I was reading an article recently about America's declining scores in math and science and how other industrialized nations test scores have surpassed our own. I have to say I am at a loss for this decline, as it seems we are expecting more and more of our students each year.
I can't imagine any adult has looked at a child's textbook in the past five years and not marveled at what students are learning now versus what we learned at the same grade level. Perhaps that is part of the problem. As we are constantly forced to "up" our curriculum to stay on pace with what other schools are doing, not to high school expectations, we may be exposing our children to too much too soon.
As children's mature, their brains are also developing and it is only at specific developmental stages that they are capable of certain thought processes. This development continues through their teen years, but we often forget this because the child "looks like an adult." If a child is expected to comprehend concepts before they are capable of grasping them, perhaps our students are convincing themselves that they are incapable of doing well in these areas and thus they stop trying.
Another possibility may be what seems like an increased emphasis on athletics over academics. It seems with the advent of club sports, high school sports agents, etc., more and more people are identifying athletics as their child's route to college and beyond and school work is taking a back seat. Similarly, the overly regimented schedules many of today's youth follow allow very little, if any, free time. Children need to be bored if they are going to develop their creativity and imagination, which can be essential elements of understanding specific content in science or higher level math.
Another possibility may be that we have become complacent with our standing in the world, and we no longer feel the urgency to be the best because we already think we are.
I don't know the answer to all this. I know teachers are teaching, students are learning and parents are involved. I think it's a very real issue that we as educators, and as a country, need to consider and search for answers. We still are dealing with incredibly bright, talented children who have the capabilities to be leaders in any field, but we must supply them with the proper tools to accomplish this.
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There are several other parts of these recent findings that are causes for concern. One is that in the lower-level grades, American children score higher than most of the world. The longer they are in school, the lower the rank.
Another area that worries me is that while American high school students score near the bottom in ability, they score near the top in how they feel about their skills. So they are doing poorly compared to the rest of the world, but "feel" that their skills are top notch.
Which is actually a worse-case scenario. We'd be better off if everyone had a realistic understanding of their abilities.
I haven't read how children educated in parochial schools fare in these arenas, but it would be interesting to know.
What do I think? Frankly, it's been my experience with the public high school education of my nieces and nephews, and to a MUCH-less degree with my own children, that schools are spending too much time on areas beyond their responsibility.
Extra credit for attendance at political rallies and book signings, assemblies in "multi-culturalism" and tolerance, movies being watched during class, teachers that want to spend precious class time lecturing about their own political views, whole semesters on "health" and/or sex education.
There are only so many hours in the day; if teachers and schools continue to take over what used to be the role of parents (and we as parents continue to allow it), there won't be enough time for calculus. And as parents, we look at that calculus book in wonder, but do we know if the lessons are being taught on schedule? Is everything that needs to be covered actually completed by semester's end?
What's the answer? I have no idea. But I am horrified that after billions of dollars being spent on education and education research, my parents' 8th grade education (in Scotland circa 1939) roughly equates to my high-school education (1976), which roughly equates to today's BA.
My sisters and I were educated in all-girls schools in the Philippines and one thing I can tell you that we do differently there is we certainly spend more time at school. Our school day starts at 8 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m., first grade through fourth year high (grade 12). That said, quantity isn't quality either, but I think it made a difference. I don't remember ever being overly tired, but that sked didn't leave ANY time for weekday extracurriculars for sure.
We also didn't get a lot of holidays, save for school closing for the seasonal typhoons!
When I came to CA as a high school grad, I was 16 and so I attended one semester of public high school in Alhambra and was surprised to find the curriculum was easily a year behind in most subjects.
Short story, I don't have any answers either, but here are my two cents!
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