A parent recently provided insight into
what has become of public schools: "The school district administrators are
so nice to you in the meetings, while they are sticking a knife into your
child's back."
More than most people realize, K-12 is often a realm of
duplicity. The main strategy is to pretend to care about a subject
or skill, but in fact to undermine it. The educrats dissemble even
as grades plummet, until the public is thoroughly confused about which reforms
might actually work. Despite endless chatter and assurances,
there seems to be no genuine attempt to improve K-12. Quite the
opposite.
The country is routinely
lectured about problems with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering,
Math). For example: "STEM is gaining momentum in classrooms
across the country. However, the U.S. still
ranks 38th and 24th out of 71 developed countries in math and science
student achievement, respectively."
We are gaining momentum but still mediocre? You know
that vast budgets have been expended. Why is there so little to show
for it? How does our Education Establishment get away with so much
doubletalk and under-achievement year after year?
Consider this grim news from Fast Company: "The U.S.
President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology predicts that in the
next decade, we will need approximately 1 million more STEM professionals than
we will produce at our current rate." So the logical question
must be, why is the current rate far below what is required? Our
Education Establishment presides over this shortfall. Its ministers
make it happen; at the very least, they let it happen.
Fast Company goes on: "The challenge is clear:
Universities need to attract more students to STEM programs. But
once these students have enrolled, another challenge begins to unfold: Only
about 40% of students who enroll in STEM programs graduate with STEM
degrees." That's usually because they don't have a proper
grounding in math and science. In other words, the kids are crippled
before they start. No matter how many students try to major in STEM subjects,
only a small portion will reach the goal. Obviously, children should
receive a better grounding from kindergarten onward. But they don't.
Here is another bizarre announcement: "In science education, the first
decade of the 21st century will be remembered for the dramatic reduction in the
teaching of science in elementary schools across the U.S. as a result of
national education policy. Many believe the heightened instructional
focus on [reading] and math came at a great societal cost in terms of
compromised scientific literacy of the public."
This is weird and finally preposterous. Note the silly
premise that we can't do two subjects at once. Further, in the
middle of gaining momentum, we supposedly had a dramatic reduction in the
teaching of sciences so we could teach reading, etc. Worse, the
reading and math apparently utilized the ineffective approaches generally known
as Common Core English and Common Core Math. The official
policy of the mighty United States was to pretend-focus on reading and
arithmetic and use that focus as an excuse for almost obliterating
STEM. The incompetence and incoherence here are so great that our
brains are stunned.
Curricula such as Everyday Math forbid memorizing multiplication tables,
encourage a random spiraling from topic to topic, and always reject the use of
the common algorithms in favor of odd ones that are hard to
understand. Watch the children struggle, and you will understand how
counterintuitive K-12 has become. Whatever policy is officially
embraced, we get results we don't want. Common Core homework makes children cry. That would tell
sincere experts they have made the wrong choices. Our Education
Establishment seems incapable of finding better
strategies. Education should be engaging and fun, not
tearful. Start there.
John Saxon, math warrior extraordinaire, harped on this
point in the 1980s and 1990s. Students exposed to good teaching
will, in much higher percentages, go on to the study of algebra, calculus,
chemistry, physics, and so on. However, if students have to wade
through dysfunctional education in the early grades, they are not likely to
stay interested in more difficult subjects. Even as this predictable
tragedy unfolds, all the experts noisily pretend they are solving the problem.
Recently, Michigan State University announced a writing program for STEM students. Here's the
hype: "Michigan State University is leading the way in a multi-year and
multi-million-dollar project to improve education for universities
nationwide. The research will specifically help students studying
science, technology, engineering, and math, also known collectively as STEM
education. When finished, these educational changes could even be
felt around the world."
What are these people talking about? The kids can't write very
well, so MSU wants to help, but how can that be called a STEM
initiative? Writing is for everything. There's no
assurance that these children will know anything more about any branch of
science. Hopefully, they can write a better paragraph, but that's
not yet demonstrated.
If you want to help STEM, teach children to read, write, and do
basic arithmetic, all intermixed with general science, from day
one. Our Education Establishment has to know this, but it has spent
so many decades eluding its responsibilities that it's hard for the people in
charge to settle down to the basics. So they try to hide behind a
flurry of promises, new initiatives, fundraising announcements, and other
deceits and distractions. All too often, the fundamentals are
ignored until high school. Suddenly, alarms are sounded, and another
STEM miracle is promised, but for most kids, it's too late.
When the United States is in the top five in math and ranking high
in the other major categories, then you can assume that our
Education Establishment is doing a good job. Otherwise, these people
deserve scrutiny, not respect.
Bruce Deitrick Price's new book is Saving K-12: What happened to our public schools? How do we fix
them? He deconstructs
educational theories and methods on Improve-Education.org.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2018/09/k12_the_war_on_stem.html
