STEM<>Political correctness

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I grew up in the greater New York Metropolitan area.   I strongly considered various high schools to continue my private school education.  I was lucky in that my “grade school” (K-9) offered instruction in many areas that left me ahead of my “normal’ grade- way ahead.  I considered going to another private religious high school and to the Bronx High School of Science, among many others.  I ended up not going to any of them- not because I didn’t want to, but because of the costs.

While the Bronx High School of Science is a public school, it’s only free for those who live in the City of New York and pass some pretty rigorous selection criteria.  It was one of the four “super” schools back then- Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Tech, and Music & Arts (“Fame” made this latter one very well known)- were the others.  And, that brings me to the topic of discussion today.

I live in Alexandria (Virginia), a small, very liberal city of about 150K in Northern Virginia (which is radically different from Southern Virginia).  A city that prides itself on its ability to be a melting pot for all people in the community- and, because of that, refuses to allow any citizens of Alexandria to attend the Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology  (TJ)- a school akin to Bronx Science.  I wanted my children to attend that fine school.  [An aside:  Postal city names in Virginia do not clearly denote to which county or town the place belongs- TJ is considered to be in Alexandria, Virginia; it is not- it is in Fairfax County, Virginia.)

TJ is an elite school (the US News and World Report ranks it as the #2 public high school in the US), where students – up until very recently- had to be critically screened for their ability to make it through the program.  The average SAT is above 2200 and graduates continue on to study at the best colleges in the nation.  If America had hopes to fix its standing in STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), TJ was in the vanguard.  It didn’t hurt that it was located in a region of the US that has among the highest concentration of PhD’s in the world.  (Israel is the country with highest census of PhD’s per capita in the world.)

Since its inception, TJ’s guiding principles were to accept students with interest AND aptitude in STEM, provide an independent curriculum to develop the skills of that community, and to employ teachers (many of whom have PhD’s) that were dedicated to provide that “little bit extra” to insure the success of the students.

No more.  As of this past school year, the scary thought is that 1/3 of the entering students require remedial assistance in math and science.  Instead of intense screening, a random selection from a pre-screened pool of applicants is seemingly effected.  The curriculum now must also conform to the strictures of the Fairfax County Public Schools.  As a result, instead of developing the best potential future scientist, engineer, or mathematician, students are chosen for their memory, language skills (a written essay is now among the entrance requirements), and motivation to do well on national tests (including the SAT).  Diversity (other than Asian minority students, and a selection of female students) are among the criteria.

Admittedly, part of the issue is that the middle schools from which TJ draws its students are not providing the quality mathematics instruction necessary for matriculation at TJ.  And, since the school takes from the best of the local schools- and instead of further screening (as stated above, the seemingly relies on random selection among those passing the initial cut), this current  situation obtains.  (The selections for the 2016 class can be found here.)

Now, don’t get me wrong.  All 480 freshmen passed the state mandated Algebra II test, with 90% achieving an advanced score.  But, two things must be considered.  1– if a student does not maintain a B average, s/he is normally released and is returned to the  local area schools.  15% of the freshman are within that census. But, another 15% are on the watch list. (If one does not exceed a B+ average, the minimum qualification for continued success at TJ, they are placed on the watch list.)  And, 2– state mandated exams are a joke.  I recall taking the New York State Regents exams- which were never considered adequate to affect our grades.  When I took the Biology Regents in the 9th grade, my score was 100%- and back then one was required to stay in the exam room for 2 hours and 20 minutes- regardless of when the test was completed (3 h maximum time); I am proud to say that I was among those instrumental in getting that requirement changed, since I was beside myself for 2 hours of that quarantine period. (I did NOT receive a 100 on my teacher’s final exam for the course, by the way.)

Our country needs qualified STEM students. (Stemming the STEM problem…) We need them to maintain our competitive edge (if we have not quite lost it yet).  We need them to develop the products, processes, and schema to progress into the end of the 21st century and beyond.  And, we need them to help become the leaders of our businesses and governments, so that the right (workable, logical) programs will be effected.Roy A. Ackerman, Ph.D., E.A.

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16 thoughts on “STEM<>Political correctness”

  1. I have a lot of thoughts on the American education system…like we need to be taught how to think rather than what to think…but that is neither here nor there. Great post and it’s sad that the high school has gotten soft, but it is the standard by which all schools seem to be going. In the immortal words of Mark Twain, “I never let my schooling interfere with my education.”
    Lisa Brandel recently posted..The Painted Lady by Lisa Brandel

    1. Unfortunately, I think my beloved Phils did that this year to accommodate its special team- the $ 131.5 million of payroll on the disabled list. (Compare that number to the payroll of most of the other teams in baseball, Tor!

    1. Shawn:
      I am not sure I understand what you mean by “testing”. If you mean a standardized test- then you are correct. Multiple guess involves a strategy, not knowledge. If you mean a thorough test of knowledge acquired and employed, that CAN result in the desired results.

      Roy

  2. There is something wrong with the education system, but I think your argument is too simplistic. There are people in school, even in special classes that excel in college. One of my children had a super test phobia, but was probably the brightest of my three. He tutored his peers in algebra and did poorly on tests.

    I don’t know how to sort out kids so that each can reach his or her greatest potential. I firmly believe in mastery rather than rushing everyone through a subject, but I don’t want the super kids held back.

    Still I have seen super kids, brilliant ones in special classes often because Texas doesn’t know how to teach reading. Plus we must take into consideration different learning styles.

    My dream world has all kids being tutored and the tutors can be shuffled around if one doesn’t click or if the kid isn’t getting the material. Also kids would be allowed to study what they were interested in. Some kids develop reading or math skills when they are a little older than average. (I was 42 when I finally understood math).

    It is too complicated to just yell about one school and a system that first messed up your kids chances to go there and now is lowering its standards.

    If I had it all to do over again, I would have homeschooled all my kids until they could get into college, but in the days I was raising the first brood, homeschooling was for religious fanatics.

    I think Mark Twain was right about the difference between schooling and education.

    Thanks for letting me vent, Roy.
    Ann Mullen recently posted..How Asbestos Exposure has Affected Senior Citizens

    1. Ann, I was in agreement with a lot of what you said, until you went to letting kids learn what they were interested.
      Our children MUST learn basic information- the history of our countries, the forms of government and what they can and cannot do, the times tables, algebra, map-reading, grammar, writing, among others. It helps not one hoot if someone develops the worlds best doo-dad and cannot communicate the process, product, and development. Our students- now citizens, have no clue what 1% of 14 trillion dollars is – so they fail to see that someone who is screaming that we are wasting $ 50 million on the arts (with which I don’t agree) and spending 1 hour of Congress’ time to do so (costing 10 times that amount of money) is only talking about 0.0002% of our annual spending to boot!

      Roy

  3. Oh this is just something that rubs me the wrong way and why we continue to let education take a back seat is so frustrating. I am so glad that you are sharing this information Roy as it needs to be spread around like wild fire.

    Education is the core of our success as a country, nation and people. Will it turn around?
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    1. Thanks for visiting and commenting, Lynn.
      We hear politicians lamenting that our education system fails, that we are (at best) 17th in student performance- but their approach is not to improve education, but to raise grades… Like that is the problem…

  4. Hi Roy,

    As an ex high school teacher, I also feel very strongly about this.

    Every year as teachers, we were forced to lower the standards. Today, in Australia, the curriculum is so watered down that it defies belief. I abandoned teaching nearly 20 years ago because of this. I was teaching Shakespeare to students who could not write a proper sentence.

    Two years ago, I questioned my own son who was sitting for his final year of high school history the next day as to why he was not studying for the exam.

    He promptly replied, ‘Studying for what?’

    I responded with, ‘You know, dates, facts, figures.’

    ‘Oh, we don’t have to know any of that. We are given passages and we have to comment. We don’t have to know anything.’

    Inn my last year of teaching Senior English I was reprimanded when the head of department caught me teaching the rules of grammar. To me, teaching English without learning the basics is like learning to drive without knowing the road rules.

    Education today is a joke. It is a form of babysitting. And you are right. All in the name of political correctness.
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    1. Yes, Madonna, our education system is scarily based upon learning no facts. Not the names of our government officials, not the dates for various salient events, not the times tables… so that the students can discern trends. (How? If they don’t understand what a trend is?)

      Thanks for adding to this discussion. We need to turn this around- fast!

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