Education is Falling Apart

We’re Getting Worse?

What is the point of education these days? Why “they” say that is to improve our knowledge, make us smarter, and prepare the next generation, is completely lost to me. While in theory the education system is suppose to increase the intelligence of today’s youth it really isn’t working all that well. Oh sure, maybe education regulator’s are seeing some percentage improvement on these standardized tests which the country is run amuck with, but let’s get real, that doesn’t mean anything.

Testing Our Smarts

Ask a group of teachers what they think about standardized test and I’ll bet you any money they dislike them. With so much pressure put on the curricular system to do well on these tests, to much time is being focused on knowing only the knowledge needed to pass these tests. A common teacher reply is “I feel like I am teaching a test, not a subject.” This, in part, is the truth. While once upon a time teachers were actually able to focus on the points of interest of their pupils and of themselves, they must now concentrate almost all of their efforts into making sure students know specific information for these tests. Not only does this make for a narrow minded view of things, but an extremely boring situation for kids to learn in.

Look at the Bigger Picture

Let’s break it down from the top. The Bush administration was all guns-ho about this No Child Left Behind Act. They were so determined that all students do well on a certain level, that they didn’t take the time to “standardize” these tests well enough. Next, on the state level, state education boards were pressured to come up with tests to assay the level at which the schools in their states were achieving academic proficiency. This is a problem seeing as no two states’ tests were quite at the same level of difficulty. Then in the public school level, schools were under the heat to do well on these tests to gain state grants. Next, teachers are forced to reorganize their way of teaching so that they can drive whatever it is they need to into the skulls of every pupil that comes through their classroom. What it comes down to is that the country is a mess with so many different standards that it makes for a mess of stupid little clones running around bumping into each other.