Over the years it has become clear that kids entering college are far less prepared to tackle rigorous academic work than they were even 10 years ago. Across the country governments at all levels have poked, prodded, and in all manners studied our system of education in hopes of figuring out what is wrong. In the end the "fixes" put in place by random legislation end up doing more harm than good in that they inevitably stifle the creativity of good teachers for the sake of a "plan." In this era of economic downfall when school budgets are getting cut left and right, it is easy blame staffing cutbacks and increased class size for further amplifying the academic decline of our kids.
We as a country have failed to make education a priority. Regardless of what level of education you consider the lack of adequate financial backing is a common theme. In yesterday's Oregonian there was an article describing how competitive athletics in our high schools might be headed on the road to being relegated to club activities where they are totally supported by the participants. Even now the pay-to-play fees being charged many kids likely prevents some from participating. What a shame. Lack of support can also be seen the sizable debt that many or our kids incur when they go to college. We ask them (or their parents) to take on massive loans to pay their freight and expect them to begin painful payments in a time when gaining employment is not a given.
All of what I've said above is true. However, none of what I've said above has anything to do with the real problem with education in this country. I find it interesting that when class sizes are above 30 (particularly in elementary school) some sort of alarm seems to go off. Yet when I look back at my elementary school class photos from the 1960's my class sizes were routinely 33-35 governed by a single teacher. My elementary education was just fine. So, what is the difference. The real problem with education has nothing to do with what or how subjects get taught. Rather it has everything to do with what is happening at home. Over the past few decades we have seen the family structure change in profound ways. First, economics have required that both parents work where when I was in school is was common for kids to have a stay-at-home mom who could not only see that their kids attend to their school assigned tasks but also volunteer time in their kids classrooms on a regular basis. This, in my opinion, is why larger classrooms worked in my day. Today there are far fewer parents that have either the time or inclination to volunteer time in the schools. The second, and perhaps more important change that has occurred is the rapid disintegration of the family unit. The number of kids that live in single-parent homes is historically high. As many as 1 out of every 2 children under the age of 18 will live at some point in a single-family home. Assuming that the attending parent is earning a living at a job then these children are often left to fend for themselves. Further, as much as a single parent would want to help you all know how it feels to come home from work and.......well....work. It usually doesn't work. To make matters worse this problem creates a domino effect that will cause learning to continue to decline for the foreseeable future as were are getting to the point where the current teachers we are producing are less skilled at the basics (reading, writing, and arithmetic) than their predecessors.
Can we fix this problem? We have to otherwise this nation will literally get dumb (some would argue we are there already but I like to see an end to the tunnel where there is light). In my view the key is for the government to stop investing resources into controlling how teachers teach and instead invest resources into supports for the kids themselves. Single-parent homes where kids typically get minimal support are not going away so we must adjust. It is impossible to totally replace a parent (I grew up without a dad and can tell you it was my loss) but I do believe we can construct creative programs that encourage kids to study and prepare for success in higher education. This is really a must because pretty much all kids are being pushed into college whether or not they truly belong there. If the focus of resources is shifted from building teaching plans to providing academic support for the kids then the kids get help and the teachers are loosed to do what they do best emphasizing their creativity and strengths. It is that simple.
Cheers
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