Our daughter started first grade last fall. She is enrolled in one of the best public school districts in the Twin Cities area. My husband and I grew up in India and came to the US to attend graduate school in our respective disciplines. While we have considerable knowledge of how higher education systems work in this country, we are relatively unfamiliar with the K-12 system. Growing up in India meant that throughout our school life, academics received top priority and we were encouraged to excel in all subject areas. Sports and other activities were supported on the condition that our school work was not compromised in any manner. In retrospect, the Indian educational system with its emphasis on basic skills and in-depth knowledge acquisition worked for us and countless other children, even though the system had its share of problems.
In the past year or so, we have been discovering K-12 education in America. Needless to say, both my husband and I have been taken aback by what we have gathered so far. Consider the following statements:
- “Correct spelling is not important anymore.”
- “Carryover addition is an old fashioned math technique that we don’t teach at school.”
- Children learn 7 or 8 different strands in math in a simultaneous or parallel fashion rather than in a sequential manner wherein they would master one topic before going on to the next.
- First grade students can use calculators to add and subtract ‘messy numbers’!
- Special enrichment classes are available for the top 1% and the bottom 10% of the student body but the students who fall in-between (practically 90% of the class) are expected to make do with whatever the teacher is able to come up with after attending to the other 10 or 11 % who need help (some of this is a direct fallout of the No Child Left Behind directives).
Do any of these statements seem familiar? Do any of them make sense? Why would anyone teach in this manner? Is my daughter learning anything in school? Is she going to grow up without the requisite skills to compete in a global economy? The questions spiral out of control.
As I started digging into this, I came across a recent article in the New York Times on math education by Tamar Lewin, who stated, “American students’ math achievement is “at a mediocre level” compared with that of their peers worldwide…” The article goes on to discuss how research on the impact of changes in math teaching methods in the past couple of decades has not favored either ‘teacher-based or student-centered instruction.’(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/14/education/14math.html).
And another article in our local newspaper, “State not teaching what it practices in technology, math” provided mixed reactions on what exactly is needed to make US students more competitive in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) disciplines. http://www.startribune.com/local/north/17003576.html
Does all this mean that the US K-12 system is failing our children? Every system has its issues but if the system as a whole does not deliver results what are the options? How can we, as parents, ensure that our children develop the skills needed to stay competitive in a global economy? Suddenly K-12 education has become an obsession for me and I find myself scrambling to find answers.
In my next post I will continue our voyage of discovery. I would love to hear your comments and experiences with K-12 educational systems in the US or elsewhere.
Enakshi Choudhuri
This comment was sent to me by a parent whose child is in my daughter’s class. She has granted me permission to post it on this blog.
Hi Enakshi,
I read your blog and I share your concerns, but with less concern perhaps. I don’t know where you heard that spelling isn’t important. I believe that in early elementary, children are encouraged to write, but since their spelling – and often their vocabulary as well – are limited, they’re encouraged to write the sounds they hear. As you can see from the bumblebee unit, they’re gradually learning to focus on the sounds they hear at the beginning, end and then vowel sounds. The focus will quickly change to spelling correctly as they are ale to distinguish the sounds they hear in words. It may seem strange if you aren’t familiar with the theory, but it has been proven to work. Of course, not all students learn at the same rate, and the goal is to leave no child behind. It’s a lofty goal, and not always attainable. Meanwhile, those who are ready to move on can be somewhat neglected. We’re lucky we have Mrs. X (name withheld for privacy) for a teacher. She really works hard to try to challenge at all levels. Most teachers just get defensive when you have concerns. They are all limited by the administration and the district.
As for math, I’ve never understood why schools keep changing the way math is accomplished. I can remember doing “new math” in fifth grade in Minnetonka school district. “New math” happens about every ten years. It’s always harder than the old carry over system and about all it accomplishes is that parents can’t help their children because they don’t understand it!! The children who have excelled at the grade level math and extra credit math are allowed to use calculators, but it’s more a reward for good work and an introduction to calculators than a tool that will be used on a regular basis.
Science is a tough one. I believe they should have a specialist for science in the same way they do for art and music. It’s really difficult for individual teachers to teach all the subjects and still be effective. A science teacher could go into more depth if that’s all he or she teaches.
It’s not a perfect system, but it is fluid. There are many ways to effect change, and that’s the best thing about the system. We are allowed to have a say in what happens in our schools. However, unless a majority want change, it may be difficult to institute change. In the end, whether you grow up in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, South America or anywhere else, great minds will find a way to be educated and hopefully add to the rejuvenation of all schools. We should all work toward that goal!
My biggest concern is that the top 1% and bottom 10% receive all the extra funding, and I don’t believe it’s very effective at either end. The children who excel but don’t test into the top 1% basically have to fend for themselves. Unfortunately, many if not most parents find schools to be good babysitters and don’t care or get involved as long as they don’t get a lot of complaints from the teachers or their children. The parents who seem concerned are also the parents who work hard supporting their children’s education by helping them learn at home and making up for weaknesses in the school curriculum. It has worked this way all along. That’s why so many children are left behind. Without hands on support from parents, there are a lot of children left behind. Probably the hardest thing teachers have to deal with (which includes all nationalities) is a parentally supported lack of discipline of the children. Teachers spend way too much time trying to control unmanageable children and parents are either unresponsive or offended and disbelieving of the situation.
Carol
Having taught for 30 years in Canada, I have seen many of the same issues arise here. It seems that the “average” group of children loses out constantly in funding and attention. Without a concerted effort by individual teachers to try and equalize the situation, this group can be left to fend for themselves. The system demands so much individualized programming for the bottom 10%, that this can consume huge amounts of the teacher’s time and creative effort.
I have subscribed to the theory that in a mixed group, the children help to teach each other and therefore the weaker students will be aided by the stronger students who solidify their understanding through teaching. I have seen this work when the size of the classroom group is very small and the teacher has time to work extensively with all of the children. But class sizes are rarely small enough for this to work well and the middle range inevitably falls through the cracks!
Streaming seems to be a no-no, but would it not be more efficient and less frustrating for the teachers and the students?
At least MN mandates gifted education and has funds available for that top 1%! NY only requires that gifted children are identified, but schools are not required to provide them with an appropriate education. (where’s the sense in that?)
The highly gifted are at one end of the special education spectrum and absolutely need differentiated instruction. Gifted kids don’t want to spend their time teaching slower kids to solidify their understanding. Their understanding was solidified as soon as the teacher finished her sentence. Gifted kids want to be challenged with both the content and the pace of instruction.
A good teacher should be able to differentiate to some extent for individual pupils. However students at both extremes of the special ed spectrum do require unique programs.