Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 30, 2008 - 09:25.
The way to find out what our values really are in the American education system is to ask ourselves two questions: Where do we spend our time? Where do we spend our money?
Time in our schools is currently spent teaching our children how to pass tests; and we spend our money on the tests themselves and on upper level administration salaries (whose school funding depends on how their schools score on tests).
If we want schools to have students with increased interest in science, technology, engineering, and math then we need to:
A) Have focused, career oriented, practical, interactive instruction from an early age. Children need to have guest speakers, interactive activities, and more field trips to see how this knowledge is applied.
B) Have significant scholarship and grant opportunities (for ALL ages and ALL income levels, regardless of race, sex or religion, provided the funds are used for American citizens).
These opportunities should not exist only for minorities, women, students under the age of 22, and people under a lower middle class income of about $20,000/year. (And before anyone gets mad, I am or have been all of the above). Yes, all citizens should be able to go to school up to the 2nd year of college free. (Even Brazil and Jordan do this much for their citizens).
We as a society need to stop sending all our money overseas and keep it at home for health care and education. (Look at Canada--they put their money where their mouths are, and they have the most highly educated society on the planet. And they don't have to bribe their allies either. And their currency is now more valuable than our own.)
Two-part answer
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 30, 2008 - 09:25.
The way to find out what our values really are in the American education system is to ask ourselves two questions: Where do we spend our time? Where do we spend our money?
Time in our schools is currently spent teaching our children how to pass tests; and we spend our money on the tests themselves and on upper level administration salaries (whose school funding depends on how their schools score on tests).
If we want schools to have students with increased interest in science, technology, engineering, and math then we need to:
A) Have focused, career oriented, practical, interactive instruction from an early age. Children need to have guest speakers, interactive activities, and more field trips to see how this knowledge is applied.
B) Have significant scholarship and grant opportunities (for ALL ages and ALL income levels, regardless of race, sex or religion, provided the funds are used for American citizens).
These opportunities should not exist only for minorities, women, students under the age of 22, and people under a lower middle class income of about $20,000/year. (And before anyone gets mad, I am or have been all of the above). Yes, all citizens should be able to go to school up to the 2nd year of college free. (Even Brazil and Jordan do this much for their citizens).
We as a society need to stop sending all our money overseas and keep it at home for health care and education. (Look at Canada--they put their money where their mouths are, and they have the most highly educated society on the planet. And they don't have to bribe their allies either. And their currency is now more valuable than our own.)