Dumbing Down U.S. Schools = More H1B Visas

Reading the usual plethora of stories on ZDNet this day, I came across two headlines that I thought should be brought together, because they are certainly interconnected.

The first is by Christopher Dawson, who writes with an eye on education. His story was titled ‘Dumbing Down Our Math Tests?’

The BBC is reporting on a trend in UK standardized math tests towards “easier, shallower and less demanding” examinations. Here in Massachusetts, I was working with our school psychologist to identify new interventions for special education students based on their standardized test scores. However, as she pointed out, when identifying low performers, we are supposed to compare kids to the state average, not an absolute right or wrong.

The UK study found that

there was a steep decline in standards from 1990 onwards, once GCSEs [General Certificates of Secondary Education] were introduced, it says.

The content became broader and shallower, with a more restricted and less demanding syllabus, it claims.

And the difficulty and demand of questions weakened along with their style, it claims, with candidates being required to follow a series of steps rather than work their own way through.

Calculators were also allowed in some papers and formulae sheets were included in papers.

This same complaint has certainly been heard in the States, while many Asian nations are focusing on a greater depth of fundamental understanding in mathematics. A quick look at the Massachusetts state frameworks for math education show a lot of content that must be covered almost superficially from elementary grades through high school to meet all of the subject matter requirements (our state’s standardized tests, which students must pass to graduate, are based on the frameworks).

So are we dumbing down our tests in favor of increased content coverage? Are we replacing necessary depth and critical problem solving with just a whole lot of calculator-driven math? I’m inclined to think so. Talk back below and let us know what you think.

As you might be guessing, a spirited discussion was already going on in the comments column, with many divergent thoughts.

As someone who lives in California, with 2 children that have been in the California system for a number of years, I can make a few points without fear of contradiction.

1] Children in California go to school fewer hours per day than when I was a child. This is coupled with attendance fewer days per year than before, although the start and end dates of the school year are farther apart than ever before.

2] Teachers have so many days off as ‘in-service’ that there are more (I checked) of those days where there is no instruction, than those caused by national holidays.

3] The curriculum is only focused upon meeting test requirements. This leaves a hole in what children need to know before they attend college that the proverbial train could pass through unscathed.

4] In California, any deficiencies in the knowledge of the children are blamed upon the parents, as they are said to not be doing their part.

I find this last point to be especially grievous, not only since I am one of the offended parties, but because I am keenly aware of how I grew up. I had two parents more involved with their own lives than mine, and this was not abuse, they were busy people – and no one blamed them. Indeed, why do we pay taxes to send our children to school if the bulk of their education is to be left up to us? Also, I am someone who has continuously been told that much of children’s learning should be at home. I agree. Where the disagreement comes is in the division of duties. I don’t see my duty as being the one where I demonstrate parts of speech, defining what linking verbs are, or explaining how to solve systems of linear equations in two variables. I am, happily able to help on these fronts, as I was an excellent student, and especially knowledgeable in math and science. It just should be that I am the occasional tutor, not the main instructor!  Also, who is better prepared to monitor the total knowledge able to be called upon, a parent, or the educational professional?

I am wondering when the practice of teaching elementary and middle school ‘collegiate style’ became acceptable.  By that I mean the process of assigning work, to be done outside of class, without going over it first in class, and later, never going over what might have gone wrong in this process of learning. When I was young, children were ‘spoon fed’ in class, at least through the eighth grade. Just as we don’t expect a six month old child, with 2 teeth, to use a fork and steak knife to eat filet mignon, we should not ask skills that sometimes aren’t acquired until college to be undertaken by third grade students (and in California, it is the third grade where it has been decided that children should be treated this way).

With the load of learning that children in California have to do, as an almost solo undertaking, it is no wonder that ‘Johnny Can’t Read, and Betty Can’t Do Math’. From my investigations, this also happens elsewhere in these United States.

The other article, by the way, was one entailing why Google thinks that more H1B visa approvals are needed. Hopefully, everyone now understands the title of this piece.

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Technorati Tags: educational system - failure - mathematics understanding - science education - teaching concepts - education in Great Britain - teaching - Google - H1B visas

[tags] educational system, failure, mathematics understanding, science education, teaching concepts, education in Great Britain, teaching, Google, H1B visas [/tags]