Richard Riley Before It's Too Late

They were interviewed at the beginning and end of the school year. The interviews were coded for quanitative analysis. The participants were practicing science teachers from a large urban school district in the western United States. The district’s student population was ethnically diverse Participants were recruited by an email to all high school Earth science teachers. Benchmark exams that measure student progress on important Earth science concepts at the beginning and end of each school year to provide a standard of focus.

Algebra is not an easy subject for many people. It is full of letters, numbers, and rules mixed together to represent real life problems that are hard to swallow for anyone who doesn’t look at the world from the perspective of a mathematician. In his essay, “Wrong Answer: A Case Against Algebra II”, Nicholson Baker addresses this problem and explains why he thinks Algebra II should not be seen as a staple in the education of High school students.

Disturbingly, “nearly one-fifth of high school students and over 50 percent of middle school students are enrolled in math classes whose teachers neither majored or minored in math” (Drew, 2011, p.9). In 2000, 31 percent of high

The author's main point in this article was focusing on the problems of standardized testing in the school system. Ronald Roach states how in the past decade since the no child left behind program was established that there was no sufficient gains in the overall student math and reading scores. The author then goes on to explain how the Obama administration has been criticized over the issues of no child left behind program and how they are not effectively improving the program.

The bigger problem is the role the Common Core State Standard are playing in the larger dynamics of school education. The primary reason for adopting Common Core is that it will supposedly prepare American high school students for careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Ironically, Common Core does exactly the opposite. It forces states to adopt a Math curriculum that is simply inadequate to prepares students for these demanding fields. Prof. James Milgram of Stanford University was the only Mathematics expert involved in developing Common Core. He refused to sign off on the Common Core Math standards when he saw how inferior they were to existing Math standards. He pointed out that Common Core Math will delays Algebra I until 9th grade and does not include Calculus in high school at all, which are necessary for students to be prepared for STEM courses in college. Prof. Milgram concluded that Common Core will put American students at least two years behind the high-achieving countries of Europe and Asia. Jason Zimba, the main architect of Common Core Math, admitted that it will only prepare students for Math courses at a non-selective Community College, not a four-year

Science has accomplished many great things. It’s explained melting ice caps, it’s saved lives, and it’s even literally been able to create black holes in a lab, but it nevertheless has failed the “modern” education system on a spectacular level time and time again. One of the biggest surprises in why this system is so “modern” is because its designer, Horace Mann, developed it in 1873 based similarly to factories built during the Industrial Revolution (Einsemann 259). While Mann was designing this system, he founded and edited The Common School Journal. Targeting the public schools and their issues, he made six main principles. These principles were;

Education is an important political topic on the national scene, and statements made at national education forums are taken seriously. Therefore, when a speaker at the US News STEM Solutions Conference in San Diego says that "Ninety-nine percent of school kids are failed by the K-12 system," experts on both sides of the aisle take notes. Certainly, most teachers and those in the education industry are going to object to those numbers, and others will seek to define what "failed" means.

The report portrayed a negative picture of american education. In the report, schools in america had failing test scores, illiterate americans, and underpaid, uneducated teachers. Our nation was at risk of falling behind in the race of science,

At New Bern High School, Charlie Bernthal, a freshman, sits in a class room instructed by Common Core standards. It will take one of Charlie’s teachers six minutes to demonstrate the various methods to complete a simple multiplication problem, such as 63 x 24. Students are taught to use arrays, lattice, partial product methods, and eventually the traditional U.S. customary method. The Common Core standards happen to be a big discussion point during this year’s election. People have many strong opinions when it comes to the Common Core State Standards, but researchers and institutions express reasons why teachers and schools should not use Common Core to instruct America’s youth. Schools and teachers should not teach by Common Core standards because these standards are detrimental to our children.

This chapter explores the underperforming United States education system that does not prepare students to be creative, think critically, work collaboratively, or communicate effectively to be ready to participate in society (Ferguson, 2011, p. 7). In addition to overall underwhelming performance in academics, the failure to incorporate real world everyday experiences in mathematics prevents students from developing critical thinking and logic skills so that they will be responsible and active citizens of society and have access to jobs in the fields science, technology, mathematics, and engineering (STEM).

Science has accomplished many great things. It’s explained melting ice caps, it’s saved lives, and it’s even literally been able to create black holes in a lab, but it never the less has failed the “modern” education system on a spectacular level time and time again. One of the biggest surprises in why this system is so “modern” is because its designer, Horace Mann, developed it in 1873 based similarly to factories built during the Industrial Revolution (Einsemann 259). While Mann was designing this system, he founded and edited The Common School Journal. Targeting the public schools and their issues, he made six main principles. These principles were;

The United States Department of Education is committed to ensuring that all students have access to a quality Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education (“Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math”, n.d.). Despite this commitment, reports indicate a decline in STEM proficiency as well as a lack of qualified teachers to respond to the deficiency (Holdren, Lander, & Varmus, 2009). The lack of qualified STEM teachers has resulted in critical shortage areas in many districts across the United States, prompting policy reform allowing alternative certification pathways to alleviate shortages (“Alternative Routes”, n.d.). Even with a reduction in critical shortage areas, preliminary reports continue to show little or no

Interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is thinning for women as they progress into higher levels. Women in grades 7-12 were surveyed to see if their interest in STEM fields were diminishing. According to Van Leuvan, this survey showed that there was a decline in interest as these girls progress through high school. Throughout middle school and junior high a love for mathematics can be developed. However, a loss of interest is present as soon as girls hit more demanding classes like calculus. Grades will highly diminished and a fear for comprehension of mathematics in the future will develope. According to the article “Women and Minorities in Engineering” a major outlook on success from students is their ability to understand calculus.

A Year in the Life of an Elementary School: One School's Experiences in Meeting New Mathematics Standards

A STEM education is a necessity in the United States because the country is lacking knowledgeable people in such fields. However, one is better equipped for multiple job and career positions with the addition of a liberal arts education. It is nearly impossible to transition to different careers with only vocational training. In 2003, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development studied math and science literacy among fifteen year olds. The United States was ranked number twenty-four in math literacy (Drew 27). They are behind countries such as Finland, Slovak Republic, and Hungary. Likewise, the United States was ranked number nineteen in science literacy (Drew 27). It is obvious that the country is behind. STEM education needs to be reformed at the secondary and post-secondary levels of schooling. Katrina Trinko, a member of USA TODAY’s Board of Contributors, agrees that more emphasis should be placed on STEM education; however, this emphasis should not be at the sacrifice of a good liberal arts education. She writes, “Even technology wizards can become more innovative with a solid background in liberal arts” (Trinko 6). A liberal arts education is beneficial to people in all career fields.