Education Myths

Swamp Fox Insights points to this great essay entitled Education Myths by Jay Green.

Allow me to paraphrase.

1. The money myth: Throwing money at schools alone does not improve educational outcomes.

2. The teacher pay myth: Teacher's salaries are competitive when compared with people with similar skills and qualifications. High-performing graduates aren't taking up teaching because there isn't enough incentive for strong performance or longer hours.

3. The myth of insurmountable problems: Don't blame social problems, reform schools.

4. The class size myth: The benefits of reducing class size aren't worth the expense.

5. The certification myth: Reward teacher's performance instead of certifications and "paper" degree's.

6. The rich-school myth: Private school's perform better than public schools, despite the average private school tuition being less than that of the public schools average dollars per pupil.

7. The myth of ineffective school vouchers: School vouchers really do cause public schools to improve.

While I agree with many of the author's points, I am not sure I agree with all of his conclusions.

One of the problems with many school reformers (of which I consider myself) is a tendency to come across as advocating "vouchers" and competition as the end all solution to improving our countries education system.

One of the arguments that reformers always use, is how our students perform internationally. Yet, there seems to be almost no effort to emulate the best practice's of some of the high performing nations.

More Fun with the School of the Future

Microsoft's High-Tech High, A Philadelphia High School Has No Textbooks, Blackboards Or Paper But Plenty Of Laptops - CBS News

“One half of the period you're learning math, the other half of the period you're learning science. But it all comes together,” said one student.

So thats how to improve math and science performance; cut down instruction time. Duh... why didn't I think of that!

This is a $63 million project, and with so much emphasis on high-tech elements, you might expect that it would be more expensive than traditional schools. Officials say that is not the case.

I see the accountants for Enron found new jobs.

New school, free laptops, no wonder so many kids want to go there. There's no entrance exam, only a lottery. Fifteen-hundred kids applied, 170 got in — most of them African-American. There is an exit exam of sorts — in order to graduate, they have to apply to college.

Wooo hoooo, If I apply to graduate school, can I skip the rest of my college education?

The ultimate test will be whether technology as tutor will actually help students learn.

Ditto.

Im Back!

Well I'm back, one kid richer. Thanks to Dennis and Mrs Q. for your kind words... I appreciate them.

Adding one kid.

My 16 year old niece is coming to live with us. She originally came to live with us in December of 2005 because she had several issues (stole car, failing every class, drugs... etc) and her mom couldn't handle her.

In six months, we managed to turn her into a church going, straight "A" student. This summer when she went home to stay, her mom (my sister) and us got into a "spat" over our parenting style (strict), so her mom decided to send her to Los Angeles to live with her grandma (my mom). We told everyone that this was a horrible idea, because my mom's is just to easily fooled and not that involved, but everyone said that she was "fixed" and gave the credit to the medication that she had been put on.

After less than 6 weeks after starting school she was slipping into the same old patterns. so she is coming to live with us again.

I know, I know... this means we will now have 6 kids but she is family and she needs us.

Me and Shannon know we can get her back on track. She just requires some parents who are involved with her school (we get weekly updates on class progress), and some parents that sent reasonable expectations and limits.

Our results speak for themselves. When she came to live with us last December she was literally failing Every class. We advocated for her at the local school and got her into the college prep curriculum. The results... Straight "A's for her last semester and "B's" and "C's" for the year. Our goal was to get her through 9th grade, and we did it.

What does this mean to my loyal occasional readers? Well 6 kids gives me even more creditablity and a high schooler means that now I get to criticize the upper grades as well as K-8. (sic)

So... I am off to Los Angeles later today and will return Saturday. I managed to get a next day round-trip flight for $250 to pick her up. Priceline rocks!

Shop class redux

Response to Righwingprof comment in my last post:

rightwingprof said...
Except that testing had nothing to do with shop classes disappearing; the ever increasing pressure for everybody to go to college did, long before testing.

Completely agree.

First of all, standardized testing doesn’t and shouldn’t measure ever single subject taken in High School. It should evaluate students on basic core skills such as reading, writing, some civics/history, science and math.

Most HS students take 6 classes a semester, 2 of which are usually filler elective classes which are not usually covered under standardized testing. It use to be that once upon the time, you could choose between woodshop and biology, but not anymore. Somewhere, some idiots got in their heads that the sole purpose of High Schools should be to prepare kids for college, and despite the obvious fact that there aren’t even enough universities and colleges with places to accept everyone. There has been a tendency to require a more and more rigorous college prep curriculum simply to graduate HS.

Unfortunately this thinking is almost guaranteed to set up a large percentage of students to fail. Student’s who aren’t cut out for or don't desire to attend college; find they struggle in a system that is only designed to prepare them for a college education. Their only option is to stick it out in classes that they don’t need or aren’t interested in so that they can perhaps find a technical college or trade school after they graduate. Of course, many student’s find simply find this too challenging and just drop out of school. Even if they do graduate, they find that they are too burnt out on education to continue on with any decent job training.

What I would like to see, is our one size fits all system replaced with a system that provides an excellent college preparatory foundation for those who would benefit, but also an option that provides a more practical route that works hand in hand with local business’s and technical/community colleges to provide high quality training in the skilled trades. There are many occupations that are high paying, do not require a college degree, but do require a technical background and skills training.

Perhaps what we need is a system that provides different categories or levels of the traditional High School diploma. This system would allow students who are on a college prep track to have their class standing and GPA compared fairly by universities. It would also give student’s that might be at risk of dropping out another avenue to pursue. If a student who for what ever reason was struggling with the normal college prep curriculum had an option to become certified as a mechanic, plumber, electrician, or some other highly skilled trade, they might be more willing to stick it out til 12th grade.

Now I know that I will get many people who say this is nothing but “tracking” which has become a dirty word in our current system. Of course this is a form of tracking, but it’s tracking with an end result that all students will graduate with knowledge and skills that benefit them and the nation economically. Yes there should be provisions put into place that allows students to change course mid-stream, providing they demonstrate the ability to successfully complete the required “requirements” for the new track, just like a student in college is able to switch majors.

Many European countries have systems that work along these lines and as a whole, provide a much better trained workforce. I lived in several different European countries for over 12 years and witnessed first hand what a decent education system can do. In Germany I had a friend who self-admittedly would have never made it through college, but he attended a trade oriented school that allowed him to eventually secure training as an aircraft mechanic. He currently makes quite a good living, but I can't help but wonder what would of happened to him in the United States.

Our economy requires more than lawyers, doctors, engineers, teachers, and accountants to function. It requires high skilled mechanics, air traffic controllers, plumbers, electricians, nondestructive inspection technicians (what I do), and a variety of other jobs that do not require a traditional high school education. Today many of these jobs are learned through on the job training or technical colleges, though there is no reason why they couldn’t be taught at the HS level.

There are avenues for people to get this skilled training, but they often require expensive training that ensures only the priviledge have access to it. If you don't believe this, go look out how much it costs to attend ITT. I don't want to know schools like ITT since they provide some much needed skills, but I wonder if the instructors at ITT don't get frustrated that their students never learned how to use simple hand tools or don't know how to an internal combustion engine works. Maybe they would be happier if their students showed up already certified to weld or able to use a computer aided drawing program.

Note: My girlfriend who is a nursing student, reminds me that there are many healthcare related occupations that do not require a college degree.

Shop class is back!

CNN - Rebuilding shop classes in U.S. high schools

Vocational education classes, once commonplace, began to languish as standardized tests started to determine success and failure and college became a singular goal. Now called career technical education courses, they are beginning to enjoy a renaissance.

...

Around the country, high schools are being transformed into career academies or adding smaller vocational schools within their buildings. In Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley recently announced an initiative that will let high school students become qualified to work in particular industries. Students would then use their certificates to find high-skill, high-paying jobs.

This rocks... common sense in the school system.

Not all kids are going to college, thats a fact. Providing kids who aren't going to go to college with high quality training in the skilled trades is good for the kids and good for the country.

Many european countries have understood this for a while and have an excellent trades program, many with formal apprenticeship programs.

I have an idea formulating, but I have to go to a meeting...

Self-promotion and Self-criticism

In keeping with the time honored tradition of shameless self-promotion, I have an article up over at edspresso commenting on a recent op-ed by The State newspaper.

I hate reading my own posts. Unlike 99% of education bloggers, I do not have a college degree, and while I think my blogging has improved since I started, but I am no where near the level that I would like to be on. So if your reading my blog, I would like to offer a heartfelt thank you for ignoring my spelling mistakes, poor grammar, and lack of expertise and reading my idea's (whether you agree with me or not).

Wooo Hooooo we are mediocre!

The State 10/03/2006 College study ranks states K-12 system in the middle nationally

Gots to go to work... but the article is about this report.

Sara, Sara, Sara

Sara Mead responds to this article by Judith Kleinfeld over at the NRO, which critizes this report by her saying that the whole boys failing crisis is overblown. Her rationing:

Kleinfeld has to seize on this silly exchange because the actual reasons that I argue we should be cautious embracing "boy crisis" hype have nothing to do with "men oppressing women." Rather than falling, boys' achievement has actually increased over time on a host of measures. There are some places where that's not the case, and even where it's rising, boys' achievement isn't rising fast enough or as fast as that of girls. But that doesn't discount the fact that boys are doing better than in the past in many ways.

Me thinks she doth protest to much. Lets have a little fun.

Kleinfeld has to seize on this silly exchange because the actual reasons that I argue we should be cautious embracing "boy crisis" the income inequality hype have nothing to do with "men oppressing women" "rich oppressing poor" Rather than falling, boys' achievement poor people's quality of life has actually increased over time on a host of measures. There are some places where that's not the case, and even where it's rising, boys' achievement poor peoples quality of life isn't rising fast enough or as fast as that of girls the rich. But that doesn't discount the fact that boys poor people are doing better than in the past in many ways.

Wow... that was fun, but I'm tired... you get the point, using this logic would allow us to ignore half a dozen other "gaps". Lets move on to see what she says next.

More significantly, I'm concerned that generalized fears about a boy crisis distract attention from the groups--students with disabilities, poor and minority youngsters of both genders (although the problems facing boys in these groups are more pronounced)--who suffer from much more significant educational gaps. And I'm concerned that a lot of explanations and solutions being peddled for the boy crisis are based on ideological agendas, misinformation, and little hard research--exactly the recipes for goofy educational practices and bad curricula that have been undermining our education system for years. There are perfectly good reasons to be concerned about the impacts of the boy crisis hype and some of its practitioners' recommendations for boys, leave girls out of it for a moment.

Wait... is she saying that we shouldn't worry about boys because she doesn't like the solutions that boy advocates are proposing? Ok, I'm not an expert but aren't the usual boy crisis solutions single sex education, more male teachers, and different teaching strategies? Seriously, none of these solutions seems to be outrageous. Its not like people are proposing that we lock girls up and don't send them to school. Come to think of it, wouldn't most of these strategies help girls as well? (except for the lock girls up one :p) Wouldn't closing the gender gap also help close the achievement gap, since the gender gap is larger among minorities?

Sara's last line sum's up her fears:

Its been fascinating--and disappointing--to me to see how conservatives, who are generally skeptical of conferring victim status, and critical of untested new educational ideas, seem to embrace both so uncritically when the "victims" are boys and the education "innovations" include single sex schools and implementing gender stereotypes in the classroom.

Wait a minute here... who said anything about implementing gender stereotypes. I have not come across a single supporter of single sex education that has advocated "implementing gender stereotypes". Lets play our little game again:

Its been fascinating--and disappointing--to me to see how conservatives liberals, who are generally skeptical of all for conferring victim status, and critical supportive of untested new educational ideas, seem to embrace reject both so uncritically when the "victims" are boys and the education "innovations" include single sex schools and implementing gender stereotypes equality in the classroom.

I couldn't of said it any better myself.

Disclaimer: I am a bit of a liberal myself (loved Bill Clinton, not fan of Bush, think Iraq war is not going so great, support gay marriage, believe in progressive taxes, believe in a minimum wage, think there is systemic racism in America, etc...). I know Sara cares passionately about education and I read her posts regularly, I just think she is a bit off the mark on this subject. For the record, I reject the ad hominem attack on her made by Judith Kleinfeld.

Unschooling

A new chapter in education: unschooling: Controversial home-taught approach lets kids take the lead in learning - Newsweek

Interested in the Greeks? Start cookingWhile homeschooling began as a trend among fundamentalist Christians with largely religious motivations, unschooling is more about educational philosophy. It’s rooted in the belief that humans are naturally driven to learn and will do so fiercely if left to their own devices.Unschooling is difficult to define because no two unschoolers do the same thing.

Kike homeschoolers, unschooled children don’t attend traditional class. Unlike most homeschoolers, however, unschoolers do not follow any sort of curriculum. Children are allowed and encouraged to set the agenda and pace using their parents, their own lives and their homes and communities as resources.

So if they want to spend all day learning about bugs or gardening, they head outdoors. If they’re interested in criminal justice, parents might set up a visit to the police station or help them get books on the subject. If something about Greek mythology piques their interest, maybe they’ll cook Greek food or write a play about Perseus and the Gorgon. Or maybe not.

“Here’s how I define it: Unschooling is allowing your child as much freedom to explore and learn from the world as you can comfortably bear as a parent,” says Farenga, co-author of "Teach Your Own: The John Holt Book of Homeschooling."

Others have called unschooling ambient learning or child-led learning. Some call it bunk.

You think?

I am for choice, but not all choices are good.

Boys, Girls, and Monkeys

The LA Times has this op-ed up by Caryl Rivers and Rosalind C. Barnett on single sex education.

What they say:

Are single-sex classrooms the magic bullet that will produce academic achievement in public schools? Or are they simply a trendy idea based on bad science and even worse public policy? There's a real worry that the latter could be the case.

Militant advocates of single-sex schools get a lot of ink in the national media but, unfortunately, little skepticism. Leonard Sax, bestselling author and executive director of the National Assn. for Single Sex Public Education, is spearheading the idea of vast gender differences in the brains and learning styles of boys and girls. Other "experts" confidently agree. But peer-reviewed studies and many of the nation's top researchers disagree. The American Assn. of University Women warns that not enough scientific evidence exists to show that single-sex classrooms improve student performance.Our own investigation finds that, too often, the claims made for great gender differences turn out to be highly exaggerated. Here are some examples:
[bla, bla, bla]

I am way too lazy and stupid to tear up the article with a paragraph by paragraph rebuttal of their arguments, except to say I think its all BS. Luckily my lack of credentials allows me to refute all their arguments with the following.

Boy Monkeys play with boy toys and girl monkeys play with girl toys.

OK, that’s not fair, no one can resist cute little monkeys, but who needs monkeys when you have real schools getting real results. Do you think Dent Middle School in Columbia is going to get rid of its “Two Academy” program?

In matched pair analysis TWO 6th grade boys and girls showed a greater growth in scale scores on the 2005 PACT.

I get it, I understand. Women’s groups are worried that once again they will be given the short end of stick when it comes to education. I have four daughters so I can sympathize. Any single sex education program in the country should be optional and benefit both genders. Unfortunately Rivers and Barnett have decided that single sex education is bad… under any circumstances. They conclude the article by saying:

We know that children learn in many different ways, but segregating them by sex will serve most of our children poorly.

No exceptions, no qualifications. They don’t want us to have a choice. Enough said.

South Carolina Superintendent of Education

In the coming weeks I am going to be concentrating more on the race for the South Carolina Superintendent of Education between Jim Rex and Karen Floyd.

My hope is to provide impartial commentary to help myself and other SC voters decide between the two candidates.

Obviously, I waste spend a lot of time writing and reading about education, because I believe that education reform is desperately needed in this country. Both candidates are trying to present themselves as reformers, but the key is exactly how and it what way would they go about this.

As far as I am concerned, the only difference between the two so far is their positions on school vouchers and Governor Sanford's "Put Parents In Charge Act". Floyd is for it and Rex is against it.

I am somewhat ambivalent on school vouchers. I do not believe that school vouchers by themselves will encourage public school reform, but I am not vehemently against them. I worry about funding, private school tuition inflation, and the attached strings that would be on private schools if they accepted government money.

I am strongly in favor of charter schools, and not just charter schools that replace existing public schools. I want to see every parent in South Carolina have a REAL choice as to what school to send their kids too. There is no reason why we have to continue with our one size fits all approach to education.

Measuring School Performance and School Choice

Ahhh... the great NCLB debate. The NY Times has another article comparing NCLB accountability standards with that of Florida's A-Plus plan, entitled As 2 Bushes Try to Fix Schools, Tools Differ

NCLB was a great start in providing a standardized accountability system. While it's helpful, NCLB has several flaws; the use of widely varying state tests as its measuring device (I am in favor of National Standards) and its AYP provisions that are almost guaranteed to eventually label every school in America as failing. I need to research Florida's A-Plus plan more, but this article certainly makes a great point on how it's plan and NCLB can look at the same school and come up with two different results:
R. J. Longstreet Elementary School here in Daytona Beach is an example. The tidy one-story building near the Atlantic Ocean has fallen short on the federal yardstick every year, but Florida has given it an A for five years straight.

It earned its latest A because on tests in spring 2006 tests 80 percent of students met “high standards” in reading, math and writing, and because 60 percent of students, and nearly 80 percent of the lowest-performing students, increased their scores. In August, the school received a $42,800 reward check.

“Congratulations on your outstanding performance,” Governor Bush wrote to the school.

But it fell short on 2 of 17 federal requirements, and that was enough to fail under the federal system. On a writing test administered to 55 fourth-grade students, 50 needed to show proficiency; 48 did. On math tests administered to 42 disabled students, 21 needed to score at grade level; 20 did.

It seems to me there are two different ways in which to rate schools: performance and progress. For example, consider the following illustration (assume the demographics are exactly the same):

School A has 70% of its students score advanced in (some random subject) at the beginning of the year. At the end of the year, 70% of its students advanced.

School B starts the school year with only 20% of the students scoring advanced and at the end of they year, 50% of the students are scoring advanced.

Which one is the better school? Which one would you rather send your kids to? If your child was already advanced, I suppose it wouldn't matter, but if your child started out as merely basic or proficient, then the choice is easy.

I don't think that a single letter grade can accurately sum up all schools. What we need as parents is more data. I want the before and after scores for every school, every class, every subject, and for each demographic. The more data we have as parents the more informed a decision we can make about our children's education.

I don't think that there is one model of school that is right for everyone. There are many arguments for and against school choice as it relates to market forces and school improvement, but I don't think that it should be the only reason for justifying school choice. Even in high performing districts, I believe that parents should be able to have the choice to make a decision as to what sort of education is provide to their kids.

One of the reason's our higher education system is envied in the world is because kids have a choice. They can choose between liberal arts schools, comprehensive public colleges, engineering schools, or any type of school out there. All types of institutions might provide an excellent education, but in different ways and in different areas.

Instead of having to choose between a high performing charter and a mediocre public school, wouldn't it be better if we could choose between two equally successful schools that stress different areas of expertise or different styles of learning.

Corporal Punishment

In Many Public Schools, the Paddle Is No Relic - New York Times

As views of child-rearing have changed, groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Association of School Psychologists and the American Medical and Bar Associations have come out against corporal punishment.

“I believe we have reached the point in our social evolution where this is no longer acceptable, just as we reached a point in the last half of the 19th century where husbands using corporal punishment on their wives was no longer acceptable,” said Murray Straus, a director of the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire.

Among adherents of the practice is James C. Dobson, the child psychologist who founded Focus on the Family and is widely regarded as one of the nation’s most influential evangelical leaders.

DuBose Ravenel, a North Carolina pediatrician who is the in-house expert on the subject for Mr. Dobson’s group, said, “I believe the whole country would be better off if corporal punishment was allowed in schools by parents who wish it.”

I am not exactly sure how I feel about this. I went to school in New Zealand until I was 10 years old, and corporal punishment was used there... I understood that if you crossed the line their would be consquences.

I recognize that there are benefits to corporal punishment, but unfortunately it has the potential to be abused.

My hope is that more effective instruction would reduce behavior problems and eliminate the need for it.

Parental Education

My blog's name is a cross between the words "parental" and "education"... so in going with that theme, I would like to give a little bit of parental education.

1. Set high standards for your children and they will live up to them. (be happy if they turn out just a little bit better than you did)

2. Always give more praise than criticism constructive criticism. (At least 3 to 1 ratio)

3. Teach them to do chores at an early age. (especially if you have 5 kids).

4. Hug them every single day... twice a day if you can. (more if your lucky, those teenagers don't give them out easily)

5. Set an example in ALL things. Always do right. (They will do as you do, not as you say)

6. Remember they can teach you a thing or two. (i.e. your not always right)

7. When they say "You just don't understand" no amount of argument is going to convince them that you actually do understand. (after all we could never have been their age)

8. Do everything in your power to avoid volunteering to be a soccer coach. (I have yet to heed my own advice)

9. Remember, when you are old, you will want the same amoumt of attention from them that they want from you now. (it might be the difference between a nursing home and an in-laws suite)

10. Take a break. Go have a beer. It really will help you put things in perspective. (beer got you through college, it can get you through parenthood)

Famous quotes from kids:

"Dad you look just like He-man, except he has muscles."

"Mom, did you have your wrinkles when you were a kid?"

Good evening

Maxthon

Don't install the new update. It will slooooooooowwwwwwww down your system big time. I have been fighting with my computer all day.

On the other hand, the new version of Internet Explorer aint all bad. Its finally got tabbed browsers.

Here's how to get involved in your child's education

GreenvilleOnline.com -Lifestyle-Here's how to get involved in your child's education - (9/29/2006)

Most principals and educators are passionately committed to teaching your children.

But ask these dedicated women and men what else factors into a child's school success, and you'll hear a rousing cheer for parents who are involved in what, and how, their children learn.

Oh... silly me. I thought it was the schools job to teach children.

No homework, or not enough? If your child is not bringing home any homework (not all teachers believe in it), don't fret about lost opportunities to work together. Go online or to the library together to find books about topics being studied or get a jump on curriculum not yet covered.

Hmmm... how about too much homework?

I'm still around

What a busy week... soccer games every night, my girlfriend has been studying for her nursing final, and I have been busy writing an upcoming article.

Lets sum up:

My son was out for two days with strep throat, so he missed his TAG program.... boo hoo. Sarcasm intended.

I wrote another note to my 3rd grade girls teacher complaining about the amount of homework she had... I was given a message in no uncertain terms was she going to change her policy.

My 6th grader has taken to algebra like a fish to water. She also is earning a 99% in her science class.

My 1st grader's teacher had to physically restrain a child who became abusive.

Oh... and I'm off to Myrtle Beach tomorrow.

South Carolina Schools

I am not a native South Carolinian, but thanks to the cost of living in my native Los Angeles, the Air Force, and my girl friend, I have resigned myself to retiring here. Unfortunately, I have five kids that I am going to have to put through South Carolina schools.

Even though South Carolina scores around average on the NAEP assessment in 4th and 8th grade, we lag behind North Carolina when we compare SAT scores. South Carolina has a high SAT participation rate, but even when adjusted for income and demographics, South Carolina fairs poorly. As Swamp Fox points out in two recent posts:

Many of us who are more highly educated and affluent than the average South Carolinian smugly take comfort in the illusion that the problem is not us; average SC scores are low merely because we have lots of poor people. We believe, because we want to believe, that SC is last in SAT scores because there is a larger percentage of students taking the test in SC than in states with higher scores. That simply is not true.

An in a post appropriately tited The elite of South Carolina do the most to drag down the average

- South Carolina students in households with annual incomes above $100,000 scored 68 points below the national average.

- Those from families earning below $10,000 were 63 points below peers nationally, the College Board data show.

He also links to a great report on education from the South Carolina Policy Council by Edward J. Coulson entitled Achievement in Context: How South Carolina Students Fare Against their National and International Competition.

In his report, Coulson states:

Nor can it be said that America’s poor overall performance at the end of high-school is due to a large contingent of low-achieving students. In reality, there is no subject, no test, and indeed no grade, on which America’s best students are the world’s best students. At the 12th grade, America’s top students place dead last when compared to top students in other countries – implying that South Carolina’s highest achieving high-school seniors are, in reality, among the worst of the worst.

Later in the conclusion, there is this dire summary:

Another pattern of note is that South Carolina’s performance relative to the nation at large deteriorates at the high-school level. At the 4th and 8th grades, South Carolina is at or somewhat below the national average. Its average rank across NAEP 4th and 8th grade tests is 13th from last in the nation. By the senior year of high-school, South Carolina falls to last place on the SAT and second from last place on the ACT.

…

Finally, it should be re-emphasized that South Carolina has one of the highest, or even the highest (depending on the method of calculation), dropout rate in the nation. As a result, the already unflattering performance of its high-school seniors likely exaggerates the actual academic abilities of their age cohort, relative to other states.

An even greater concern in this era of global competition is that, as South Carolina’s students are falling to the bottom of the national heap, so, too, is the United States falling to the bottom of the international heap. In fact, the nation’s academic performance on the world stage mirrors that of South Carolina on the American stage. American students perform at about the average of industrialized nations at the 4th grade, consistently below average at the 8th grade, and at or near the bottom by the 12th grade. Thus, in order for South Carolina’s young people to be truly prepared to compete in the global economy, they would have to far surpass the average achievement of America’s high-school seniors. Regrettably, they do the opposite.

Depressing…

While our Governor and our State Superintendent argue over the budget, our schools continue to flounder without any clear direction. While my adopted state has been praised for his curriculum standards and its achievement tests, it seems to be missing any overall strategy for improving its education system. Despite its stated goal of "By 2010, South Carolina’s student achievement will be ranked in the top half of states nationally. To achieve this goal, we must become one of the five fastest improving systems in the country.". Unless we have some true innovative leadership that does more than pay lip service to education, this state will continue to lag behind nationally.

Im Worried...

I had to call my 1st graders school today to let them know that she would be parent pickup. This is what you hear when you first call...

"Thank you for calling [blank] Primary School, home of the [blank], where we are touching future educators, doctors, lawyers, field laborers, and other career choices."

I had to call back several times to make sure I hadn't misheard. Am I right to be worried?