Become The BEST In The USA In High School Education!

[Vic Spencer]

US Students Are Falling Behind In Science And Math: Bleak Future For Our Children.
WE CAN CHANGE THAT!
10/18/08 update.

For details, facts, go to www.knoxedu.info

Things may come to those who wait...but only the things left by those who hustle.” (Abraham Lincoln)

WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?

Scholastic achievement in our high schools has been falling for close to four decades (see the statistics below). As a result, we experienced a big drop in science and engineering graduates, especially at the MS and PhD levels. These in turn are the most important degrees in maintaining our economic health. MS and PhD level scientists and engineers do all the important research and development for USA products, to make them more innovative and less expensive, and for vital scientific work for our country.

This situation resulted in a gradual reduction of many American products that we all saw and see (cars, engines, steel, electronics, PC's, heavy machinery, and so on). We used to, but we no longer create the best products in many of these important fields. That in turn increased our imports (Americans buying foreign products like Japanese cars) and reduced our exports (foreign countries buying American products). The total dollars we paid/pay for foreign products has been much more than what we get for USA products that foreign countries buy. That created/creates what we call "our negative balance of payments", increasing "our national debt", and that in turn creates the "falling value of the US dollar" to this day. That makes foreign products, commodities like imported oil, more expensive.

Just imagine if you spent a lot more money for many years, decades, than what you made. For us that is impossible. We could borrow only so much. On the other hand the government can print more money, that is devalued. That is what is happening to us as a country, and one of the biggest reasons is us not graduating enough scientists and engineers to make superior products quickly enough to meet the demend of our own American customers.

This situation is an emergency, and it must be reversed.
HOW CAN WE SOLVE THIS TERRIBLE SITUATION?
How could we motivate the students? There are two important communication paths to them.
1. Teachers need to organize 30-45 minute weekly discussion periods with all students, one topic at a time, from grade one to twelve to make sure that all children develop a solid understanding of why studying, high school graduation with additional science and math courses, and an education beyond high school is vital, and all the exciting and high paying jobs that are out there just waiting for such well educated children. The school is the only place where such messages can be delivered and discussed with ALL children so that they will get excited about what they could become if they work hard in school. Major discussion classes could be:

• The long-term decline of US secondary education and resulting national problems (for the adult presentations below)
• What education is (training of the mind, like an athlete has to train his/her muscles)
• Why education is important (future income, quality of life depends on it)
• Why HS diploma is absolutely vital (one cannot get good jobs without it)
• The exciting jobs that await the kids after a university education (this is worth many discussions)
• Free possibilities for education, any university (with very high scores. I know two boys who had a totally free ride at Harvard) and the military options.

Could Dr. McIntyre and KCS initiate this program urgently please? Our students' future literally depends on it. Will Dr. McIntyre and KCS do so? We hope that they will. There are not too many opportunities that cost so little, and yet have such far reaching impact.

2. Parents and the general public need to be informed about the above facts as well. They need to be told up front, what happened to our secondary education system, a national problem we are facing and a local problem as well. The current high school graduates insufficiently trained in math, science and English are no longer suitable to take on a job at many of our local companies who used to be able to hire high school graduates before.

There are parents who do not understand the need for education. The Knoxville Chamber of Commerce (Jennifer E.) is working on a presentation to the public covering this area. This is also very important although we will not reach as many students through the parents as the first method above. However, it is also vital to get as much parental support as we can for this effort, and this is the best method that could achieve that with the right message.


PARENTS AND TEACHERS! SOMEHOW WE ALL HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO CHILDREN THAT THEY HAVE ONLY TWO CHOICES.

• THEY CAN WORK HARD FOR 10-12 YEARS IN SCHOOL (THE PARENTS AND TEACHERS HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY TAKE ALL THE ABOVE MENTIONED MATH, SCIENCE AND ENGLISH COMP. COURSES), PLUS MAYBE 4-8 MORE YEARS IF THEY WANT TO GO TO COLLEGE (FREE IF THEY HAVE EXCELLENT GRADES IN HIGH SCHOOL), AND THEN HAVE A GREAT 50-60 YEARS IN A WELL-PAYING FABULOUS JOB, MAKING PERHAPS 2-4 TIMES MORE, THAN MANY OF THEIR PARENTS.
  
  
• OR ... THEY CAN DECIDE NOT TO WORK HARD IN SCHOOL BUT HAVE MORE FUN, BARELY GRADUATE FROM HIGH SCHOOL, AND HAVE A REALLY HARD LIFE FOR 50-60 YEARS DOING MANUAL LABOR, HAVE VERY LITTLE MONEY, OR DEPEND ON THEIR PARENTS TO SUPPORT THEM FINANCIALLY UNTIL THE PARENTS DIE, MAKING THEIR OWN AND THEIR PARENTS LIFE VERY DIFFICULT. AND THEN PERHAPS BE HOMELESS. THIS IS NOT AN UNLIKELY STORY WITH OUR SLIDING EDUCATION AND ECONOMY.
  
  Those are the two fundamental choices that all school children are facing. Make sure that they know it.

INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS EDUCATION?

(Please click on it to read it. Most people have the wrong impression.)

Click here to see our USA standing in the world:
In math achievement (34th!) or in science achievement (29th!). Source: US Dept of Education, OECD PISA results.

Click here to see Tennessee's ACT standing (38th!) in the USA:
Science and math composite (38th!)

Click here to see our ACT trend in Tennessee:
Five year ACT trend
College/university readiness trend
College/university readiness demographically

Click here to see our ACT standing in Knox County, Tennessee:
By high school
Graduation rate by high school

Let me see if I understand this "picture". USA high school results are 29th-34th in the world. Tennessee average is 38th in the USA. How much is being spent per student for these results?Internationally (USA is 4th) and within the USA (TN is 44th!!)

Picture this again...We are the 4th biggest education spenders in the world (BUT Tennessee is 44th in spending in the USA), and we deliver the 34th in high school results internationally? What are we doing?? Something is very wrong with this picture.

Our competitor countries' curricula include Algebra 2, Solid and Plane Geometry, Trigonometry, Calculus 1, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, local language composition -- all of them. Algebra 1 and some Geometry is shifted to 8th grade. That is what we used to have in the USA, without using calculators. The use of calculators seriously diminishes the mental training of students. If our high school students take and finish all the above courses with an A or B, they will succeed. Although they are not part of the curriculum for a high school diploma, these courses are offered at every high school.

I am sorry, but some of us parents are a big problem.

• Most parents' and high schools' expectations of our high school students have never been lower.
• We have permitted too much under performance for too long. Who loses? Our children, and OUR COUNTRY.
• Kids having more fun has become important at home at an expense to studying time.
• Most parents take the child's side if the child has an academic or discipline problem in school.
• Most parents and school children have no respect for teachers, yet everyone's future depends on them. Very foolish.
• We do not seem to value the importance of a degree in engineering or sciences. Yet this is what leads to much more income and jobs that are more exciting.

NOTE A CONTRAST IN THE COUNTRIES WITH WHICH WE COMPETE:

• Professors and teachers are the most respected professions in the top thirty countries, followed by medical doctors.
• Parents support the teachers without question because they know that their child's future depends on them.
• Disrespectful behavior toward professors or teachers is not tolerated and it results in expulsion from the school.

WE ALL HAVE SOME URGENT WORK TO DO TO CORRECT THESE PROBLEMS IN OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM.

[momto3]

Congrats! And I'm glad your able to share with others, sadly, my computer skills are limited!

[Vic Spencer]

When you entered your URL, a handful of digits were dropped at the end, so the HTML decoder software could not find the article.
I am good at this, but I am also pretty bad at some other things, where, no doubt, you would be better.

[Vic Spencer]

www.knoxedu.info :

I would like to ask all of you to help me with something on this Web site.

I added a cartoon figure and some cute panda pictures to insert some humor into a serious subject. What do you think about them? If you want me to add something, you could email it to me at [e-mail]. It would be better if you could provide it here if possible, because others could comment as well.

Also please comment on any change that you would make in the text or layout to make the Web site more effective.

“Things may come to those who wait...but only the things left by those who hustle.” (Abraham Lincoln)
This is so true. It certainly is true in a competitive world about our quality of education. They who clean our economic clocks first with better products, leave for us only a much smaller market with much smaller profits.

Vic

[Abl]

This is interesting: A new Charter middle school in New York is offereing teachers a starting salary of $125,000.

http://resources.topschooljobs.org/tsj/articles/2008/07/10/08tep_cc...

[momto3]

That does sound great, but considering the cost of living in New York City how does that salary compare with teachers in the public school system in New York City?

[momto3]

$47,200 was the amount on found as the median salary for a teacher in New York City (although other sites might have more reliable info.), so clearly $125,000 is nothing to sneeze at! I can't imagine surviving in New York City on $47,200! That's shocking!

[Vic Spencer]

Wait a minute! Ever since debi and granma2 mentioned fiddle-farting, I keep giggling. I keep imagining the fiddler on the roof fiddling on the roof, while he is whistling the song instead of singing it - from his pants.

I think we have a lot of Fiddle-Farters in Washington DC. I think that all politicians must go through a bunch of training programs in DC, upon winning their elections. One must be the Academy of Fiddle-Farting, which issues a PhD in Fiddle-Farting to any Congressmen who completed two terms. Another must be: "How to make your constituency love you without saying anything rational", and "How to promise everything 30 days before any election so that people believe you". And the best one in which a Louisiana representative got an A+ in: "How to make a lot of extra COLD cash without being kicked out of Congress.".

[Vic Spencer]

I added today a section under knoxedu.info. "Go to Our Competitor Countries' Curricula", and from there Go to "The Best Education Systems in the World". I listed several very informative URLs under each of the top three countries.

Finland is the leader and seems to have a very interesting approach in an outstanding system. Let me know what you think, and let me know if you have any other info we could add here.

Vic

[Vic Spencer]

Ladies and gentlemen, the only way we can have some impact on the education system for the better, is if we sound off about what is important in order of priority: that is what is most important, what is second most important, what is third most important. Try to give two answers please. One, try to give the way you see the priorities for the Knox County education department from every parents point of view. Then give your personal priority.

For me the priorities as I see them are:

1. As a country, our "production" of science and engineering graduates are falling, because our high school output is lower than ever in science, math and English. It is so bad that less and less high school graduates can do jobs that former high school grads could do. Companies are complaining about this, and it is going to get worse. This is happening because high schools are not promoting the importance of taking all math, science and English composition courses. Parents are not encouraging children to take them in enough numbers. And both schools have been encouraging a be happy, do not worry about competition attitude, and reduced during the past two decades the requirements for a HS diploma to Algebra 1, and Biology. The rest are mostly easy courses. You are beginning to see the result in our economy, we are buying cars, steel, oil, almost everything from other countries, because they make it better and less expensively. We have a huge and growing national debt. That resulted in the falling of the dollar making our companies cheap to buy by other countries. As a result, oil is much cheaper purchased in other countries whose currency did not fall, but went up against the dollar. This is a very urgent situation folks. We need to get more students to take Algebra 2, geometry, Trigonometry, Calculus, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and English Composition with high grades, so that college will be easy for them, and we increase all college grads, especially engineers and scientists who we need the most. For me, this area overrides anything else.
2. For me the second priority is to find a way to prepare inner city and low performing kids to become very good at a trade, so that they can do much better than being on welfare. I know a black guy, Rodney, who cuts my hair. He is excellent and does about 6-7 men in one hour. He makes good money. He put his son through Fulton High with good enough grades for him to have an ACT score of 22. He is in college now to get a 4 year degree to become a licensed physical therapist, an outstanding job. I look at Rodney as a role model for me, and could be just that for any child. This area is second but important for me, because we need more of the science and engineering graduates to save our country, while we help those from the inner city neighborhoods who become productive and happy. Without our national economic problem being solved, we all will suffer.
3. My third priority would be making special education more productive, by studying other countries like Finland, who are doing it successfully. Again, with the objective to make them as productive as possible in society.
Priority 1 seems to be the least expensive with the largest impact country wide. It will also provide the much better paying jobs. Priority 2 will be more expensive, but will pay back a great dividend by making all these kids productive instead of being dependent on government money, our taxes, for welfare. Same is true for priority 3, but it is even more expensive because the medical expenses are higher here.
Other countries like Finland are doing it, so we could do it also. We would need to pay higher county taxes, but I would be happy to see a big increase for county taxes if it is dedicated to the above three programs only, and not diverted for some other political need.

I do not have any personal high priority need.


What do YOU think?

[Ginevra]

Vic, I just came across another article about Singapore Math which includes some examples of problem-solving methods used in that curriculum. At the very end of this article is an example of the "bar method" for solving problems, which prepares young students for doing algebra later on.

http://www.hoover.org/publications/ednext/3853357.html

"While the goal of bolstering high-school math is a laudable one, the success of high-school students in math depends on what they’ve learned in the lower grades. If those foundations are weak, the addition of Advanced Placement courses in math and science in high schools will prove to be a weak enhancement. Unfortunately, changing the way math is taught in the lower grades appears to threaten an education philosophy and method that is pervasive in our schools, and does not move us towards academic excellence."


This article describes the details of what happened in Montgomery County, Maryland, where the Singapore program was implemented and then dropped. There are some influential organizations which will compensate school districts to use the textbooks that they prefer, even though those programs may be much less effective in preparing elementary school students for their later high school math classes.

Also, in Montgomery County, the Singapore Math program was delivered to all students, even though some of the older students who had not gone through all of the steps in the Singapore program were not prepared for their grade level, and therefore did not do as well. "Even with adequate training, the two-year span of the pilot resulted in three of the pilot schools (all except College Gardens) introducing Singapore Math all at once, across all grades, which put older children at a severe disadvantage, since Singapore Math concepts build on one another. This helps to explain the difference in the math test results."


It sounds like this would be a good program to implement from the first grade on up, step by step, if the students who used this (including some very disadvantaged students) did so well with it.

Are there are any teachers (or homeschooling parents, or parents who tutor their children after regular school hours) in Knox County who have been using the Singapore Math program and could comment on it? I would be very interested in learning about their experiences.

[Abl]

Hi Ginerva,

I have been using Singapore Math with elementary education students for the last two years and I have been using it with my own children (ages 5 and 4) for about a year and a half.

The article you referenced is wonderful and does a great job of explaining Singapore Math. I love the program and would love to see it in our schools. That being said, it would have to start in Kindergarten or First grade and the teachers would need extensive training. Our math education does not train students to think about math the way Singapore Math does, and it is quite different. I don't see that Singapore Math does anything but support the goals of NCTM and math reformers. I plan to use it with my children (along with another Japanese tutoring method) to supplement and enrich what they get in school.

The bar method referenced in the article is a wonderful approach to solving problems and it works beautifully.

Beginning this school year (2008-2009) California has approved Singapore Math for use in the public school systems. This means if a school or district chooses to use this curriculum they will be able to use district funds to pay for the texts. Additionally, Singapore Math has just published a new "Standards" version of the books that correspond to the California math standards.

If you have any other questions about Singapore Math I will be happy to answer them if I can.

[Ginevra]

Interesting, Abl, thanks! I don't have any further questions at the moment, but may have more later on. Appreciate your input.