01.22.07

Education in America - Are we Dumber than the Rest?

Posted in General at 3:07 pm by ZoeWashburne

Student            As a college English and GED instructor, I probably have a greater level of interest and understanding of the educational system in the United States than most.  Every day I personally work with high school graduates, as well as dropouts, and see firsthand the level of education kids are being sent out into the cold, cruel world with.  As an educator, it is often shocking to see how little some of these kids know about basic grammar, world geography, our political system, and the simplest math skills.  One need only give a cashier at a local fast-food restaurant $5.01 for a meal that costs $4.76 to know what I’m talking about.  As you watch the confused, glazed-over look as they try to figure out how much change to give back, it makes one wonder…are we dumber than the rest of the world?

            In an economically sound, technologically advanced society that boasts a 99 percent literacy rate, according to the CIA’s World Factbook (www.cia.gov), the United States should be kicking everyone’s asses in education.  But are we?  Today, approximately 25 percent of American students drop out of high school.  It just seems to me that with all the advantages and opportunities that kids in this country have today, we’re not keeping up with the Joneses (or should I say the Suzukis?).  So, let’s take a look at the facts…

            According to the U.S. Department of Education (www.ed.gov), the high school diploma is rapidly becoming insufficient in the job market.  While once the minimum requirement for many of the jobs of the past, about 90 percent of the desirable jobs in the future will require some type of postsecondary schooling.  Unfortunately, today only 70 percent of all ninth-graders graduate high school on time and only 50 percent of black and Hispanic ninth-graders graduate on time.  Even blue-collar jobs are now requiring higher education levels from their workers.  It’s estimated that in just five years, 40 percent of factory jobs will require a college-level education.

            In a world where bilingualism is the norm, Americans fall way short.  According to the Center for Applied Linguistics, only 8 percent of college and 44 percent of high school students in the United States study a foreign language.  In comparison, 100 percent of students in Europe and China are required to study a second language.  While Americans continue to assume that English will continue to be the dominant language, it will severely limit our competitiveness in the future of the world market if these statistics continue to decline.

            You’ve heard the reports, Americans are just plain bad at math and science.  Whether it’s the lack of properly trained teachers in these areas or the continued belief that math and science are for nerds, students are not excelling as quickly in these areas as the rest of the world.  According to Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (2003), 7 percent of American eighth-graders tested in the “advanced” levels while 44 percent of eighth-graders in Singapore tested at this same level.  In addition, the U.S. Department of Education reported that only 50 percent of high school graduates were prepared for college-level math and science courses in 2005.  While this is not surprising, it is shocking to know that we are continuing to slip down the proverbial slide rule in these subjects.  For a country that prides itself on technological prowess, we certainly aren’t proving it in the classroom.

            As for reading skills, things aren’t looking so good there either.  According to the Alliance for Excellent Education (www.all4ed.org) only 51 percent of students who took their ACTs were at a college reading level.  Though our country boasts a 99 percent literacy rate, this doesn’t exactly mean that students are reading at acceptable levels for their ages and grades.  While students are able to read the words themselves, it’s their understanding and ability to explain or analyze their meanings that are holding students back.  As an English instructor, I can certain vouch for this fact.  Students use words that they think they understand, but when you ask them what their meanings are they look at you with that deer-caught-in-headlights look.  It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.

            Just what is the bottom line then?  Are we doomed to fall behind the world educationally as we slowly revert back to Neanderthal-like understanding?  Fortunately, the future may not be as bleak as that, but a lot needs to be done to keep up with the rest of the world.  The government’s No Child Left Behind program does seem to be focusing on improving math, science, and language skill rankings.  They’re pumping nearly $400 million into the program for 2007, yet the proof will certainly be in the pudding.  While it’s great that the government is spending any money on our children’s education, the responsibility truly lies solely on parents to get their kids focused on education rather than entertainment and sports.  It seems like more and more kids today want only to become actors, singers, and athletes rather than scientists, teachers, and engineers.  Maybe instead of Paris Hilton and Michael Jordan being the role models for today’s teens, the media could focus on Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking for a change.  To the rest of the world, those guys are probably rock stars!

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1 Comment »

  1. Katharine said,

    March 18, 2007 at 10:30 am

    The U S education system is not the only one in the toilet, in the UK the system is failing, kids are dumber than ever. The exam system is manipulated, making the exams easier and easier each year just to keep up the appearence of the sysyem doing it´s job. Last year a newspaper tested 3 maths A level students, who had recently achieved high pass grades, they asked them to sit a maths paper from some time ago ( I forget if it was 10 or 15 years) and not one of them scored enough to pass. Maths is maths the methods don´t change, how come the students today can´t pass the level of questions that we had to pass in our day.

    I home school my 3 kids and use the national cirriculum as a base, the stuff is so easy, my 11 year old is 1/4 through his maths course and on track to complete it by the end of this year.( this is the course that you follow until age 16 in school), and knows more science than you can shake a stick at, he is a walking, talking book. We don´t do anything special, just provide reources and support. Schools with all that is available to them should be able to produce comparable results but they don´t. Are our kids supposed to come through the system so poorly equiped, do those that run our lives want a dumb citizenry?

    A recent poll of teachers in Spain tells us that the majority of them think that the education system in that country is worse now than 30 years ago. Spain was emerging from a dictatorship at the time and the people were poor, yet the system is worse now!

    I don´t know the details of other countries but the US and UK are in a mess.

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