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| Arne Duncan tells kids that they aren't good enough. |
On tonight's evening news,
while giving us the latest list of things to fear, there was a segment showing
the head of our national 'education' system, Arne Duncan .
The
newly released 2012 scores from the Program of International Student
Assessment, an exam given every three years to 15 year olds around the world in
reading, math and science, showed that the US is not in the top 20.
This former teacher is not
surprised.
The countries
that scored highest don't push all kids through an academic program. They
channel students into either academic or vocational programs based on
individual strengths. The US assumes that all students should go to
college, so potentially great mechanics and electricians and artists end up as
failed scholars. No wonder that the academically oriented kids who took the test in those
countries scored better than our 'not left behind' kids.
Duncan talked about "high school dropout factories" - once again implying that every kid must be a scholar instead of working with his or her hands.
Duncan also talked about how college enrollment is up - but strangely enough, never mentioned that so many of those students drop out or fail out of college - because they should not have been pushed in that direction in the first place.
In the meantime, I am
having trouble finding a plumber to fix my water filter.
While I agree that not every child has the desire to learn everything that our education system provides, I believe that the current situation in America seems to demand for "higher education." With the federal minimum wage at $7.25, it's understandable that people fear that, without a proper education, they might be a part of the 47 million Americans on food stamps or fear that, even if they're employed, they might be a part of the 44% of homeless people, in America, who are employed. Until the minimum wage is raised to the standard of the western world, I don't think people will think it an option to be working at the needed jobs that currently pay low or even the job that person is interested in. I do believe that a key reason why America couldn't even score in the top 20 countries in the PISA is what you came to the conclusion of.
ReplyDeletePS: The fact that America didn't score in the top 20 on the PISA surprises/startles me because I don't remember the test being anything too advanced last year.
I agree with you on the minimum wage. I know people who are unable to find full-time work, in part because employers don't want to provide benefits. So those people have to choose between a part time job at minimum wage, or unemployment benefits that are higher. No wonder we have so many people on welfare.
ReplyDeleteAs for the other part of your comment, as a teacher I felt that the pressure is really coming from the federal government on down. The whole idea of NCLB (which was based on faked data by one of W's friends) is that *every8 kid must graduate high school and go to college. That idea provides lots of students who fail and a lack of skilled tradesmen.
Other countries score higher than the US because in those countries kids are not forced into one path. The ones who are in the academic path are those who are suited by personality. The ones who are skilled-oriented don't take the test.