighth-graders, 27% failed to reach basic, 63% reached at least basic, 30% reached at least proficient, and 2% reached advanced.
In the twelfth-grade, 40% failed to reach basic, 60% reached at least basic, 21% reached at least proficient, and 1% reached advanced.
While I'm hardly surprised that only 1-2% of students tested reached
"Advanced" proficiency levels (other studies have suggested similar
results), I'm TERRIFIED by the % of students who failed to achieve even
basic proficiency, especially considering how proficiency levels are
defined:
The bar isn't exactly set too high with definitions like these, yet
an insane amount of students are still failing to clear these low
hurdles. I have some Asian and Russian/Eastern European friends who
were doing the AP Calculus BC curriculum
in by the equivalent of 8th or 9th grade in the U.S. (that class is
usually taken in 12th grade here, and only by a very, very small % of
students). By these definitions, advanced 12th graders only have to
"recognize a nuclear fission reaction;" not explain, just recognize. That is NOT FREAKING ROCKET SCIENCE! The reaction is NOT THAT HARD to recognize!
I should mention that I'm coming at this from a perspective likely
far different than that of most Americans (although some if not many of
my readers may share a similar one). I'm caucasian, both my parents
have advanced degrees, and I grew up in a relatively affluent suburb in
North NJ with relatively good public schools. My parents were also
pretty involved in making sure I did well in school.
Enough about me, though.
There's been study after study (after study) about how to improve
science & math education/performance in this Country for at least 2
decades, meanwhile there's been little in the way of progress. Surely
part of this is due to demographics, societal norms/trends, and the
like, but I believe from my experience and research the three
fundamental drivers of math/science achievement (ignoring disability,
etc) are the rigor of the academic programs, skill/knowledge of the
instructor, and the pressure and guidance applied to students by their
parents to succeed academically.
I'm not a parent but I know I was a little bastard growing up, so I realize that raising a kid is HARD!
Alot of kids I grew up with, even those who came from families similar
to mine, simply didn't care about math and science, and its clear their
parents didn't care much, either (otherwise they wouldn't be buying
their kids cars for getting C's in regular-level science classes). If
parents in affluent cities/suburbs aren't pushing their kids to achieve
in the classroom, what chance do underprivileged kids in ghettos and
inner cities have?
I'm also not a teacher, but I had a whole bunch of crappy ones (and
a few very good ones) growing up, all the way from elementary school
through graduate school. I also know a few teachers and have spent a
good deal of time talking to them about things like this. I think
tenure needs to go. It does not exist - explicitly - in any other
field, so why should it in education? It's a perverse incentive that
encourages mediocrity where we should be promoting excellence and
punishing repeated failure (this is a more nuanced discussion for
another time).
I had the distinct pleasure of being part of a "guinnea pig" class
of a new science curriculum in NJ in highschool. Instead of
traditional progression of Bio, Chem, Chem 2 or Bio 2, Physics, we had
something like Geophysical Systems, Biochemical Systems, Choice of
Chem/Bio, and senior year I think it was either Physics, Chem, Bio or
even nothing. Not only has the curriculum been moving in the wrong
direction (away from teaching more in-depth/complex subject matter),
but some of the teachers were just downright awful, both the "new
breed" and the tenured ones.
My teacher for Freshman year "Geophysical Systems" (or whatever the
hell it was called) spent a week teaching basic electronics, and I told
her the entire week she was teaching it wrong (Dad had taught me this
stuff years beforehand). My reward for trying to help was being forced
to sit in the front row with the threat of detention if I "mouthed off"
anymore.
Fast forward to the following Monday, and the teacher came in and
literally told us to throw out our notes from the prior week, that she
was going to re-teach the lesson. Last I checked, this teacher was
given early tenure and may now even be a department head. Awesome,
right?
I don't expect every kid to be a math/science genius, nor do I think
such an goal is even optimal were it even possible! Some kids are
going to be great (or even just good or realistically mediocre)
artists, tradespeople, or any number of careers in which they'll ever
need to know anything trigonometry or organic chemistry. Generally, is
it better to have a more-educated population than a less-educated one?
Absolutely, and we should make every reasonable effort (with respect to
marginal utility) to increase the level of education of the
population. This is especially true if our future really is going to
one of and "idea" or "service" economy.
I think a better educational system would be one that identifies -
relatively early on - the kids who are unlikely to (due to interest and
aptitude) achieve academic success in math/science, as well as those
who are unlikely to achieve success in the humanities and/or trades.
While all should be encouraged to improve their weak spots, we
shouldn't encourage - or worse, force - the kid who wants to be a
writer or painter to take AP Physics, nor should we force the kid who
wants to be a computer programmer to be in band/choir/art.
Similarly, we should not be forcing kids who want to work on cars
(etc) to take all these classes the lessons from which they're unlikely
to ever really use. By Senior year of highschool, the kids that are
going to be/want to be trades workers should be encouraged to pursue
such careers, not encouraged to spend all their time on academic study
so they can waste another 4 years and $100,000+ at University!
Being well-rounded is certainly preferable to extreme specialization
- especially at such a young age - but the current approach that
essentially (excepting those at the very top who generally excel in
most/all subjects) aims to make everyone a "jack of all trades, master
of none" is in need of serious overhaul. Such an overhaul would do
wonders to slow if not reverse the damage done to our
manufacturing/industrial base while ensuring a we have a well-educated
"intellectual" labor force competitive with the likes of those in Asia
and other countries.
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we're screwed
Examination Graduation Questions of Saline County, Kansas April 13, 1895 J.W. Armstrong, County Superintendent Examinations in Salina, Cambria, Gypsum City, Assaria, Falun, Bavaria, and District No. 74 (in Glendale Twp.) READING AND PENMANSHIP - The Examination will be oral, and the Penmanship of Applicants will be graded from the manuscripts. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GRAMMAR (Time, one hour) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Give the nine rules for the use of Capital Letters. 2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications. 3. Define: Verse, Stanz and Paragraph. 4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give the Principal Parts of do, lie, lay, and run. 5. Define Case. Illustrate each case. 6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation. 7-10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ARITHMETIC (Time, 1 1/2 hours) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic. 2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold? 3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 pounds, what is it worth at 50 cts. per bu., deducting 1050 lbs. for tare? 4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals? 5. Find cost of 6,720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton. 6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 per cent. 7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per in.? 8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 per cent. 9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods? 10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- U.S. HISTORY (Time, 45 minutes) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided. 2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus. 3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War. 4. Show the territorial growth of the United States. 5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas. 6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion. 7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn and Howe? 8. Name the events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849 and1865. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ORTHOGRAPHY (Time, 1 1/2 hours) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, Phonetic, Orthography, Etymology, Syllabication? 2. What are elementary sounds? How classified? 3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, Subvocals, Diphthong, Cognate, Linguals? 4. Give four substitutes for caret "u." 5. Give two rules for spelling words with final "e." Name two exceptions under each rule. 6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each. 7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: Bi, Dis, Mis, Pre, Semi, Post, Non, Inter, Mono, Super 8. Mark diacritically and divided into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: Card, ball mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare last. 9. Use the following correctly in sentences: Cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vein, raze, raise, rays. 10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GEOGRAPHY (Time, one hour) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend? 2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas? 3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean? 4. Describe the mountains of North America. 5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon: A territory in northwest Canada between Alaska and British Columbia, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco. 6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. 7. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each. 8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude? 9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers. 10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PHYSIOLOGY (Time, 45 minutes) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Where are the saliva, gastric juice, and bile secreted? What is the use of each in digestion? 2. How does nutrition reach the circulation? 3. What is the function of the liver? Of the kidneys? 4. How would you stop the flow of blood from an artery in case of laceration? 5. Give some general directions that you think would be beneficial to preserve the human body in a state of health. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SOME HELP WITH THE ANSWERS Drop us an email if you have something you'd like to add to the answer section. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GRAMMAR (Time, one hour) 1. Give the nine rules for the use of Capital Letters. * Always capitalize the first letter in a sentence or sentence fragment * Always capitalize the first letter in a direct quotation * Always capitalize the first letter in a direct question within a sentence * Always capitalize the first letter in a line of poetry * Always capitalize the first letter in proper nouns, including registered trademarks, names of treaties, geological eras, planets, courts of law, the days of the week, and genera in zoology and botany * Always capitalize the first letter in titles of books, magazines, newspapers, movies, works of art, and music, except for conjunctions, prepositions, and articles (Gone With the Wind) * Always capitalize the first letter in the names of ships, aircraft, and spacecraft (e.g., Sputnik) * Always capitalize the first letter in peoples' names (e.g. John Smith) * Always capitalize the first letter in a title preceding a person's name (e.g., Mr.) * Always capitalize the first letter in words designating the Deity (e.g. God) * Always capitalize the pronoun "I" 2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications. * Noun: A word used in a sentence as a subject or object of a very or a preposition. * Pronoun: A word used as a substitute for a noun and which refers to a person or thing. * Adjectives: A word that modifies a noun. * Verb: A word that expresses an act, occurrence, or mode of being. 3. Define: * Verse: A line of metric writing * Stanza: A series of lines within a poem that are arranged together and usually involve a recurring pattern of meter and rhyme. * Paragraph: A subdivision of a written composition consisting of one or more sentences dealing with one point or giving the words of one speaker. 4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Transitive, intransitive, past, present, future, conditional, subjunctive Give the principal parts of do, lie, lay, and run. * Did, do, doing, shall do * Lied, lie, lying, shall lie * Lay, lay, laying, shall lay * Ran, run, running, shall run 5. Define Case. A change in the form of a noun, pronoun, or adjective indicating its grammatical relation to other words. Illustrate each case. Near, nearer, nearest Nicely 6. What is Punctuation? Dividing a written matter with punctuation marks. Give rules for principal marks of punctuation. * Comma: Separates main clauses joined by a conjunction; separates words in a series; sets off an adverbial clause. * Semicolon: Links main clauses not joined by conjunctions. * Colon: Introduces a clause that explains or amplifies what has gone on before. * Period: Terminates a sentence. * Hyphen: Used in some compound words. * Question mark: Terminates a direct question. * Exclamation point: Terminates an emphatic phrase or sentence. * Apostrophe: Indicates the possessive case or omissions in contracted words. * Parentheses: Sets off supplementary material. * Quotation marks: Enclose direct quotations. 7-10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar. Arithmetic (Time, one hour) 1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic. * Arithmetic is the branch of mathematics that deals with real numbers. * Addition: Combining numbers to obtain an equivalent quantity. * Subtraction: Deducting one number from another. * Division: Dividing one number by another. * Multiplication: Adding an integer a specified number of times. 2. A wagon box is 2 feet deep, 10 feet long, and 3 feet wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold? 48 3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 pounds, what is it worth at 50 cts. per bu., deducting 1050 lbs. for tare? The net weight of the wheat is 2,892 pounds. A bushel of wheat weighs about 60 pounds. The correct answer is $24.10. 4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals? 1.3 percent 5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. Coal at $6.00 per ton. $20.16 6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent. $26 7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at 20 cents per sq. foot? $128 8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent. Bank discount is the bank charge made for payment of a note prior to maturity, expressed as a percentage of the note's face value. Discount is subtracted from the principal before the borrower receives the money. A person who borrows $300 at a discount rate of 10 percent for 90 days would receive only $270. 9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods? There are 160 acres in this farm for a total cost of $2400. See an animation of the solution to this problem. 10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt. U.S. History (Time, 45 Minutes) 1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided. * The Colonial Era * The Revolutionary Era * The Critical Period * The Early National Era * The Jeffersonian Era * The Antebellum Era * The Civil War Era * The Gilded Age Later periods of American History include: * The Progressive Era * World War I * The Interwar Era * World War II * The Postwar Era 2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus. In 1492, the Italian-born Columbus captained three ships westward, seeking a water-route to the Spice Islands. After three months, he encountered land in the Caribbean. 3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War. Causes of the Revolution include the British decision to levy taxes in the colonies without the colonists consent; the stationing of troops in the colonies; the imposition of restrictions on colonial trade, manufacturing, and westward expansion; and infringement of the colonists' legal rights and liberties. Consequences of the Revolution include the emancipation of slaves in many northern states and the adoption of graduate emancipation schemes in other states in the North; the disestablishment of churches in most states; the adoption of new state constitutions; and rapid westward expansion. 4. Show the territorial growth of the United States. A correct answer would include the purchase of Louisiana Territory from France; the annexation of Texas; the acquisition of the Pacific Northwest as a result of negotiations with Britain; the Mexican War; the Gadsden Purchase; the purchase of Alaska from Russia; and the annexation of Hawaii. 5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas. A correct answer would include the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which opened Kansas to white settlement and the contest between pro-slavery and free soil forces to control Kansas' territorial legislature. 6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion. * The First Battle of Bull Run: The first full-scale battle of the Civil War, which took place in Northern Virginia not far from Washington, dashed Union hopes for a quick military victory. * Antietam: This battle, which witnessed the bloodiest day of the Civil War, halted a Confederate offensive into the North and led President Lincoln to issue his Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. * Gettysburg: The largest battle in the history of the Western Hemisphere ended the Confederacy's ability to wage an offensive war in the North and removed the threat of foreign intervention in the conflict. 7. Who were the following: * Morse: A prominent artist and nativist who invented the telegraph. * Whitney: The inventor of the cotton gin also helped popularize the American System of standardized parts and mass production. * Fulton: Demonstrated the practicality of steam-powered navigation. * Bell: A teacher of the deaf who invented the telephone. * Lincoln: The 16th President of the United States led the Union during the Civil War and issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which transformed the conflict into a war to liberate the slaves. * Penn: The Quaker founder of Pennsylvania colony. * Howe: An inventor of the sewing machine. 8. Name the events connected with the following dates: * 1607: The founding of Jamestown, Britain's first enduring colonial settlement. * 1620: The landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. * 1800: The election of Thomas Jefferson as the third president marks the first transfer of power from one political party to another. * 1849: The discovery of gold in California the previous year led some 80,000 '49ers to migrate into the territory. * 1865: The defeat of the Confederacy in the Civil War and the assassination of President Lincoln. Orthography (Time, one hour) 1. What is meant by the following: * Alphabet: A set of letters or characters with which a language is written. * Phonetic: Representing the sounds of speech. * Orthography: The representation of a language by written letters or symbols. * Etymology: The history of a word. * Syllabication: The division of words into syllables. 2. What are elementary sounds? How classified? The elementary sounds are the basic sounds of speech. 3. What are the following, and give examples of each: * Trigraph: a cluster of three successive letters * Subvocals: The occurrence in the mind of words without vocal articulation. * Diphthong: A sound (such as the last sound in the word "toy") that starts at the position of one vowel and moves toward another. * Cognate: Words related by descent from the same ancestral language. * Linguals: Sounds produced by the tongue. 4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.' * ie (view) * ew (blew) * oo (food) * ou (through) 5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule. * A single long vowel followed by a consonant (other than w or y) is often followed by a final 'e.' (example: crude or prove; exception: love or above) * Two consonants followed by a long 'e' at the end of a word often include two "e"'s. (example: free or tree; exceptions: brie or monkey) 6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each. Pneumonia; knight 7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: * Bi: two parts; bicycle * Dis: opposite or deprive of; disagreeable * Mis: badly, unfavorable, or not; mistrust * Pre: earlier or prior to; prehistoric * Semi: half or partly; semi-circle * Post: after or subsequent; posthumous * Non: not or reverse of: nonpaying * Inter: between or occurring among: intermarriage * Mono: alone, single, or containing one: monotheistic * Super: above or over; superscript 8. Mark diacritically and divided into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: * Ball 'bol * Mercy 'm&r-sE * Sir 's&r * Cell 'sel * Rise 'rIz * Blood 'bl&d * Fare 'far * Last 'last A glossary of pronunciation terms: * Accent marks: a mark used to indicate stress or pitch. * Diaeresis: Two dots placed side-by-side over a vowel to indicate that a vowel is considered a separate vowel, even though it would normally be considered part of a diphthong. * Digraph: A series of two letters that constitute a single sound not predicted by combining the two letters. * Diphthong: A sound that start at the position for one vowel and moves toward the position of another. * Long and short vowels: Vowel-containing sounds that are long or short in duration. 9. Use the following correctly in sentences, * Cite: Cite the proper source. Site: The landing site was on the western coast. Sight: It was a beautiful sight. * Fane: (temple or church) To the east is a fane. Fain: (happy or inclined) He was fain to go to the party. Feign: (to give a false impression) He feigned death. * Vane: (an object showing the direction of the wind) There was a weather vane on the roof. Vain: You are so vain. Vein: Blood flows through her veins. * Raze: The construction workers razed the barn in order to build a new house. Raise: She raised the flag. Rays: He enjoys the sun's rays. 10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication. Geography (Time, one hour) 1. What is climate? The condition of the weather at a particular place. Upon what does climate depend? On the season, the temperature, wind velocity, the degree of cloud cover, and precipitation, among other factors. 2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas? The state's physical location. Cold air from the north moves easily across the Kansas plains during the winter, and hot winds blow from the south in the summer. 3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean? Rivers offer a source of drinking water, water power, and transportation routes. The ocean also provides a transportation route. 4. Describe the mountains of North America. Major mountain ranges include the Appalachians, the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevadas, and the Cascades. 5. Name and describe the following: * Monrovia: The capital of Liberia. * Odessa: City and port in southern Ukraine on the Black Sea. * Denver: The capital of Colorado. * Manitoba: A Canadian province. * Hecla: A volcano in southwest Iceland. * Yukon: A territory in northwest Canada between Alaska and British Columbia. * St. Helena: An island in the South Atlantic. * Juan Fernandez: A group of three islands in the southeast Pacific west of Chile * Aspinwall: A city in western Pennsylvania. * Orinoco: A river flowing from the Brazilian border to the Columbian border and into the Atlantic. 6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco 7. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capitals of each. Examples include: * Britain (London) * Finland (Helsinki) * France (Paris) * Germany (Berlin) * Italy (Rome) * Netherlands (Hague) * Sweden (Stockholm) 8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude? Because of the routes of the ocean currents. 9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers. Through evaporation and precipitation. 10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth. The earth spins on its axis once a day. It spins around the sun once a year. The earth's inclination is 23.45 degrees.
The earth's inclination is 23.45 degrees.
So is it left leaning or right?
I'm going to make a "racist " comment. Here in NM the influx of illegals has dumbed down our system for all. There is not a priority placed on formal education by these people, drugs, gangs, etc. There is little hope here for our schools. I pay for my grandson to attend a private school at considerable sacrifice to myself but glad to do it. Also, there is the problem of huge financial stress on our States financial by these people who number children beyond belief.
The fact that curricula changes with the political party in power would not have anything to do with anything - would it? I remember thinking that dropping of the "drill and grill" method was just because it was boring - but they promised they had new methods that would be more effective...yadda...yadda...
When Bush and Kennedy pushed through NCLB - the teachers here changed. High priority was given to what I'll call "guess-timating". They were teaching the kids to evaluate the multiple choice answers quickly and select that with the greatest likelihood of being correct. One of the great things I got out of them was basic math functions from left-to-right - it allows you to exclude incorrect possibilities quicker.
Imagine how much fun it is to then have to "re-learn" math in the correct manner. Teachers/curriculums call for the kids to have calculators - very early on. How do you explain the importance of manual math skills when nothing supports it?
However - the truth is that everyone talks about the importance of math/science skills - but employment and wages does not bear this out. If those people are in short supply - then the wages of those that have the skills - should be increasing. Are they? What the corporations really want is a large pool of math skilled individuals that they can then pay very few dollars to...consider the plight of the many computer programmers out there.
I do not know what career choices my kids will make - but I do know that I teach them the importance of seeking knowledge as a lifetime task. Yup, learning for life...
Here's a proposal: Divide student loans by field of study. X dollars to math, science, and engineering, and Y dollars to poly sci, etc.
The federal guaranteed student loan system creates a situation where you can get a student loan no matter how useless your proposed field of study. How many liberal arts, ethnic and gender studies, or Russian literature majors does America really need? The guaranteed cash flow from the Treasury insures universities can wander down whatever rabbit holes they care to, without regard to the overall value to society.
My proposal would limit the number of people that get useless degrees, unless they bankroll their education themselves. It would provide an incentive to get a degree that could actually get you a job.
Back from my corner.
Don't bankroll any of it. There is simply no reason a decent engineering education should cost 4x what it cost 20 years ago. Instead, it should be affordable with a modest amount of loans and hard work in the summer. I can guarantee you that at least the first two years and probably the first three in many engineering disciplines can be taught using texts from that era simply updated to reflect more current topics. If you're an engineer, take a look at any textbooks for a contemporary student. You will likely find it to be an updated 10th revision of the one you used 20 or 30 years ago. You simply can't change thermodynamics. Why the hell does this cost so much today?
Back to my corner.
Except that science degrees don't actually get people jobs these days. An entire decade of CS graduates, US citizens, are mostly unemployed. Its the guest workers that are killing the job market. The private sector can, and should provide loans to people who study things that are worthy, and economic to study. But subsidizing individual programs doesn't make a lot of sense, and leads to distortions.
Other than degrees that are directly linked to government cheese, in healthcare, there are very few degrees that actually pay off these days, with or without debt.
Our K-12 education system just simply does not accept the fact that there are some students simply brighter and better equipped to learn some topics faster and in more depth than others. This is not only in science/math but in any area of study. The typical response is that it is not fair that one child should be somehow advantaged over another. Merit, excellence, drive, intuitiveness, curiosity, etc. have no place (well except on the atheletic field).
The 4th to 7th grades represent the true pit in our system from which all of the mediocrity erupts. For example, math at this grade level consists of multiplying or dividing ever larger numbers when many students are ready for higher level concepts such as geometry, algebra, statistics (even rudimentary chemistry or physics). You'd be surprised/stunned at what a 4th grader can learn. I was until my wife and I home schooled three of them.
Our education system is tired, lazy and sick and hence we should not wonder why our American way is also. It doesn't matter. The school of hardknocks is now accepting applications. Everyone need apply.
Rant off. Back to my corner.
I live in a major U.S. city where most of the public school students are poor, black and ignorant- just like their teachers. The kids don't have any parental value system when it comes to education or much of anything. All they want to do is get over. If Obama gave a shit, he would really improve their lives instead of keeping them on the government tit.
Such an overhaul would do wonders to slow if not reverse the damage done to our manufacturing/industrial base while ensuring a we have a well-educated "intellectual" labor force competitive with the likes of those in Asia and other countries.
I couldn't disagree more. The school system here has little to do with the outsourcing of our manufacturing/industrial base. We can thank our leaders who crammed NAFTA and GATT and "most favored nation" status DOWN OUR THROATS. Remember that?? Most favored nation? WTF.?????
On top of that Agenda 21 and the UN are behind a lot of the top down, hostile business regulatory environment that absolutely KILLED SMALL BUSINESS here. I had a business, employed 5 people. No more. I make triple in 1/2 the time working free lance through a non-profit.
Charlotte Iserbyte's "dumbing down of America" pretty much explains the agenda here. Our schools intentionally do not teach fundamental accounting, business systems, law, and the Constitution because our masters WANT IT THAT WAY.
If you ever do have kids for God's sake, please don't let them be indoctrinated at public school.
OH this is something can speak to as the parent of a high school junior.
My son in the mom's cutody went to a good private school in Dallas. A week ago I found he could not point out Spain, France, Germany, Greece, or Poland on a map of Europe. Autralia was "south of India". He didn't know where China was, and his response to showing him Japan was "What's it doing THERE?"
Math OK, Science (basic bio, chem, physics) OK. History - OMG. "World History" goes from Greece to Rome to Europe though the Renaissance, to Africa, to WW 1 and WW 2. NO US history, all at breakneck speed. Napoleonic era? Nothing. Great Depression? 1 day. English - true class exercise "Graduate from being who you were to who you are." Another goody, the English teacher talking about a "feckless sun dress" without meaning something on the order of "irresponsible".
And this is a good school.
If the schools were actually trying to produce people who were well rounded that would be one thing, but it looks to me like they are trying to produce kids with the illusion of education, not the reality. Creativity without information or discipline. Opinions without underlying facts or concepts. An almost overwhelming effort to teach obedience to (and reliance on) authority without the capacity for independent analysis.
Another but only slightly related topic is the effect of a mobile workforce. If you cannot keep a job and are forced to move every few years, it is hard to have community. Without community, it is effectively impossible to have good schools.
I'm doing the best I can as fast as I can to rectify the worst of it at least, but this is scary
He can't be that bad; hell, I don't even know where Autralia is.
Ouch. Spell check turned off.
Thanks, he's actually smart. The issue is one of lack of information, not lack of intelligence. Last Saturday we were up until 3AM - The conversation went from the subject of this site (current economic difficulties, and some causes of) to the US Civil War and the military and social consequences of the two economic systems, and I was the one who ran out of steam.
There is no such thing as lack of information in the Internet age. I've learned just as much in the few years I've been writing as I did while I was doing my undergraduate degree, just from reading/researching things on my own.
i used to be a teacher. it is far worse than any of you can comprehend.
I hate to say this but only 0.1% of humans do real science. It's pretty much a God given talent. Societies fail when they ruin that tenth of a percent. Society can educate the rest till doomsday and they will still not do any meaningful science. Sadly, our universities teach very little meaningful science i.e. the basics. Most universities now teach specialized niche fields (like nanotechnology, cognitive science etc) and skip the basics. This yields arrogant little graduates who seek specialty jobs and end up working in Dads carpentry shop instead. Our University is full of Chinese superkids pushed by their parents into becoming science and engineering professionals. They, unfortunately, have little passion for their careers but make up for it by being very political. The same 0.1% excell there too.
We all know who the true scientists and engineers are. They were the kids who took everything apart, built cars, abused their Daddies tools, made crystal radios, stuffed bananas in the toaster and blew things up in the back yard. They invent, read passionately, dig holes, build "forts" and set off rockets.
In American schools where less then 10 percent of the kids come from homes with poverty, the test results are just about as good as anywhere else. America's problem is not education it's poverty. So your right were screwed but not for the reasons you think.
No, the problem is curriculum that's incoherent, teachers that have no training in what they're teaching (ever watch a general ed teacher try to teach physics ?), and administrators who refuse to allow good curriculum, good teachers, and discipline in schools.
Hmmm ... science, math, language, reading, all are good.
Parenting by way of TV bad.
Learning how to hang a door, install a roof, mix concrete, grow food, sail a boat, fix an engine or motor good.
Get rid of carz, TVs, video games, cell phones and replace w/ books and tools.
You dont need math or science in this world anymore. In a world of ZIRP all you need to be able to do is buy NFLX and AAPL.
Used to teach Junior Achievment twice a year. Once at a public school and once at a private school. Now we are talking about very basic economics here, things like the circular flow of money and supply and demand. Here is a great illustration of the difference in education:
As the class progressed (one session a week), I would give up monopoly money for correct answers and good behavior - it didn't really matter what it was, I just had to make sure the kids got the money. Then after spending two sessions going over supply and demand, I would come in with a briefcase full of candy bars but would not let them know what was inside.
I would pull out one of those little candy bars that you pass out at halloween and sell it to the highest bidder. Then I would pull out another and sell it. Then I'd pull out five at a time, and finally go to the big candy bars.
Public schools - invariably they first kid would give me all his/her money in the first 30 seconds. It would go on this way until I brought out the 5 smaller bars. The highest bid was always ALL of someone's money. There is a briefcase sitting on the desk, I've already pulled like four individual candy bars out - but they couldn't help themselves. Even after I got to five at a time, it was still most of all their money, just that now it was from those who had a whole lot less to give me.
Private schools: The first one would also go to the person who had the most money, but they never bid ALL their money, only enough to buy the candy bar. After the second bar came out, the bids dropped off rapidly as the kids knew I had more and now they all thought the first guy was a chump. Sometimes a class would not bid at all once they realized what was going on until they knew what the supply situation really looked like.
This lesson made a large impact on where I sent my kids.
It's the fluoride. Keeps the poor masses docile but man does it make our people stupid...Oh yeah. Helps prevent cavities if you drink it... I think. That's why they do it to us. Our country cares deeply about the ravages of tooth decay...Not so much about scientific data or safe medical/enviornmental practice. This country remains safe for our kids to drink 68oz Mountain Dew 7-11 slurpies. The cancer can be problematic here though.
When you are quick to blame the teachers (I'm not a teacher) keep in mind that it's the administrators that are making the big money and the decisions.
Our schools are absolutely loaded with them.
You can definately improve our schools performance. I would also begin to inquire what jobs a math and science education would get you in this country. The jobs in engineering and science are going overseas as fast as ever and it is not simply a matter of qualification of the work force.
You're right about the engineering jobs. But consider this:
If you understood base level high school math I'd argue that you'd be much more likely to make good financial decisions for yourself and your family. Maybe there wouldn't have been such a profound subprime mortgage disaster because more people would have realized that they were being fleeced. It's easy to fool the ignorant.
Just a thought.....
Bingo. Like I said, not every kid needs to be able to pass Calculus 5, but if every kid could pass algebra, geometry, statistics, and econ 101 before graduating highschool we'd be MUCH better off.
Also, everyone seems to be pointing out that engineering jobs are getting outsourced. How come no one has asked why these un(der) employeed engineers are using their skills/knowledge to start new companies and/or develop new products/processes? Is it because many of these engineers failed to adapt their knowledge to shifting dynamics?
test
No child left behind. Translation- all children left behind----the Chinese.
Another one of our government's half-assed policies.
Teachers won't be insulated from the impending shitstorm. If they think their union bosses will be able to save their pensions when the dollar collapses they are in for a suprise.
The hollowing out of industry has resulted in a lack of even qualified tradesmen and technicians, let alone engineers. There's no need to have an educated population when nothing is being produced anymore.
Cash registers have scanners or pictures of the items. If the power goes out, today's young cashier would stand there like a deer in headlights. Things like iPads operate in such a high level of abstraction, that most people aren't forced to think about what is happening underneath. When I worked in tech support, in order to troubleshoot effectively, you had to think about how the computer runs in order to develop a hunch about what might be wrong. This technique was handy when the standard steps didn't work.
That's the problem. Society is operating on too high a level of abstraction and people have no idea how things work or why, nor do they care.
These are the diminishing returns of technology.
I'm sitting here guiding my 7th grade son who is struggling with his math. He's applying Pythagoras Theorem, I'm reading Zerohedge. I'm an economist by training with a fairly deep math backround. The issue isn't always lax parents but poor elementary school math programs. For instance here in upstate NY our local school used an elementary math program called "Everyday Math".
It was horrid. Rather than drill young kids in basic math concepts the Everyday Math program threw all types of concepts at the kids while never really explaining how the concepts worked or related to each other. My wife and I fought the district to try to get the program changed but the administrators stonewalled as they had "too much of an investment in the program". Read that as "we know we screwed up but we don't want to spend any money to change the program so we'll just screw the kids".
Now these middle school kids are behind the 8 ball! My son is doing better but spends three days a week during his lunch with his math teacher and one day a week after school plus time with me.
What a joke......
M.R.
Imagine what would happen in a privatized system... lowest common denominator for profits.
You clearly know nothing about economics.
You could leave a shitty school in a privatized ed system. In forced public education, you are forced to take what you get.
Make the children pay seems to be a new theme in american Ed.
Make the children pay seems to be a new theme in america, period.
No Shit.
USA is entering a hyperinflationary great depression and it's not because young children, or adult children like Bernanke and Krugman, aren't good enough at solving math equations.
It's Americans' dismal grasp of the science of economics that's to blame. Most have not even heard of Austrian Economics. To most, in fact, economics is not a science at all; they think it's playing mathematical games with a bunch of charts and numbers like GDP, unemployment, and interest rates.
EVERY kid should be required to pass Statistics 101 and Economics 101 to graduate High School, at minimum.
Economics is a junk science. Okay, a very soft (almost) liquid science. Closer to voodoo and below psychology. Name a scientific principle from economics that follows a predictable path every time?
Science = nuclear fission
Economics = Oops, it turned out it didn't work this way this time and we lost a trillion.
Ok, let me agree and disagree with you. There is a lot of junk in economics but you can say the same thing about medicine and other "scientific fields". Some of the best economists are excellent mathematicians and statisticians. Of those, the top ones who understand the methodological issues in economics will also understand the limits of using a hard scientific approach to what is essentially a social science.
+10
It may turn out that Economics (as applied to our economy) ends up just like Science.....ending in a nuclear fission.......................
Catastrophic BOOM..........
Any word from the NEA? Department of Education? "better testing standards?"
Didn't think so.
- Ned
Nah, just teach-the-test '(Every) No Child Left Behind' from the Repubes with some tweaks from Obama and The Dims. Oh, and lowering standards so schools can get their money.
Show them how it effects their iPad or iTouch and you will have a captive audience.
Thanks Steve Jobs
yeah we proper fucked. our goverment want people smart enough to answer the phone but stupid enough not to ask questions. revolution needs to start sometime to overthrow the government just like jefferson said( ithink it was him who said every 20 yrs we need a revolution) we r way overdue
The reply by government is to cut education. Texas' Republican 'Miracle Economy' is $29 billion in the hole and Rick Perry and The stooge Republicans are considering cutting 12th grade from the school year.
Just goes to show...
Your correct, "they want us smart enough to answer the phone but stupid enough not to ask questions". As the late George Carlin said the govt. wants you dumb they want your schools to not teach as well and they want you to just rely on religion. This is because if you were knowledgable and not ignorant, you would know how much the govt. has been screwing you and they can't allow that.