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.

[Vic Spencer]

Cathy, do you have any URLs that present some study about your first paragraph conclusions above. Or some study that presents the facts about the education systems in other countries and how they compare to what we have?

I am very interested in any contrary view to what I presented at knoxedu.info and above. If anyone can present facts that could change any conclusions I am presenting, I would be very interested, and would be happy to include it at knoxedu.info. I have links to research that others conducted at my Web site at knoxedu.info .

Cathy, I am not suggesting anywhere, and never suggested that anywhere, that we ignore everything but science and engineering. Why are you trying so hard to stamp me with that. I am simply presenting the fact that we had a huge drop in producing scientists and engineers, compared to what we have done more than two decades ago, and its effect on our economy in a competitive world.

I really do not take pleasure in what I found about our education system. I find it quite scary in fact. I would love it for us to be better than what actual tests indicated. I thought that I compared apples to apples. If you can point out specifically where I have not done that, I would feel terrible, and I would change if I made such a mistake.

What I said was that India is graduating 5 times the engineers we do and that China is graduating 15 times the engineers we do. That is a fact. And it is not good news for us. I even spoke to some UT professors who have Chinese and Indian students in their classes. They are the ones who are getting the A's. Would I love to see the American students getting all A's? Hell, yes! I would love it!

[granma2]

I've ignored this thread because it was too broad and sweeping in its suggested reforms. Additionally, many of the suggestions are already implemented in KCS including the one of adding college classes to the high school curriculum. In addition to having many, many AP course offerings, students can register at Pellissippi and get college credit in some courses while still enrolled as a senior in their high school. And for students who academically qualify, KCS sends them on to UT for higher math classes. At Farragut, ORNL scientists come to work with the science students. There are opportunities available. The thing that you are correct about, Vic, is that we don't have parents who are willing to push their children to become higher achievers and take harder classes.

[granma2]

One more thing. European Union schools segregate their students by ability much earlier than we do. We hold on to this "American Dream" that every kid should go on to higher learning when that's not reality. Then we shortchange those not college material by not preparing them for any kind of technical job at which they can succeed and support a family. Separating the wheat from the chaff would get what you're proposing, Vic, but until we provide alternative AND SEPARATE educations for the very bright and the not so bright, we're stuck with the mediocrity that we have. Also, in most parts of Europe, higher education is FREE. But one has to work hard in high school to get in.

[Vic Spencer]

granma2, most of my high school years were spent in Europe. In many European countries there are two types of high schools, one for continuing onto a university, and another focused more on trade skills. My brother wasn't doing a hot job before HS, so he got admitted to the lower level high school academically. However, he did a good job in high school and was admitted to the engineering curriculum at one of the best universities and became an engineer. I am not suggesting that we should have two types of high schools. I think that parent and teacher expectations are incredibly low now. If you look at high school Web sites, science and engineering are not presented equally. The focus seems to be on vocational education. As a result, less students do the work for good grades in science and math, for a great job in science or engineering, as if we have given up on our own children.

I think that it would be very difficult to change curricula. However, the high schools do provide the math and science courses that could open the door for more students toward a science or engineering career. It is very much in the hands of parents how a child will progress. I also see some great vocational courses in the high schools.

Therefore I think that within the high school itself, the teaching and guidance counseling talent is there for everyone to reach their limits, and do well after high school graduation. I am just emphasizing high school science and math, because we had the biggest fall off in that area, and it happens to be the most important area for national success. It is also a fact like many of you said, that some kids, especially those who grew up in a single parent environment have too much emotional baggage and cannot get good enough grades. I really wonder if increasing the teacher-student ratio in these neighborhoods increased the inner city school performance. Increasing the teacher-student ratio is a huge expense. If anyone has any statistics about this, I would very much appreciate it.

[Debi]

You think vocational education is promoted so much more because of our region? Last I heard our graduation rate is somewhere around 60%. Assuming 40% or so of the adults in this region have no high school diploma, a post-drop-out diploma or GED, I would consider this the reason college is not more of a focus. I'm in college at near 40 because of a calling. Perhaps we as a community should focus more on campaigning for parents to return to college, that might help put more of a focus on college preparation for students.

[Cathy McCaughan]

Separate is not equal.

[granma2]

You're right, and they shouldn't be. Exceptionally bright students should not be in the same classes as those students who can't read. We should have separate classes (even if it's in the same high school) for students who don't want to go to college and for those who do. The quality of education in America has been denigrated by the requirement to have special education children in regular classrooms. I know I'll get flack for that, but it's true.

[Debi]

How is ability determined? Visual vs. aural learners? Based on methodology of success? I can't see how one can determine "bright" vs. "not so bright", particularly in the early years.

Math for example. KCS uses Scott Foresman (sp?) curriculum. If one child excels quickly at it while another child can excel same/faster with TouchMath, as an example, then one isn't more bright over the other, they just learn differently, they are both excelling in math. However, KCS still largely expects to teach all the same way.

My cousin was valedictorian of his high school graduated with top honors in a double major of both chemistry & mathematics; he could not tell his left from his right and once got lost because his teacher taught him to hold up his hands, palm-away from his face, and the index-thumb that made the "L" shape was his left. One day while driving he did that only held up his palms toward his face. One could argue he wasn't the brightest tool in the shed, yet he was one of the FDA members who changed our food labels a few years back.

I know right now a child who just completed the fifth grade who was in remedial math class. One afternoon she happened to be on the speaker phone (tweenagers, grrr) while I was trying to help my daughter with her advanced math. As my daughter struggled to find the correct answers, her friend was rattling them off immediately as I spoke it. Yet she is considered unable to do advanced math based on test scores. Sure, lines have to be drawn somewhere, but many students are overlooked in those lines. This friend appeared to be every bit as learned in math, if not more so than my daughter.

[Vic Spencer]

Thanks granma2. Good comments.

[momto3]

I find what your saying interesting but I'm not entirely convinced of the solutions you offer.

Countries like China and India are not graduating 100% of their population of children, they don't even attempt to educate 100% of their population. The USA attempts to give EVERY child an education (whether they want it or not).

China decides for the child by the age of 14 what studies they will pursue and basically what job they will have as an adult. They operate schools in shifts with small children going to school from 7PM-12AM. The government raises the children not the parents.

My husband and I had children not to deliver them into the hands of the state to be raised, we will raise our children. Parents should be wary of the subtle "socialist" tendencies that are happening within the school system. Yes, we want them to have a good education and a public one at that, but I will not allow the government (school system) to raise my child! They are going to have a well rounded rearing that includes far more "education" than simply what the school system can offer (and what they should be offering entails reading, writing, math, history, etc. at whatever level they need to achieve). The rest of their education will be administered by Mom and Dad.

I know there are children with great needs beyond education but the school system is not the place for those needs to be met. I fear that parents are already taking a back seat in the education system. We seem all but ignored at board meetings, although I will say we are welcomed into the schools to help. I have no complaints about the wonderful teachers my kids have had, they welcome parents help and make it a partnership (where all children benefit, not just those whose parents are able to be physically there). I agree, teacher's need to have more freedom to remove disruptive children from their classes and be treated with respect. When that doesn't happen the parents of that child should back the teacher not the child. However, it seems that the system bends over backwards to keep the disruptive child that doesn't want to be there in the classroom to the determent of those students who see the value of a good education and are there to learn and work hard.

If you look at the hours children are in school, which is a better gauge than days, students in the US are in school about 135 hours studying mathematics while the Japanese spend 107 hours. On average international students are in school 123 hours. The time kids are in school is not an indication of how well they will do in their future endeavors, it's what's done with the time they are there. We do need to fight the drop out rate, that's far more key to a child's education than trying to increase days of or hours of the school year. It's the children's teachers, parents and the students themselves that effect their success as a student.

I would rather look to other successful systems within the USA and their are some really great ones, before I look to China, India or Japan (highest suicide rate for teens, what's up with that?) for education models.

[granma2]

Momto3,
You'll have to site some references for this info because I think you're mistaken on both China and India. And your info on the hours spent in school is worthless without proof. Where do you even get your stats for the U.S.? Sorry, not credible. KCS block scheduling requires 90 days of 1.5 hours per day for math, but it was only this year that 4 years of math was required for graduation. And the highest level required is Algebra I. Ridiculous to compare us in ANY way to the Japanese. The U.S. would be better off and have a more educated population if we didn't try to educate everyone on the same level. We may have an equal right to an education, but not everyone wants to take advantage of that. We force them to anyway, and that brings down the level of achievement for everyone.

[momto3]

Re: hours spent in schools, Source: IEA's Trends in International Mathematics & Science Study (TIMSS) 2003

Re: China's teaching methods, a friends' trip to China and first hand experience in the schools.

I totally agree with you on your last point.