Posted on 01/13/2008 6:57:00 PM PST by K-oneTexas
Why is Public Education Failing? By Tom DeWeese
Children are coming out of school dumb because they aren't taught academics. They have, instead, become experiments in behavior modification.
It's a fact. Most of today's school children can barely read or write. They can't perform math problems without a calculator. They barely know who the Founding Fathers were and know even less of their achievements. Most can't tell you the name of the President of the United States. It's pure and simple; today's children aren't coming out of school with an academic education.
Colleges know it. They have to set up remedial courses for incoming freshmen just to prepare them for classes. Parents know it. Their children grow dumber everyday.
The politicians say they know it. They hold hearings to grill education "experts," and they hold high-powered education "summits" to debate and discuss the "problem." And they keep coming up with more federal programs and dictate more standards and spend more taxpayer dollars to fix the problem. But the problem continues to explode. Why?
Frankly, any parent can find the answer simply by looking through their child's textbooks or taking a close look at the classroom structures that their children are forced to endure.
That's just what I'm going to do for you and when I'm through, see if you still wonder why there is an education crisis. And ask yourselves why all the politicians, with huge staffs to do their bidding, can't seem to find the problem.
Restructuring the Classroom
It comes under many names; block scheduling, group learning, cooperative learning. It's all part of a radical change in the way children are handled in the classroom.
Children are paired with others for group grades. Individual achievement is de-emphasized. Under block scheduling a number of subjects are tied together in one long class. For example, math, science, health and physical education have been combined in one school. Children are supposed to learn these skills by working on class projects, such as launching an imaginary rocket to the Moon.
Presumably when faced with various problems in building their rocket, students will seek out the necessary information. They'll need math to calculate the projectory, science to find where the Moon is and health to know what to feed the astronauts. Obviously health is for astronaut training. Children are not instructed on how to do the math calculations or how to find the information they need. They are to find it for themselves. And children who can't keep up are to be helped along by other children in their group. It's called "kids helping kids." That's why teachers are now called "facilitators."
"Cooperative learning" is nothing more than a classroom-management technique that provides a convenient hiding place for bad teachers and under-achieving students. The student who doesn't care to learn, or has failed to grasp a concept, allows the rest of the group to do the work and yet gets the same grade.
What students coming out of such classes cannot do is perform math problems, recite multiplication tables, conjugate a verb or structure a sentence. Random facts picked up in the rush to complete a project do not supply the proper base or structure to understand a subject.
Math
Perhaps the most bizarre of all of the school restructuring programs is mathematics. Math is an exact science, loaded with absolutes. There can be no way to question that certain numbers add up to specific totals. Geometric statements and reasons must lead to absolute conclusions. Instead, today we get "fuzzy" Math. Of course they don't call it that.
As ED Watch explains, "Fuzzy" math's names are Everyday Math, Connected Math, Integrated Math, Math Expressions, Constructive Math, NCTM Math, Standards-based Math, Chicago Math, and Investigations, to name a few. Fuzzy Math means students won't master math: addition, subtraction, multiplications and division.
Instead, Fuzzy Math teaches students to "appreciate" math, but they can't solve the problems. Instead, they are to come up with their own ideas about how to compute.
Here's how nuts it can get. A parent wrote the following letter to explain the everyday horrors of "Everyday Math."
Everyday Math was being used in our school district. My son brought home a multiplication worksheet on estimating. He had 'estimated' that 9×9=81, and the teacher marked it wrong. I met with her and defended my child's answer. The teacher opened her book and read to me that the purpose of the exercise was not to get the right answer, but was to teach the kids to estimate. The correct answer was 100: kids were to round each 9 up to a 10. (The teacher did not seem to know that 81 was the product, as her answer book did not state the same.)
Children are not taught to memorize multiplication tables. Those who promote this concept believe that memorization is bad. Instead, children, they say, should be taught to "discover" multiplication. Students, they say, learn to multiply over several years by "thinking about math."
Social, political, multicultural and especially environmental issues are rampant in the new math programs and textbooks. One such math text is blatant. Dispersed throughout the eighth grade textbooks are short, half-page blocks of text under the heading "SAVE PLANET EARTH." One of the sections describes the benefits of recycling aluminum cans and tells students, "how you can help."
In many of these textbooks there is literally no math. Instead there are lessons asking children to list "threats to animals," including destruction of habitat, poisons and hunting. The book contains short lessons in multiculturalism under the recurring heading "Cultural Kaleidoscope." These things are simply political propaganda and are there for one purpose – behavior modification. It's not Math. Parents are now paying outside tutors to teach their children real Math – after they have been forced to sit in classrooms for eight hours a day being force-fed someone's political agenda.
English, Reading and Literature
Conjugate a verb? Diagram a sentence? Learn to spell? This is language class. We have more relevant things to learn.
In a seventh grade language arts class in Prince William County, Virginia, children are given a test entitled, "What makes you good friendship material." Children are to circle "yes," "no" or "maybe" to questions like, "Am I someone who is trusting of others; likes to have close personal friends; is able to influence others; enjoys sharing with others; can keep a secret? If you answered yes to most of these then you are really good friendship material. If not, you need to work on yourself."
One book being used in classes is called The Book of Questions. Designed around situation ethics, the authors openly admit that "this book is designed to challenge attitudes, values and beliefs." Again behavior modification – not academics — is the root of this exercise.
Here are a couple of sample questions from the book of Questions:
(1) On an airplane you are talking pleasantly to a stranger of average appearance. Unexpectedly, the person offers you $10,000 for one night of sex. Knowing that there is no danger and that payment is certain, would you accept the offer?
(2) A cave-in occurs while you and a stranger are in a concrete room deep in a mineshaft. Before the phone goes dead, you learn that the entire mine is sealed off and the air hole being drilled will not reach you for 30 hours. If you both take sleeping pills from the medicine chest, the oxygen will last for only 20 hours. Both of you can't survive; alone one of you might. After you both realize this, the stranger takes several sleeping pills and says it's in God's hands and falls asleep. You have a pistol; what do you do?
And so it goes, in Geography where, instead of looking for Colorado on a map, children are instructed to make a "Me" map to psychologically profile the children. In Civics, instead of learning how the government runs and of the great checks and balances that the Founding Fathers installed to protect our liberties, children are taught how to be "global citizens" under the UN's Declaration on Human Rights." In Health classes children are taught about Mother Earth — Gaia — with lessons on the Sierra Club as heroes.
Children are coming out of school dumb because they aren't taught academics. They have, instead, become experiments in behavior modification to prepare them to be citizens of a global village. The fault lies with the U.S. Congress, which now dictates curriculum and perpetuates the Department of Education, from which all of these evils flow.
Tom DeWeese is publisher and editor of The DeWeese Report and president of the American Policy Center, a grassroots, activist think tank headquartered in Warrenton, VA. ampolicycenter@hotmail.com http://www.americanpolicy.org/
“If I have only a limited amount of money with me at the time, I keep a running total of estimates in my head to see just how much I can buy on that trip.”
I think we need of definition of “estimate”. I add up items while shopping also, but mostly by rounding all cents to ten cents to avoid adding pennies in my head, and then rounding up to dollars fairly often. But then I add up the rounded numbers exactly (at least as well as I can in my head, which is usually accurate). But that’s not really an estimate, but the addition of several rounded numbers.
But this method of “estimating” was not taught in schools years ago. And, like “creative spelling”, and writing which does not count off for spelling, it’s just another method to give a passing grade to students who can’t, or don’t learn to do things correctly.
Oh so true........public education is very successful. It is meeting all of the goals the originators planned.
It’s worth it. Do with less if you have to and raise your own children. Make it a priority. It makes a difference! If not, someone else’s values and beliefs will be your child’s values and beliefs - plus kids need you. They really don’t want paid strangers who really don’t care about them pretending they care about them. No one is a effective as YOU, as their Mom. Off the soap box! ;)
One last comment ... the other day my daughter told me about a dilemma ... ;) and she told me, “Mom, I heard you in my head saying NOT to do .... and I didn’t ... then went on to say I make her nuts!!!!! :)
“How do you feel about Shurley English? This is my second year using it. Its great they are learning how to diagram sentences, but I’m not sure it is helping their writing.”
It’s okay ... dry but effective. I’d like to see her not doing labeling above the word, and a “pattern” thingie but rather the visual diagramming that looks like a horizontal branch with words hanging off of it - that’s how I learned diagramming. They won't be changing that ... I don't like the other books I've seen on grammar ... too many games and the "must be fun mentality" doesn't work for me. Sometimes learning is WORK and they might as well realize that.
It won’t help them with penmanship. They use Zaner Blosser for printing and cursive. They have books for each. Starting this month they must use cursive all the time rather than the option of printing or cursive.
She’s been getting letter grades since kindergarten!
In fact, I was stunned when they had her take the S.A.T. (NJ) in kindergarten! She went for a full day - 8:30am - 3PM but even still I was surprised.
bump for later read.
I’m beginning to feel better about it - thanks.
That sounds like a great school. I agree, I learned diagraming the way you did. I had to take an essay I wrote and diagram it. I then realized how badly even I wrote! When you can’t figure out how to diagram one of your sentences, its a bad deal.
Yah, this year I have cut back on Shurley, and going back to six trait writing. I still have taught the jingles and up to object of the preposition but thats it. The principal is okay with this, I am just suppose to still teach the jingles because the 8th grade teacher is only using the jingles.
“I don’t like the other books I’ve seen on grammar ... too many games and the “must be fun mentality” doesn’t work for me. Sometimes learning is WORK and they might as well realize that.”
Agreed!!! Stop the laziness!!
Yes,the NEA is nothing but a PC dominated wing of the Democratic Party.
Having said that,however,without a union you would have 45 kids in a class and teachers could be fired by tyrannical administrators for expressing unpopular vire points.
And,since most administrators are also dyed in the woll Leftists,it is CONSERVATIVE teachers who would be under the ideological gun.
If your daughter is using the Math 1, 2, or 3, I’ve heard they aren’t really that great, at least not worth them money they cost for what they taught. That could be the problem.
If you can, why don’t you see if you can find some of their Algebra level books to look at. The Algebra 1/2 is fairly easy but past that it gets hard fast.
My kids were also bored with the math they were doing at grade level (I don’t recall the curriculum, just not Saxon) so that’s why we pushed them, but you know, thinking about it, they would have been bored with Saxon if they were working at grade level, too.
The two main reasons we picked Saxon, is that it was inexpensive and so widely available used; and that it went right on through Calculus and Physics. We wanted a curriculum we could stick with for the long term. I was concerned that changing curriculum would result in them missing something if a topic was covered in different years with different curriculum.
I do know that there are some people who just don’t connect with Saxon for whatever reason and it could be that that’s the situation you’re in. But based on our success and the success I’ve seen others have with it, it is really worth checking out more thoroughly. I do know it’s the math curriculum of choice for virtually all the homeschoolers I know.
Good luck with your efforts. It’s tough when the kids are bored. They really lose interest in trying.
Oh, they also use the Four Square method for essay writing. I wish I had that when I learned to do that. My trouble was always how to START the essay and organize my thoughts. This method makes it easy when first learning to do this.
They use this in the lower grades.
Thank you for the advice. They do have her at grade level and she is bored. I think she wants to be challenged more ... . I’ll look into the next grade level - home school version.
Speaking of bad habits,lets take the tardiness issue as an example.
Kids wander into class five,ten,fifteen minutes late to class with no real consequences.After lunch,they tote bags of food and sodas into class and begin munching.Tell them they can’t come to class with food?Then you will find the VP or a security guard admonishing you for not admitting them.So why even bother enforcing “rules”?
Then these kids enter the job market and maintain those same habits of tardiness and irregular attendance.They get fired and are in shock.Hey,it was OK in high school so why are these employers”straight tripping”?
Pretty sad.
Signing off ... hoping we have off tomorrow.
They keep saying we’re getting snow but all I hear is rain.
Thanks to all with the advice!
Ditto for the Christian teachers filling the pews of too many Christian churches. Those ministers aren’t about to bite the hand that puts money in the collection plate.
However....Imderbyte is **completely** correct!
We will lose freedom in the voting booth! The liberal/Marxist will succeed in bring down this country by using our nation’s schools. In my opinion, Marxism is our nation’s MOST urgent and serious threat, and our schools are its most important weapon.
Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill OReilly...All of them! Seem to be completely clueless!
I will give Sean and Bill some partial credit. They do report on the some of the nuttiness in the government schools but both miss the boat on the cause ( Marxism), and neither call for the only solution possible ( Shut the indoctrination camps completely DOWN!)
INTREP
I agree with your point .... up to a point. However, I’d sum it up by saying — there aren’t enough good teachers to go around. And, as with any other profession, they go to where they can make the most money.
The Thing That will make it competitive is having a choice with the Money.. The Competition will make the Services and Curriculum even better ... Know the Manoppoly of Labor for Teachers just Pass the Buck! and who has Tenure in life?? Communist and Socialist!
There are any number of practical examples. You're about to split a tip among three people for a $57.98 restaurant meal. (The service was such that you've all decided to leave about a 20% tip.) One member of the group says "OK, each of us should leave a $10 bill." You can immediately know that he's wrong by quickly estimating that 20% of your approximate $20 share of the bill is about $4. The exact answer doesn't need to be calculated to know that your friend is off by more than a factor of two.
I’m still guessing the only practical application is to give a passing grade to students who can’t successfully calculate enough math problems correctly to earn a passing grade.
Any case where an exact answer isn't required is a candidate for estimating the result. You're about to pick up paint for a wall in your house. The paint covers 950 square feet per gallon. The wall is about 8 feet, 4 and 1/2 inches high by 19 feet wide. Do you need one quart can of paint? Two? Or should you buy a gallon can? The exact answer is 0.3536111... gallons but that doesn't really matter. A quick estimate is (8 x 20) / 500 = 0.32 gallons. You can easily determine that two quarts will be sufficient without doing the exact calculation.
Most real world calculations are checked with something called doubling checking, or methods built into computer programs or spreadsheets.
I'm a programmer. Believe me -- Bugs, like math errors, do happen. I've found that it can be very difficult to locate bugs in my own code since I put them there in the first place. The same thing happens with math errors.
NASA lost a Mars mission because someone sent them data in kilometers and NASA treated as if it were in miles (possibly vice versa). I don't know that it's possible to estimate what the calculation results should have been. If it is, though, you don't need to calculate the exact answers to realize that the computer-generated results are about 60% of the expected values or more than 1 and 1/2 times the estimated values.
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