The Biggest Issue?
Posted by enckc on August 3, 2008
In his July 29th article, New York Times Op-Ed writer David Brooks argues that the reason the U.S. is falling behind other countries on the global economy scale has to do with our education system. What do you think about his view? Is our educational system adequately preparing our nation’s youth for their futures in today’s ubiquitous technological society? Its your turn to weigh in….
August 4th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Well, I might have to agree with him just a little.
I think that we do a great job of teaching our students the content of certain courses. However, I believe that our integration of technology is definitely lacking. SOme school districts don’t have the resources, some do but teachers don’t use it. I am not sure whether to believe that teachers with these resources readliy available simply choose not to use them or they don’t know how to use them. This change in technology integration needs to be implemented into teacher education as well…
Okay, I am done rambling now………………
August 4th, 2008 at 11:06 am
I find it both interesting and a little un-nerving that before 1990 “educational attainments [by American's have] stagnated completely”, and that “since then, progress has [only] been modest.”
August 4th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Our school systems are not preparing our youth for success in today’s world. Education is driven by NCLB, whose primary focus is success on standardized tests. Success on a test does not translate to success in a competitive, ever-changing world.
August 4th, 2008 at 11:08 am
This is one of the reasons why the United States is not up to standards in mathematics. The United States language has a lot more sounds than any other language. I had read that in Japan they only have 10 sounds for numbers 1-12 and these sounds are repeated for all numbers. In the United States we have apx 28 sounds and they do not repeat therefore it is a lot more difficult to learn mathematics in
English than in Japanese.
August 4th, 2008 at 11:10 am
It all comes down to POLITICS and so I somewhat agree. We do a great job teaching our kids, but we all need to stay abreast of the new technology and use it daily so that we can keep up with today’s youth. Teacher techology education is what we all need!
August 4th, 2008 at 11:10 am
I am proud to announce I was part of the peak performance group of improvement, but since being a teacher in the 70’s, 80’s & 90’s, according to this article, I am not worth a !@#$% as an effective educator. 70’s people respected education because astronauts were their heroes (science and math counted!). In the 80’s Regan-omics dictated education was manditory to “make more money”! The time of change came in the 90’s when education became “the problem” and in the new century those who “were the problem” are expected to “solve the problem”. This article shows they may not have been the problem! Public attitudes toward education directly effect their performances! Hopefully those attitudes will change in this century. Computers are not looked upon as educational tools, but a fix for out thurst for entertainment and socialization.
August 4th, 2008 at 11:11 am
I thought that David Brooks’ link between the United States economy and trends in education was very interesting. He cited our decline as a global economic power as a reason why our educational system has seen no real growth since the 1970’s. I thought that his comments about the middle class and the decline of the family were also very insightful. Overall, I feel that his opinion piece supports the idea that the U.S. lacks behind other countries worldwide in the education of its children.
August 4th, 2008 at 11:11 am
“In periods, like the current one, when educational progress lags behind technological change, inequality widens.”
Sadly, there’s no doubt that this is true. As we saw this morning in the clips Chris shared with us, education, in order to be effective, needs to progress with its students. Educators realize this. However, many of them deny it or ignore it and do nothing about it. Why?!?!
August 4th, 2008 at 11:11 am
As an elementary teacher, I see the importance of immersing our children in a positive learning environment at an early age. The educational discrepancy that some students experience when they begin school should be a source of concern for our nation.
August 4th, 2008 at 11:12 am
I think that since the average American’s level of education rose by 0.8 years per decade, it had to level out at some point or “stagnate” correct? Sidenote…there is an obvious bias here with the comment “There’s some vague talk about school choice, but Republicans are inept when talking about human capital policies” however I do feel he brings up some good points. I do feel we are trying and learning to adequately prepare our nation’s youth for their futures in today’s ubiquitous technological society…and this taking these classes will help.
August 4th, 2008 at 11:12 am
I believe our educational system has excellent teachers and more instructional resources available than ever before. However, technology savvy students are being “left behind” with the 20th century schools and teaching practices. Students are not interested in sitting behind a desk for 6 hours a day with their paper and pencil. More laptops and computers would increase student motivation for learning!
However, there are those students that aren’t interested in learning what educators need to teach them. I don’t agree that these students are easliy identified by age 5. We should never stop trying to help students make goals for their future and reach their highest potential.
August 4th, 2008 at 11:13 am
I thought it was interesting that the author says that by age 5, it can be predicted who will complete high school and college. If I look at my own extended family, I can see what he is saying. Education is much more important to some members of my family and these parents have children who were motivated to do well in school.
August 4th, 2008 at 11:13 am
I don’t think you can blame just one issue. Technology is changing fast, and it is tough to keep up. However, kids have to want the information, and the importance for learning this information has to be harbored in more that just the school systems. The education system definately bears the responsibility of trying to keep up with the growing techonological demand and try to prepare our kids to embrace and use it to their advantage. But it can’t stop there. The parents/guardians at home have to continue the pursuit and encourage the same growth, as well as students themselves needing to embrace the growing demand of techonology and try to use it to their best advantage to improve their own lives and to ultimately improve the state of nation and its economy.
August 4th, 2008 at 11:16 am
There is definitely a frightening decline of student abilities in the United States. Though this started in the 70’s, I think it has accelerated for a number of reasons. Prior to the late 70’s, there was a stronger work ethic and desire to succeed. There was also more family unity. Many students today want the results without the hard work. Schools are accepting lower standards. Families are split and the consistence of homelife is gone as children pass from one parent to another in brolen homes. More people are working and there is no time to follow up on the children’s homework much less encourage independent learning. Many teachers are not meeting the technological demands of students who are now living in a technological world, and the schools are not providing all of the rapidly changing and expensive resources that are needed.
August 4th, 2008 at 11:21 am
I don’t believe that this is news to any of us. How can one expect students to develop “skills” when we teach to the test and assess our students more than is necessary. We also know the role that parents have in regards to influencing their children. And we are aware that familial attitudes towards education affect children and their decisions to invest time and effort into their futures. We as educators are tied to requirements and standards on one hand yet encouraged to teach children how to use the information we present in “real life” situations. Sometimes these 2 things do not coexist. Our hands can be further tied by the lack of funding for(and therefore availability of)technology for use by our students. Inequality in education equals inequality in the workplace and in income. So…we know the problems…This article sheds no new light on the current state of education in our country. WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS? There are, I am afraid, no easy ones.
August 4th, 2008 at 11:22 am
I agree with this statement, “Boosting educational attainment at the bottom is more promising than trying to reorganize the global economy.” Unfortunately, traditional practices in the public school system are not accommodating a large population of 21st century children in the U.S. We need to turn low-skill job seekers into higher-skill job seekers and the high-skill job seekers into employers.
October 30th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
It’s okay, Chris, you needn’t fear. We can “adequately prepare our nation’s youth for their futures in today’s ubiquitous technological society.” I’ve discussed the answer here, in my post, “21st Century “Keys” to Success…” (http://mrwalters.edublogs.org/2008/10/30/21st-century-keys-to-success/)
Enjoy…