Danoz
01-26-2006, 03:50 PM
Sorry, Taft... this isn't education reform. I picked up a Akron Beakon Journal this morning, to see that Gov. Taft is proposing a new system in the High Schools that would force all prospective college students to complete four years of math up to Alegbra II, biology, chemistry, physics and two years of a foreign language. Before I rant, about 75% of all college students currently enrolled have completed this requirements. This is an attempt by the Ohio government to lower the dropout rate in colleges, but I have seen no evidence whatsoever that it is these 25% who contributed most strongly to these dropouts. People are often disgusted when we compare our collegiate system (namely for undergraduates) to other colleges around the world with dropout rates. However, there is a logical reason why American colleges have this rate. In Europe, high schools are far more selectively difficult. Students are hardly "handed" a degree. Early in the education process children either continue education or start apprenticeships. In America, high school completion is generally a given, and failing students are given passing grades and diplomas simply to get them out of the system. As a result, kids often find out whether they are build for higher education after they start their higher education. The difference is in our high school system, and it isn't necessarily synonymous with the math and sciences. This isn't the solution to all of our problems, Taft.
I never took Algebra II, Chemistry or Physics in high school. I never completed 2 full years of a language, I completed one year of elementary Japanese. The reason I never took these math and science classes, is because I entered the Ohio education system unprepared in 8th grade from years in a failing Arizona school system. My aptitude in History and English came naturally with the support and influence of my mother, who helped me craft these skills as I wrote stories and papers and learned about the world and it's history from her. I instantly tested into lower math levels, and every year, I moved parallel to my classmates approximately two years behind, there was zero chance of me taking an Algebra II, even with summer school and individual tutoring. This would have forced me into a community college for an additional two years before I could begin my 4 year degree in International Relations at Kent State University. Does it make any sense? I've taken college level sciences in Ecology, Evolution, Introductory Physics and Geology, and I've done very well with the help of my professors. Geology I've actually taken by choice, as an elective.
In Education, forcing requirements is not the answer, and it never has been. We have to motivate kids into math and science and offer individual tutoring for students who fall behind.
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I never took Algebra II, Chemistry or Physics in high school. I never completed 2 full years of a language, I completed one year of elementary Japanese. The reason I never took these math and science classes, is because I entered the Ohio education system unprepared in 8th grade from years in a failing Arizona school system. My aptitude in History and English came naturally with the support and influence of my mother, who helped me craft these skills as I wrote stories and papers and learned about the world and it's history from her. I instantly tested into lower math levels, and every year, I moved parallel to my classmates approximately two years behind, there was zero chance of me taking an Algebra II, even with summer school and individual tutoring. This would have forced me into a community college for an additional two years before I could begin my 4 year degree in International Relations at Kent State University. Does it make any sense? I've taken college level sciences in Ecology, Evolution, Introductory Physics and Geology, and I've done very well with the help of my professors. Geology I've actually taken by choice, as an elective.
In Education, forcing requirements is not the answer, and it never has been. We have to motivate kids into math and science and offer individual tutoring for students who fall behind.
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