How to improve American Education in 2021. (1 Viewer)

[Paul]

The most recent PISA results, from 2015, placed the U.S. an unimpressive 38th out of 71 countries in math and 24th in science. Among the 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which sponsors the PISA initiative, the U.S. ranked 30th in math and 19th in science.

U.S. students’ academic achievement still lags that of their peers in many other countries

U.S. students continue to rank near the middle, and behind many other advanced industrial nations, in international math, science and reading assessments.

www.pewresearch.org

My suggestion is rather simple.

1. Study why immigrants from East Asia, India, and Nigeria do well with American education. Apply that insight to other groups (if possible).
2. Manage public schools as if though they were private schools with uniforms and discipline.
3. Create high end special schools for those that are truly disenfranchised.
4. Create a force of social workers to treat family dysfunction with regards to education.
5. Reduce the curriculum to the simple basics and repeat that on a yearly basis.
6. At about 10th grade divide college bound students away from non-college bound.
7. Provide solid basic education and trade training for non-college bound kids. There is no point in offering free college to these kids.

 

[DaveXA]

I hope is just a rumor!

Yet, you repeated it here. And no such thing has happened in any elementary school that I'm aware of.

 

[Optimus Prime]

By the same token some elementary school teachers tell their first graders that a boy with a penis can be a girl if he decides to be a girl.

I don't think this is happening in schools

That said, isn't this a very simplified explanation of what transgender is?

I know I'm going to regret asking this but how you do you think it should be explained to a child?

 

[Paul]

I don't think this is happening in schools

That said, isn't this a very simplified explanation of what transgender is?

I know I'm going to regret asking this but how you do you think it should be explained to a child?

Fist of all transgenderism has been around forever and I have zero issues with that. All of us remember having seen a woman that somehow looked like a man when we were kids. My parents simply told me what it was, and made no big deal about it. Therefore, I made no big deal about it. I never had a class in elementary school about that sort of thing.

As kids grow up they will note that some women look manly and that some men look like a female, they may ask someone about it. If no one makes a big deal about it most kids just move on and are accepting. Having said that, I do not like the idea of formally teaching these concepts to very young children that are not mature enough to understand. OTOH, I understand how they LGBTQIA+ people long for the idea to be seen as totally normal and why some want to be vocal about it. Honestly, IMO this is not an issue.

My son asked me once how come two guys were holding hands. I gave him an explanation and he was fine. As long as parents do not inculcate discrimination and hate in the explanations everything is fine. This is a non-issue.

This type of video is totally unnecessary and seems like propaganda. They seem to bemoan the fact that the doctors assigns the gender to the baby. In the video they say that the doctor is wrong by assuming the gender of the baby based on the appearance of the genitals.

 

[Paul]

Yet, you repeated it here. And no such thing has happened in any elementary school that I'm aware of.

 

[Paul]

Let me break apart this post. First, there is a large difference in a story problem in a book and math problem solving. A math story problem was nothing more than burying a higher level problem inside of essentially a bunch of vocabulary. In essence if a child hadn’t been taught to read and understand the language of math, no reasoning was ever going to take and solve that problem as the number sentence was the only thing they were looking at.
Mathematical reasoning on the other had is essentially given a problem, how do you find the solution using whatever ways you can. This can be through drawing, graphing, manipulatives, what have you without the need for operations. This i do every day in my class as it creates that ability to solve a problem or a task. For the operations, as long as there is good understanding (see math reasoning for concepts) the the computation will sort itself out. After all, who doesn’t have a calculator, spreadsheet or Matlab anymore at work. Nobody does this stuff by hand anymore, but you still have to have the reasoning to understand if the answer makes sense. That’s the shift form NCLB (focus on computation) to common core which is much more on the math reasoning. Now yes I know the internet is full of garbage common core worksheets, but that again is another topic.

I do not disagree at all. In fact I always saw math in a visual manner and wanted to reason everything I did rather than learning to do math by memorizing computation step. I have done word problems with my kids and that was fine. However, i had issues when the teacher assigned word problems when the kids did not grasp basic concepts.

Multiple guess tests are a joke. I passed numerous college classes because I know how to read questions and answers

Some people know how to guess, that is a talent. Others either know or do not know the answer. If you get the correct answer without knowing the subject you are likely very smart.

The problem is not that the United States is large. It’s not that we have a varied population. Getting sick of this excuse. It’s that professional growth isn’t prioritized in any meaningful way. Strong mentorship isn’t done, which leaves teachers isolated, alone, and drowning in the day to day issues without assistance.

I still think the problem is at home and not in the classroom.

 

[Farb]

I found this interesting. Seems home schooling is becoming a pretty big thing.

https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/american-homeschooling-goes-boom

https://www.nheri.org/research-facts-on-homeschooling/

 

[Paul]

I found this interesting. Seems home schooling is becoming a pretty big thing.

https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/american-homeschooling-goes-boom

https://www.nheri.org/research-facts-on-homeschooling/

My daughters did home schooling of my grandchildren last year. They are stay home moms so it was easy. They purchased the approved curriculum and the kids learned a ton.

 

[Farb]

My daughters did home schooling of my grandchildren last year. They are stay home moms so it was easy. They purchased the approved curriculum and the kids learned a ton.

I would absolutely agree that part of this rise is because so many were forced to teach their children at home because of the drastic fail of our education institutions. That being said, a lot these parents will see the benefits and this is, hopefully part of the 'new' normal that everyone is jazzed about.

Also found this and it lead to rabbit hole, some of you guys might enjoy it too

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/boys-men/201308/are-colleges-not-welcoming-young-men

 

[Saint by the Bay]

My youngest son is homeschooled and we associate with a ton of home-school parents. My other 3 all went to brick-and-mortar schools. This is all anecdotal based on my experience:

None of the homeschool kids I know, even my own son, are at the same level as comparably aged brick-and-mortar kids. In fact, my son's best friend tried to go back to brick-and-mortar this year. She made it one week because there was so much she just didn't know and she couldn't keep up. She decided to go back to homeschooling but really focus this year on catching up with the other 10th graders so she could go back next year.

I also don't know one person that genuinely pulled their kids from brick-and-mortar schools because they were so terrible. Oh, they say that, but as you get into deeper conversations it is generally because of what they call bullying or that the teachers wouldn't do things the way they wanted. In other words, it's a bunch of spoiled suburbanites that couldn't have it their way so they took their ball and went home.

I do find most kids I know in private or religious schools are genuinely more advanced than their public school counterparts. I find the exact opposite with homeschooled kids in general (there are always exceptions).

 

[DaveXA]

My youngest son is homeschooled and we associate with a ton of home-school parents. My other 3 all went to brick-and-mortar schools. This is all anecdotal based on my experience:

None of the homeschool kids I know, even my own son, are at the same level as comparably aged brick-and-mortar kids. In fact, my son's best friend tried to go back to brick-and-mortar this year. She made it one week because there was so much she just didn't know and she couldn't keep up. She decided to go back to homeschooling but really focus this year on catching up with the other 10th graders so she could go back next year.

I also don't know one person that genuinely pulled their kids from brick-and-mortar schools because they were so terrible. Oh, they say that, but as you get into deeper conversations it is generally because of what they call bullying or that the teachers wouldn't do things the way they wanted. In other words, it's a bunch of spoiled suburbanites that couldn't have it their way so they took their ball and went home.

I do find most kids I know in private or religious schools are genuinely more advanced than their public school counterparts. I find the exact opposite with homeschooled kids in general (there are always exceptions).

Yeah, as a former minister, being around families who homeschooled their kids, the results are decidedly mixed. It depends a lot on the reasons for doing so, the level of commitment the parents have in homeschooling, and the curriculum. The outcomes have varied pretty wildly. I would say that from a consistency standpoint, public education gets better outcomes on average, but committed parents who properly homeschool their kids have had children really excel in college.

Tbh, I don't really see a big difference between the quality of education between comparable public and private schools. But when you get to elite levels, the private schools really do have overall better outcomes from a purely academic perspective. That said, part of that is access to teachers, technology and the culture of the school.

I attended both private and public schools. I had no issues moving from one school to another. The learning really wasn't that much different between them.

That's my semi-anecdotal spiel. Heh.

 

[Paul]

Yeah, as a former minister, being around families who homeschooled their kids, the results are decidedly mixed. It depends a lot on the reasons for doing so, the level of commitment the parents have in homeschooling, and the curriculum. The outcomes have varied pretty wildly. I would say that from a consistency standpoint, public education gets better outcomes on average, but committed parents who properly homeschool their kids have had children really excel in college.

Tbh, I don't really see a big difference between the quality of education between comparable public and private schools. But when you get to elite levels, the private schools really do have overall better outcomes from a purely academic perspective. That said, part of that is access to teachers, technology and the culture of the school.

I attended both private and public schools. I had no issues moving from one school to another. The learning really wasn't that much different between them.

That's my semi-anecdotal spiel. Heh.

My daughters could not wait to send the kids back to regular school. They also had some concerns about the job they did. We will soon see how my grandchildren do. But, we are talking about grades from K to 2nd grade, so no big deal. They hired online teachers to support their lessons and my wife and I pitched in my providing a few powerpoint lessons. Preparing a lesson is a lot of work. I admire teachers.

 

[Paul]

I would absolutely agree that part of this rise is because so many were forced to teach their children at home because of the drastic fail of our education institutions. That being said, a lot these parents will see the benefits and this is, hopefully part of the 'new' normal that everyone is jazzed about.

Also found this and it lead to rabbit hole, some of you guys might enjoy it too

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/boys-men/201308/are-colleges-not-welcoming-young-men

The number of men in higher education has gone down drastically. They are a small minority compared to women. Meanwhile in the colleges there are a ton of groups to help women and none to help men. This is also the case in the UK. In high school boys are lagging behind girls too.

 

[Goatman saint]

The number of men in higher education has gone down drastically. They are a small minority compared to women. Meanwhile in the colleges there are a ton of groups to help women and none to help men. This is also the case in the UK. In high school boys are lagging behind girls too.

Now this I agree with. But way back in the late 80s early 90s I had a teacher or professor who predicted in 30 years men would be facing a lot of issues as what role/value were men in a new society. No longer the provider. No longer “the man”. No longer the quiet person who took the brunt and was the base of the family. What role does a young man have now? You still have the supposed to be a manly man, yet that doesn’t work in many situations. Naturally want to do physical things. That has gone away. So, what is the role of a man in 2021?

 

[Paul]

Now this I agree with. But way back in the late 80s early 90s I had a teacher or professor who predicted in 30 years men would be facing a lot of issues as what role/value were men in a new society. No longer the provider. No longer “the man”. No longer the quiet person who took the brunt and was the base of the family. What role does a young man have now? You still have the supposed to be a manly man, yet that doesn’t work in many situations. Naturally want to do physical things. That has gone away. So, what is the role of a man in 2021?

Humans have sexual dimorphism and hence the female and male are different. The dimorphism had to do with males battling each other for the privilege of mating with the awaiting female. The strongest, largest, and most most aggressive were naturally selected to pass their DNA. The weak small ones did not get to pass much DNA. That is why on the average men are larger, stronger, and more aggressive than women.

During our evolution women were saddled with multiple pregnancies from early adolescence until the menopause. Up until the discovery of the birth control pill and other forms of contraception in the late 1950s women were destined to be mothers and the men providers. That is the way it was for thousands of years. The feminists call this the patriarchy, but in reality is how we evolved.

Once contraception became widely available women became highly successful because they did not have to raise 6-8 kids at home. There women were childless or at most had 1-2 kids. For decades men have been told they are not really needed anymore. Strong men are scorned and may prefer that docile man that could have never gotten laid in antiquity.

 

[MT15]

Paul, you need to put a disclaimer on these posts: a suggestion:

These are my opinions. They are not based on any real scientific evidence and are largely derived from me just thinking these thoughts.

 

[Goatman saint]

Paul, what the heck dude?

 

[Paul]

Paul, you need to put a disclaimer on these posts: a suggestion:

These are my opinions. They are not based on any real scientific evidence and are largely derived from me just thinking these thoughts.

They are my opinions, but they are based on reality. Feel free to research every point I have made. If I am wrong I would love to know.

 

[Paul]

Paul, what the heck dude?

I just reaffirmed your post. Do you have a disagreement?