Friday, March 11, 2005

Truth In Education

It is now time for a debunking of educational myths.

Myth Number One

Other countries score higher on standardized tests than the US.

The US tests (and teaches) every child. Not all countries do that. When you hear that we are getting creamed by Japan in math, remember that our test scores reflect the testing of all students including special education and non-college bound students. Japan only tests college bound kids. Take out our non college bound and special education test scores and you will see that the US is doing just fine.


Myth Number Two

Education in the US suffers from a lack of change and "keeping up" with new ideas.

Wrong. One of the main problems with education in the US is too much change. That's right. Too much change. Behind every new and old superintendent are a host of mid-level super-wannabees. Each of them understands that the only way to get noticed is to do something new and bold. This means change at the most fundamental level. With every super change and assistant super change and supervisor change come policy shifts and curriuclum deletions and add-ons. And with these changes come endless dreary meetings for principals and faculty alike.
Add to this a see-saw of political pressure from the school board to the governor's office and you have one endless chaotic sea of change. How 'bout we just sit still and teach for a while?

Educational Myth Number 3

We need more technology in the schools.

By the way, an ink pen is technology. "Technology" is code word for computers. Here is a sample of what kids use computers for in the schools. Writing papers with auto spell check (and we wonder why the kids cannot spell?). Neato charts and grafts that take ten times more time to create than the old world 20th century technology of markers and paper. Easy cut and paste access to dubious information. I mean if it's un-referenced on the internet then it's still true, right?
What we need is kids who can express knowledge through writing. We need more pencils and paper. Sure enough, business wants employees with computer skills, but not at the trade school level of skill development. What business really wants is employees with the ability to learn new software. And that is a whole different skill set that involves comprehension. And computers don't teach that.

Myth Number 4

There are 180 days in the school year.

Wrong. We are scheduled for 180 days - but let us do some math.

Opening of school - 2 days (Just getting organized)
Day before Thanksgiving - 1 day (Too many kids out of town to teach)
Picture Day - 1.5 days (One for the pictures, .5 for make-ups)
Day before Winter Break - 1 day (Too many kids out of town to teach)
Testing - 4 days
Testing - 3 days
Day before Spring Break - 1 day (Too many kids out of town to teach)
The last week of school - 5 days (grades have already been finalized. Movies, movies, movies!)

Grand Total - 18.5 days of NO teaching. So our operational school year is really only 161.5 days. There are other interuptions that are too numerous to count.

Teachers do an amazing job considering all of the distractions. The more you understand how the system works, the better you will be able to apply pressure in the right places. Stayed tuned for more debunking of educational myths!