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A Nation at Risk a 25 year old study has not been ignored, but efforts to address its concerns have been far from effective. Education in the US continues to languish. A Nation Accountable provides a status update after 25 years. A Nation at Risk - 1983
Findings We conclude that declines in educational
performance are in large part the result of disturbing inadequacies in
the way the educational process itself is often conducted. The findings
that follow, culled from a much more extensive list, reflect four
important aspects of the educational process: content, expectations, time, and teaching.
By
content we mean the very "stuff" of education, the curriculum. Because
of our concern about the curriculum, the Commission examined patterns
of courses high school students took in 1964-69 compared with course
patterns in 1976-81. On the basis of these analyses we conclude:
- Secondary school curricula have been homogenized, diluted, and
diffused to the point that they no longer have a central purpose. In
effect, we have a cafeteria style curriculum in which the appetizers
and desserts can easily be mistaken for the main courses. Students have
migrated from vocational and college preparatory programs to "general
track" courses in large numbers. The proportion of students taking a
general program of study has increased from 12 percent in 1964 to 42
percent in 1979.
- This curricular smorgasbord, combined with extensive
student choice, explains a great deal about where we find ourselves
today. We offer intermediate algebra, but only 31 percent of our recent
high school graduates complete it; we offer French I, but only 13
percent complete it; and we offer geography, but only 16 percent
complete it. Calculus is available in schools enrolling about 60
percent of all students, but only 6 percent of all students complete
it.
- Twenty-five percent of the credits earned by general track
high school students are in physical and health education, work
experience outside the school, remedial English and mathematics, and
personal service and development courses, such as training for
adulthood and marriage.
We
define expectations in terms of the level of knowledge, abilities, and
skills school and college graduates should possess. They also refer to
the time, hard work, behavior, self-discipline, and motivation that are
essential for high student achievement. Such expectations are expressed
to students in several different ways:
The
amount of homework for high school seniors has decreased (two-thirds
report less than 1 hour a night) and grades have risen as average
student achievement has been declining.
- In many other industrialized nations, courses in
mathematics (other than arithmetic or general mathematics), biology,
chemistry, physics, and geography start in grade 6 and are required of all
students. The time spent on these subjects, based on class hours, is
about three times that spent by even the most science-oriented U.S.
students, i.e., those who select 4 years of science and mathematics in
secondary school.
- A 1980 State-by-State survey of high school diploma
requirements reveals that only eight States require high schools to
offer foreign language instruction, but none requires students to take
the courses. Thirty-five States require only 1 year of mathematics, and
36 require only 1 year of science for a diploma.
- In 13 States, 50 percent or more of the units required for
high school graduation may be electives chosen by the student. Given
this freedom to choose the substance of half or more of their
education, many students opt for less demanding personal service
courses, such as bachelor living.
- "Minimum competency" examinations (now required in 37
States) fall short of what is needed, as the "minimum" tends to become
the "maximum," thus lowering educational standards for all.
- One-fifth of all 4-year public colleges in the United
States must accept every high school graduate within the State
regardless of program followed or grades, thereby serving notice to
high school students that they can expect to attend college even if
they do not follow a demanding course of study in high school or
perform well.
- About 23 percent of our more selective colleges and
universities reported that their general level of selectivity declined
during the 1970s, and 29 percent reported reducing the number of
specific high school courses required for admission (usually by
dropping foreign language requirements, which are now specified as a
condition for admission by only one-fifth of our institutions of higher
education).
- Too few experienced teachers and scholars are involved in
writing textbooks. During the past decade or so a large number of texts
have been "written down" by their publishers to ever-lower reading
levels in response to perceived market demands.
- A recent study by Education Products Information Exchange
revealed that a majority of students were able to master 80 percent of
the material in some of their subject-matter texts before they had even
opened the books. Many books do not challenge the students to whom they
are assigned.
- Expenditures for textbooks and other instructional
materials have declined by 50 percent over the past 17 years. While
some recommend a level of spending on texts of between 5 and 10 percent
of the operating costs of schools, the budgets for basal texts and
related materials have been dropping during the past decade and a half
to only 0.7 percent today.
Evidence presented to the Commission demonstrates three disturbing
facts about the use that American schools and students make of time:
(1) compared to other nations, American students spend much less time
on school work; (2) time spent in the classroom and on homework is
often used ineffectively; and (3) schools are not doing enough to help
students develop either the study skills required to use time well or
the willingness to spend more time on school work.
- In England and other industrialized countries, it is not unusual
for academic high school students to spend 8 hours a day at school, 220
days per year. In the United States, by contrast, the typical school
day lasts 6 hours and the school year is 180 days.
- In many schools, the time spent learning how to cook and
drive counts as much toward a high school diploma as the time spent
studying mathematics, English, chemistry, U.S. history, or biology.
- A study of the school week in the United States found that
some schools provided students only 17 hours of academic instruction
during the week, and the average school provided about 22.
- A California study of individual classrooms found that
because of poor management of classroom time, some elementary students
received only one-fifth of the instruction others received in reading
comprehension.
- In most schools, the teaching of study skills is haphazard
and unplanned. Consequently, many students complete high school and
enter college without disciplined and systematic study habits.
The
Commission found that not enough of the academically able students are
being attracted to teaching; that teacher preparation programs need
substantial improvement; that the professional working life of teachers
is on the whole unacceptable; and that a serious shortage of teachers
exists in key fields.
- Too many teachers are being drawn from the bottom quarter of graduating high school and college students.
- The teacher preparation curriculum is weighted heavily
with courses in "educational methods" at the expense of courses in
subjects to be taught. A survey of 1,350 institutions training teachers
indicated that 41 percent of the time of elementary school teacher
candidates is spent in education courses, which reduces the amount of
time available for subject matter courses.
- The average salary after 12 years of teaching is only
$17,000 per year, and many teachers are required to supplement their
income with part-time and summer employment. In addition, individual
teachers have little influence in such critical professional decisions
as, for example, textbook selection.
- Despite widespread publicity about an overpopulation of
teachers, severe shortages of certain kinds of teachers exist: in the
fields of mathematics, science, and foreign languages; and among
specialists in education for gifted and talented, language minority,
and handicapped students.
- The shortage of teachers in mathematics and science is
particularly severe. A 1981 survey of 45 States revealed shortages of
mathematics teachers in 43 States, critical shortages of earth sciences
teachers in 33 States, and of physics teachers everywhere.
- Half of the newly employed mathematics, science, and
English teachers are not qualified to teach these subjects; fewer than
one-third of U. S. high schools offer physics taught by qualified
teachers.
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