Comments on: Don’t Confuse Lack of Consensus with Failure in Education

By: ms_teacher

ms_teacher — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:16:40 +0000

Your post reminds me of my 16 year old, who is failing high school miserably. The reason? They offer nothing for a kid whose passion is music and philosophy. Instead they want all the students to be prepared for college, whether they like it or not.

I have a smart kid who hates school. Under our currrent system, I really can’t say that I blame him.

By: MTheads

MTheads — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:56:13 +0000

There’s a subset of parents out there who want nothing less than college prep for their children. And if their children are getting the benefits of an education geared towards college and filling up college seats, how many other people, not just other parents, will fore go demanding the same for all children? Even if most children would benefit more by attending schools based on your objectives, I doubt our society would agree to educate “most” children for the job market while a few are sent on to college.

I agree with you. It’d be great to have schools set up to get most students up to your idea of the minimum education required to enjoy a good life.

By: Max

Max — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 18:09:58 +0000

Hi - just wanted to say good design and blog -

By: Daniel Craig

Daniel Craig — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:09:30 +0000

Hey, Cool post on Education Issues | Current Education Issues, I’m looking forward to reading more of your site.

By: Kevin Carpenter

Kevin Carpenter — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:12:00 +0000

What an outstanding post! You could not have said it any better. Instead of preparing our children for a life in the real world, we spend 12 years telling most of them they are not quite good enough. Not good enough in the classroom, not good enough on standardized tests and not good enough to get the job they had hoped for. I went to high school and took all the courses required of me. I graduated from a four-year college with a degree in Education and have used that degree for the last 8 years. While all that education is serving me well, I could have used some simple household budgeting lessons and some credit advice. I was sucked in like every other college freshman and I am still paying the price for my mistakes. Furthermore, how about simple trade skills for all students? I believe every person should know how to complete simple automotive repairs. Instead, we pay someone $300 for a half hours worth of work. Health information, general life skills, science, and the arts seem like much better options than study hall. It is time that we wake up to these realities and start making changes that will truly help all children succeed.

By: dcowart

dcowart — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 02:32:48 +0000

I agree, I do not think education as a whole is failing. I think there are number of subsets that could do better. Accountability and standards are making us really analyze what we do and I think that is a good thing. I think that the illusion of failure is a result of the politics of education changing well before any of the education reforms have time to have an impact on children. If the criteria and expectations keep changing, schools will have difficulty planning and preparing students for life. I like your list. It looks pretty thorough to me. Too bad it is not feasible to make the changes you write about without complete educational overhaul.