Don't Confuse Lack of Consensus with Failure in Education

Every one from politicians to teachers provides excuses as to why the American education system is failing. When I hear that, my first question is: Is it failing? Isn't it doing what it's designed to do? In its current state, the education system at the primary and secondary levels is supposed to produce higher test scores among those in the lower socio-economic stratum. Look. It's doing just that.

If you design a coffee maker, and you end up with freshly brewed coffee, is that a failure? Don't confuse the lack of consensus on what we want by labeling American education a failure.

Obviously, we all want more, but we can't expect more until we design the system to give us more. To get that, we need to arrive at a consensus on what we want K-12 education to do (since our tax dollars dictate that we all own a piece of it). Obviously, we don't have that now. Hence, we feel like we've failed.

Just ask 25% of California's high school students, and 33% of Los Angeles' high school students. They think the system sucks so bad, they just drop out. See the latest front-page Los Angeles Times article here.

So what do we want from our K-12 education system? Well, that depends on who you ask. If you ask college professors, politicians, and most parents, they want everyone to be an expert in reading, writing, and mathematics. Problem is, not all of us are, or ever will be, experts in all of those categories. To do that, you need a certain intelligence quotient and a natural aptitude for all three of these areas, not to mention the abilities to sit in class for long periods of time, actively learn, take copious notes, do all of your homework, and study for endless amounts of tests. For about half of us, this just doesn't work and never will - no matter how hard we try to mandate it.

If you ask me, I'd want a K-12 system that produces adults with a range of marketable skills; skills that prepare everyone - no matter who you are - for what we all will face in life (outside of what our parents will teach us). This range of skills I'm talking about providing will take a five-old-child with the ability to count to ten, and produce a semi-adult nine years later that is basically ready for whatever the world throws at him. At grade 10, a student can opt into one of two basic paths: If he wants to further his education at a four-year college, he can do that by taking college preparatory courses. If he wants to go to a trade school and/or apprentice for a certain profession, he can do that. Or, he can do a combination of both if he's still not sure.

To achieve what my K-12 system promises, I've compiled a list of practical skills that it should be providing its ninth-grade graduates (as well as what it should not be providing). The student can choose to take it from there with one of the options above, and chart their course for life. But here's what they need to already know entering the tenth grade:

1. Basics in the three R's. This is what school was originally designed to do in this country. Every student who graduates from ninth grade should be able to...

a. Write a letter and an essay with minimal spelling and grammar mistakes. In other words, have them prove that they can transmit the English language to their children, as well as use it in their job.

b. Read a popular novel. Pull a best-selling novel off the grocery store shelf and write an essay about it.

c. Read an instruction manual. Give the student a manual of how to set up a surround sound system (or some other semi-difficult assemblage like a bicycle), give her all of the parts and pieces, and have her set it up.

d. Execute an everyday geometric or algebraic math problem. In other words, figure out how many square feet your house is or calculate your gas mileage.

2. Basic economics. Household budgeting, credit card interest, saving for retirement, consumer law, buying a house and a car, and balancing a checkbook are just a few of the subjects a prospective ninth grade graduate should be require to master.

3. A love of learning. Chances are in 21^st Century American culture, an adult will have to go back to school to further their station in life. Many simply don't do it because they hate school (count me in - I hate sitting in classrooms). We've got to do a better job of getting our customers (students) interested in our (teachers') product. Although, I have to tell you that under No Child Left Behind, I don't see that happening anytime soon.

4. Physical education. The body is just as important as the mind. How many of us today are fat, smokers, drinkers, druggies, or are just sedentary? I recently met somebody from the Netherlands who made a remark about how the Dutch love their bicycles. God, if only Americans did. Think how much less we'd spend on healthcare and gasoline, not to mention all of our bad habits. Include personal hygiene here, too. I'm tired of standing behind the guy in the grocery store who doesn't know what deodorant is and hasn't brushed his teeth in a month.

5. Love and knowledge of art and music. Why do we have to wait until college for art or music appreciation? Why do we have to seek out art and music lessons from some other provider than our school system? These subjects expand our minds, our thinking, our sense of culture, and give us a sense of fulfillment that we carry to the grave. Why do only the rich and highly educated get to enjoy this?

6. Patriotism. See my article on changing social studies. We love to fly the flag on holidays and in times of war, but even half of us don't really know why. We all need to know the history of the United States, if anything so that we know what makes us successful as a people and how we can avoid future mistakes.

7. Appreciation of science. More scientific knowledge has been gained in the last 50 years than in the entire history of mankind. Everybody needs to know how the scientific method works, and the basics of everything we've learned about the earth, life, the universe, mechanics, electricity, and computers.

8. The ability to find any information. One of the first things I tell my fourth graders is that it's okay if you don't know something, but it's not okay if you're too lazy to find out. There is so much information in the world today that even the smartest human could not hold it all in her brains. We should know what we specialize in. The rest we should be able to find in an encyclopedia, a dictionary, an atlas, an almanac, or the Internet.

9. Critical thinking skills. There are many charlatans out there. Some are on television, and some show up on your doorstep. Some are holding signs on the freeway off ramp, and some want you to vote for them for office. Educated people today are as easily duped as the uneducated. This needs to be part of a practical, useful education.

10. Problem-solving skills. Yes, you're thinking math problems, and that's part of it. But, any employer will tell you it's one of the most valued assets of an employee - and any employee will tell you the same of his employer. Got a problem-solver in your family? I bet you can't appreciate her enough.

Continuing the list, here's what we need to cut out...

11. Stop trying to turn everyone into geniuses. Not all of us were cut out for four, six, or eight years of college. Besides, it no longer guarantees success; and definitely does not guarantee happiness. There is a multitude of real-life examples I could provide here, but won't. That's a separate post probably. Consider how these questions apply not only to you, but the average American citizen, too.

a. When was the last time you used trigonometry in your daily life?

b. When was the last time you analyzed a popular novel for your friends?

c. When was the last time you needed to know the capital of Nepal?

The new system would have to restructure the standards. Currently, a ninth grader is being prepped to achieve trigonometry by the 11^th grade. Nix that. He should be prepped to figure out what his credit card debt will be after five years if he only makes minimum payments.

12. Standardized multiple-choice bubble tests that are the end-all be-all of education. It's important to assess what knowledge has been learned, so don't get me wrong here. Without it, you don't know what or how to teach something to a student. However, we must draw a line to say that there are many other factors which indicate a student has gained the proper knowledge.

There are probably a few things that you, the reader, will want to add or subtract from the list. I may agree or disagree, but the point is that we need to start a discussion in this country about what we really want our children to learn. It has nothing to do with school choice, standardized testing, narrowing the achievement gap, or teacher pay incentives. The specter of failure is hanging over our heads simply because we have not achieved a consensus about what we want from our educational system. We have too many societal factors affecting education right now for us to be demanding that we turn out a country full of PhD graduates.

Besides, we don't need that anyway. I think what we need are well-rounded Americans who have the capacity to pursue their happiness. Your comments are encouraged and welcomed.