Today's high school seniors.....ouch.

[paulharvey]

Seems there is some fellow from way back in history that said the same thing!

There are times I feel that the Education System should split between University Prepared to Technical Prepared at an earlier stage??

I think the college track need to learn at least some useful skills as well.

Edit: what's the number, 55% or something, of people who start college get a degree. The rest just get the debt

 

[Oaktree]

I am in education, and I agree with much of what has posted. Our kids (at least the best and brightest) can do calculus and advanced geometry at the highest level. None of the have developed the facility to do the simple Math that we all have to do on a daily basis. Much of the has to do with Common Core standards, that place emphasis on methodology above results.
The best and most valuable Math classes I ever took were 8th grade Math and a high school Business Math class. I can't use a graphing calculator, but I am very adept at financial calculations and can square up a building. I have never felt at a lost mathematically in my life.

Let's not forget that the common core standards were put in place because our schools were deemed to be failing. 40 years ago we were hearing bleatings about how kids in Japan/Finland/India/Peru/wherever were so much more proficient in math & science than American kids.

I don't know how much of it is the schools themselves (teachers unions are & general school bureaucracy certainly a major impediment towards improving education) and how much of it is a culture that does or doesn't value learning. I'd guess about 50/50.

 

[paulharvey]

Let's not forget that the common core standards were put in place because our schools were deemed to be failing. 40 years ago we were hearing bleatings about how kids in Japan/Finland/India/Peru/wherever were so much more proficient in math & science than American kids.

I don't know how much of it is the schools themselves (teachers unions are & general school bureaucracy certainly a major impediment towards improving education) and how much of it is a culture that does or doesn't value learning. I'd guess about 50/50.

I think it's a culture that values school above all else, not learning. Without linking what they are being taught to something they care about, kids won't "learn" it. They might be able to spit out the answers to the tests, but to actually use it, they have to want too

 

[check]

Go and have a look at a Grade 12 Chemistry text, and try reading the last chapter.

 

[check]

I would not deny that the US had a terrible problem in math and several other subjects compared to other countries in the world.

However, that is not the point. Even here in Ontario, Canada where the kids scored quite well in international comparisons, what the government did many years ago was to simply increase the standards rather than increasing the quality of education by properly supporting our school system. Teacher burnout is rampant, and teachers get very poor support from the provincial education system. And the US is facing the same problem. If you want to compete with the heavies, such as China and India, he don't do it by just demanding more and more and more and more from the students. You increase the quality of the education system, by providing the necessary support for the teachers themselves. For example, you provide math teachers with the proper mathematics training, not just in the substance of the topic, but also in modern techniques for teaching math and making math fun.

Instead, here in the Toronto education system, they invent new terms such as "student directed learning", and "exploratory learning", which basically means "do it yourself, kid."

 

[CobyRupert]

Well, those students proved what I've always thought about people learning math now days: 1/2 of them don't show up, 1/2 of them won't do the homework, and the other half doesn't even care!. I'd bet that 3/2 of them don't even understand fractions!!

 

[kcflhrc]

I remember my senior year. I had 2 things on my mind, alcohol and women. That's pretty much it. 36 years later I still think about the same 2 things quite often. But I can do without the alcohol now.

 

[turnkey4099]

Wow! I've never heard this. I understand that most people have forgotten much of what they were taught in HS subjects that they don't use regularly, but I believe that I could easily get up to speed on any HS class in a matter of a few days if needed. College courses might take a little more refresh. I can't think of anything I learned in HS biology, chemistry, or physics that the principles taught are not good useful knowledge to have. I say this especially for physics.

A few days? Well,...maybe. The only courses I was interested in in HS was math and the sciences. Straith A's in all subjects. Finished HS with introduction to solid geometry. About 4 years into my AF career I decided to take correspondence courses to build some college credits. One was solid geometry. Alas. I would have had to repeat plane geometry to get up to snuff to even begin that course. I had forgotten too much.

Harry K

 

[Looking4new]

A few days? Well,...maybe. The only courses I was interested in in HS was math and the sciences. Straith A's in all subjects. Finished HS with introduction to solid geometry. About 4 years into my AF career I decided to take correspondence courses to build some college credits. One was solid geometry. Alas. I would have had to repeat plane geometry to get up to snuff to even begin that course. I had forgotten too much.

Harry K

My favourite period in HS was lunch.

 

[Duwop]

I would like to point out that school or traditional education is not for everyone. At 14 I couldn't wait to turn 16 so I could drop school. I did drop and I'm retired at 52 it was a lot of hard debilitating work and I don't think I would do it different today. For thirty years we have been stressing the importance of higher education. I'm not against the idea for some but we now 50% of college grads unemployed or underemployed carrying debt until retirement who probably should not have even been allowed to get into college. Are they better off with that piece of paper with no sense or cents?