EDUCATION GETS A ‘F’…
No one I know wants to go to a doctor who graduated last in
their classes at medical school. The same goes for a phlebotomist whose first
patient was you. If someone is taking my blood from my arm, I want the person
who can do it without me feeling anything. I hate the ones I’ve gotten who have
to dig around for the vein. Give me someone with experience.
Now, you and I have the option to pick our doctors and
lawyers based on their experience and reputation in our community. What we
don’t have is any choice in the experience and ability of a lot of things that
can potentially kill or injury us by someone with little or no experience or a
bad design.
Think about a bridge engineering company that wins a
contract by being the lowest bidder. Their employee base could make the
difference between you safely traveling from point A to point B or falling into
the river with your family.
So, the question of the week is simply this…should you be
graded on your merits and performance in schools or college or just advanced to
the next level because you attended?
The University of Michigan announced this week that incoming
freshmen will no longer receive grades for their efforts, only a ‘pass-or
no-pass’ rating. This is designed to decrease the level of ‘anxiety’ which
students may feel by having to actually put more effort into their studies.
In Oregon, the governor eliminated any grading for
proficiency in reading, writing or math. In other words, just pass them with a
diploma without checking to see if they are ready to face the real world.
The University of California at Berkeley has just issued a
report that students enrolled in college calculus classes cannot keep up with
the lessons and perform middle school algebra and fraction problems. The report
states these students are 5 to 8 years behind what is required.
In recent reports, the teachers in New York City were
reported as ‘98% effective’ while over 43% of their students were failing. How
can these numbers make any sense? New Yok City spends more per student annually
than any other school system in the country and still has almost half of their
students failing. Whose fault is this? Who will actually hire a student who
cannot read or write?
When I went to school (back in the Dark Ages) my teachers
wielded a mighty red pen. Some of my papers actually looked as if they might
bleed to death. I flunked Geometry II my senior year and had to go to summer
school in order to graduate. My teachers were not very sympathetic to my pleas
about my shame and that I had already sent out graduation invitations. They
were totally immune to my description of the loss of my deposit for my cap and
gown. I was probably traumatized for life but I was unaware that a high school
student could actually be traumatized.
Nope, I had failed the class, pure and simple. No
consideration, go directly to summer school, don’t pass Go. It’s on you and you
didn’t study hard enough. Learn from this event.
Today, it seems as if a kid wants to believe that 2+2=5,
then bully for them and how brave they are to ‘express’ themselves. Never mind
that in the real world, the answer is 4, not whatever you want it to be. Trust
me the kids in China know the answer and it is not 5.
Elementary, high schools, colleges and universities are
supposed to be facilities to teach us the basic fundamentals for us to survive
once we enter the ‘real’ world. If you
are allowed to graduate without learning to read or write, what are your
chances of success once you seek employment? No real company with
responsibilities to their clients and customers can afford to hire you for a
job if your production could ultimately affect someone’s life. Remember the
bridge example.
Now, you may obtain a job in which your career effort is
nebulous with a lot of latitude for interpretation such as teaching psychology,
but how important is math if you are designing that bridge or English if you
are writing a book? you can’t just throw numbers or words around without any
form or effort and have it be taken seriously.
And to develop that form and effort, you need what?
Practice.
And how do you judge your level of achievement in practice?
By grading your effort.
You want to be a major league baseball player? You had to
start playing and practicing almost from the time you could walk. Those hours
of practice might lead you to a scholarship and a minor league farm team and if
you are good enough, then possibly onto the majors.
I’m sure there are some natural piano payers, but most of
the ones I’ve known spent hours practicing. Actually, hours and years.
So, the question is are you helping or hurting kids by
telling them the truth about their efforts by grading them and requiring some
level of proficiency? Or do you harm them by ignoring their lack of knowledge
at a level consistent with their age?
In high school, I knew I had not prepared and studied my
geometry lessons, I deserved to fail.
If we shield our children from the valleys of failure, how
can they ever learn to appreciate the efforts needed for the mountains of
success?
See you next week…Peary Perry
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