Regular readers of this blog, both of us, know I am not a fan of American public education. It has steadily deteriorated over the past three or four or more decades. And it's not been a sneaky slide--it's been done willfully by people who shouldn't be allowed to make academic decisions in positions to make them. US society (with its attitudes toward education--learning and teaching), teachers, and esp administrators are all to blame. I've taken shots at all of them at one time or another. Now, with the Bozos in the federal government taking in more and more responsibilities and with businessmen who see education as a way to cut their own training costs, things even worsen.
C'mon, so reading scores are rotten among US students? Has anyone seen how reading is taught nowadays? Phonics, good-bye; whole word, hello. That reading has plummeted apparently is ignored by those running the schools. What worked is tossed and what doesn't work is kept. That's what schools have become. OK, so let's not pick on reading. Let's look at math. Have you seen "Everyday Math?" Oh, boy, I'm getting a headache--and I don't get headaches! I was watching my granddaughter do addition the other night, something like 54 plus 11. She is taught to add the tens column first and the ones column second. Huh? Yeah, I guess the idea is so they grasp the concept of place. Huh? So, what happens when the ones column has a carry, such as 36 plus 15? Oh, they'll cover that later. (Is that like spelling, which is no longer emphasized because, "They'll catch up with that later?" They don't and I have ample evidence that they don't.) "Everyday Math?" I can do college calculus and know enough math to get two B+s in physics at an Ivy League college, but this new stuff is ridiculous. (As I've said about the "Common Core," follow the money.)
Remember, though, although they all spout it, "It's about the kids" or "learning," it never really is and, if anyone really cares to check, the evidence is right out there to see.
Now, why am I not perplexed at the US students' rankings on this "international assessment?" First, I'm not at all enamored with standardized testing. We test too much and we test the wrong things. (Of course, I'm not too sure what to do about the latter, since I really don't trust teachers and the schools to evaluate students properly.) What is on this test? Who, in all countries, takes the test? Are all students tested or just "elites," the best of them? Are only certain schools included or everyone. No, I'm not going to jump up and down because "US students showed little improvement and failed...."
What is most disturbing to me are the tired old mantras that keep coming out of the mouths of the so-called "experts" (and they aren't), like Sec of Ed A. Duncan. (If you doubt me, check on his record while heading the schools in Illinois before heading off to DC.) "We must invest in early education," he sadly repeats, despite report after report, independent ones that is, that show the positive effects of "early education" have disappeared by grades three or four. "Raise academic standards," he adds, while pushing "Common Core," which doesn't do that, but does include more, you guessed it, standardized testing. (Hey, remember, "Follow the money?" Who's pushing the Common Core? Yep, the testing, curriculum, textbook, etc. companies. As Casey Stengel, in another context once said, "You could look it up.") "Make college affordable," he tiresomely repeats. Who, other than the federal government and politicians, has contributed more to the increased costs of college education? Nobody else is even close. And here's the one that really takes the cake, showing how out of touch the so-called experts like Duncan really are. "Do more to recruit an retain top-notch educators." What a joke! They do more and more to discourage "top-notch" teachers and to dissuade the best-and-brightest from entering education. I know, because our governor recently said so to defend outlandish raises he gave his dept heads, that to attract the top talent, we have to pay the top dollar. Of course, that doesn't apply to the top talent in education. In fact, we have cut and cut and cut teacher pay (and, as I've noted, many teachers are still overpaid--but the good ones are severely underpaid). Didn't one local district here pay its teachers so little that, with a family of two kids, a single-parent teacher qualified for welfare?!?!? Yep, that'll attract 'em. Should we also toss in the morale boosters from schools and Americans in general? The truly best teachers are not recognized; the award winners are those who serve on the committees, are sycophants/bobble heads at staff meetings, do without question or thought the latest silly thing perpetrated by unknowing administrators ("unknowing" because they've never experienced the rigors required of quality education). And who, most often, become the administrators, the "leaders" of schools and education? I'll offer a hint--not the best teachers, not those who know the most......
So, let's not get too excited about the latest test scores. Yes, American education is not very good. And, realize that, with those in charge now, those making the so-called "reforms," it's not likely to get any better.
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