A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE!

I cannot blame any American for wishing and hoping our children's educations ranks first among all. As a country, we are adherents to the historical principle of being the best, strongest, and brightest. The collective national chest swells with pride at the achievements we've made in propelling our nation and in many cases the world to new, bigger and better things. We thrive on competition, take it personally when we don't do well, and often countenance no deviation from the idea we continue to be #1. It is with this thought in mind that I attempt with gentle persuasion and with facts at the ready, to send an alert to awaken us from a slumber that can and will encumber this nation with peril if we do not address it now.

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JC's comment on the state of American education, made in offhand fashion in his otherwise well considered thoughts on a wider and associated topic in this blog:

"Personally, I don't think I agree with Livid that our educational system is in such dire condition. In many respects, our education system is competent, and can, properly funded, produce well educated individuals. But that won't happen unless we are able to push back against the agendas of unscrupulous religious groups and their allies in the conservative movement."

Note: I completely agree with JC's treatise as regards some religious and conservative groups.

A lot of Americans, including me, want to believe our education system and the quality of the educations our young people receive continues to set the standard for the rest of the world. This doesn't mean we are bad, it just means we possess the positive attribute of hope. After all, we know intuitively in order to compete in a global economy, we must maintain excellence in all areas of study. Our own history demonstrates clearly when we’ve had a well educated populace, we have excelled in the creation of ideas in science, technology, agriculture, manufacturing, commerce, arts, literature, and just about any endeavor there is.

We, as Americans, possess pride in our accomplishments, as well we should. We have led the world for at least a half century in producing minds capable of changing the world. Inherent in most Americans is hope for our future, something instilled in our national personna at the birth of our country, a hope that has so often manifested itself in the progress we have contributed to mankind. While pride, hope and belief are often admirable traits, it is sometimes true these attributes can get in the way of the knowledge and acceptance of facts readily in evidence.

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Following are excerpts from a press statement by William H. Schmidt, U.S. TIMSS (Third International Mathematics and Science Study) National Research Coordinator from Michigan State University.

TIMSS showed very low results for US students compared to those in the other countries giving the tests, both for general knowledge by average graduating seniors and for advanced performance by seniors studying physics and calculus.

A recent report, "Facing the Consequences", from the US TIMSS Research Center suggested that these results were certainly to be expected. It pointed out that there was a consistent decline in our relative standing from fourth grade to eighth grade in both mathematics and science. Of the almost 40 topics examined in both mathematics and science, none showed improved standing relative to other TIMSS countries from fourth to eighth grade. Most topics showed a decline over the middle school years.

The US pattern of consistent small gains contrasts sharply with patterns in other TIMSS countries where in any single grade there are large gains for some topics and small gains in others. US high school seniors' performance on the TIMSS tests show that this approach of accumulating consistent small gains in the end does not result in overall gains as large as those attained by focusing on some topics for greater gains but changing the focus across the years of schooling. Schmidt suggested, "Surely these results must call into question the entire US approach to mathematics and science curricula across the grades."

What about the US's better students? When asked, Schmidt replied, "For some time now, Americans have comforted themselves when confronted with bad news about their educational system by believing that our better students can compare with similar students in any country in the world. We have preferred not to believe that we were doing a consistently bad job. Instead, many have believed that the problem was all those 'other' students who do poorly in school and who we, unlike other countries, include in international tests. That simply isn't true. TIMSS has burst another myth - our best students in mathematics and science are simply not 'world class'. Even the very small percentage of students taking Advanced Placement courses are not among the world’s best." http://ustimss.msu.edu/12gradepr.htm

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Following is a quote from Bill Gates, founder and CEO of MicroSoft from a column in the Columbus Dispatch, "High Schools Need Top-to-Bottom Revision", who was speaking at a late February meeting of the nation's governors on education issues;

Gates said:

"Training the work force of tomorrow with the high-school students of today is like trying to teach kids about today's computers on a 50-year old mainframe. Our high schools were designed 50 years ago to meet the needs of another age. Until we design them to meet the needs of the 21st century, we will keep limiting -- even ruining -- the lives of millions of Americans every year."

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Findings from a recently released study from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA):

Recently released findings of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) ranked U.S. high school students 24th out of 29 countries.

At the fourth grade, U.S. students were above the international average in both science and mathematics. In the eighth grade, U.S. students scored above the international average in science and below the international average in mathematics. At the end of secondary schooling (twelfth grade in the U.S.), U.S. performance was among the lowest in both science and mathematics, including among our most advanced students.

US students placed the US in the lower half among the countries tested. Students in Asia ranked at the top. Students from several European countries also had better average scores than US students. http://forum.signonsandiego.com/showthread.php?t=40959

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Other studies:

The United States is falling when it comes to international education rankings, as recent studies show that other nations in the developed world have more effective education systems. In a 2003 study conducted by UNICEF that took the averages from five different international education studies, the researchers ranked the United States No. 18 out of 24 nations in terms of the relative effectiveness of its educational system.

Another prominent 2003 study, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, shows a steady decline in the performance of American students from grades 4 to 12 in comparison to their peers in other countries. In both studies, Finland, Australia, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, Netherlands and the United Kingdom beat the United States, while the Asian nations of South Korea, Japan and Singapore ranked first through third, respectively. The TIMSS study is a comprehensive study done on a four-year cycle that measures the progress of students in math and science in 46 participating countries. It evaluates fourth, eighth and 12th-graders through questionnaires, tests and extensive videotaping of classroom environments. The TIMSS results reveal a lot about the weaknesses of the U.S. education system, said David Marsh, a professor at the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education. “In fourth grade, American kids do above average internationally. By eighth grade, they slip a bit, and by 12th-grade, they’ve slipped a lot,” Marsh said. “We’re the only country that slides down that much from fourth to 12th grade.” http://kapio.kcc.hawaii.edu/upload/fullnews.php?id=52

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If you take the time to evaluate the links provided, you will see the failure of the American education system to keep pace with the rest of the world, and in particular in math, computer science, physical science and engineering of all types. (JC, it’s almost demanded I point out here Virginia is an engineering student) The sites provided argue causation, including an indictment of procedures, methods, what we teach, how we teach, as well as commitment and attitude towards education. There seems to be no evidence that funding is the culprit, but instead concentrates on the elements of my previous sentence.

Regardless of the reasons we are lagging behind, there is ample evidence of it being a fact that is not in dispute by any serious authority. The question now is what to do. I refer you to my previous entry on the subject, and exhort you to get involved in a very personal way. We are failing to provide our most valuable citizens, the greatest resource we possess, the youth of America, with the means to survive and prosper in the coming age. Our duty as parents and citizens calls for action, and to ignore that responsibility because of our hopes, our beliefs and our pride, will surely lead to our fall. Look at our economy, jobs, debt, trade deficit, loss of corporations to offshore locales, to see the evidence we’re already headed for disaster. It’s better to attack this problem now before it becomes too late, and that moment in time is rapidly approaching. We can begin by putting our minds where our mouths are and educating ourselves. Take the time to study and evaluate the conditions that have led to this discussion, and make the personal effort to make corrections where we are failing. WE CAN SUCCEED, with your help and your focus!