No Child Left Behind Translates Into a Nation Left Behind

In a nation that spends hundreds of billions of dollars on education, very little education actually seems to be given. The US spends more money per capita on education than any other nation while ranking 10th globally in per capita rating. Despite spending an average of $2,4 31 per child on education(Public Policy Institute), the US seems to be loosing ground in Math, Science, and reading. Peg Tyre reports “There’s been a lot of hand wringing about how the United States is falling behind in science education. Now, it looks as though America may be losing its edge in reading and literacy, too. Six years after No Child Left Behind was signed into law-and U.S. schools began throwing resources into teaching all kinds of kids to read and read well-fourth-graders in the United States are doing no better in reading than they were in 2001, according to the results of an international reading test released this week.”(News Week web exclusive, Nov. 30, 2007).

The US school system is in shambles. A High School diploma is now worth less than the paper it is written on to many US employers, because the diploma does not guarantee basic communications or math skills. Thus while more and more technology classes are offered in our schools, we fail to teach the basics. I am a big proponent of technology and its use in education, but I strongly believe in the absolute value of reading, writing, and arithmetic. The hickory stick may have been removed from the classroom, but these subjects should remain at the core of our education system.

With lagging international benchmarking scores and lagging respect for the educational institutions within the United States, it is essential that we totally revamp our school systems. Many educational beliefs that we hold in the United States are easily disproved in other countries. A couple of these beliefs include; smaller classes make for better education and classrooms must remain silent.

Taiwan was an average class size of 44 students per teacher but ranks among the top five nations in international benchmarking tests. Where 6% of US students reach the Highest marks in science, math, and literature in international testing, 45% percent of Taiwanese students receive the highest marks.

Thus a small class size does not translate into a better education. I do not deny the value of small classrooms in regard to teacher face time, but this advantage alone does little to improve our scores. The overall solution to our educational problems is to redesign our curriculum from the K-12 incorporating reading, writing and grammar into every subject and mathematics into every viable subject. The easiest way to teach is to approach each subject from a historical standpoint and teach concepts in the order and context in which they were learned.

Benjamin Franklin once said “Tell me and I will forget, Teach me and I may remember, involve me and I will learn.” This is the key to a successful education system. A few years back I took a few classes in ESL teaching. In ESL they teach you to spend less time speaking and more time listening to your class speak. A person learns from experience, thus by speaking with peers on a subject they gain

knowledge and understanding of the subject. A large class divided into groups of 5-8 students would receive as much time from the teacher as a class of 23 individuals. The only aspect of education a student should have to complete alone in tests and personal academic papers. I believe that peer based study with teacher oversight is a more efficient system, if organized in the correct manner; this should be the focal point of all reforms.