New American Educational System

As I look back on my 40 years of teaching chemistry I am sad to see the sorry state of education in the US. Tears almost form in my eyes when I think about the hundreds of millions of dollars wasted partially educating our American youth. As a result it is having a profound effect on just about every aspect of American society.

In this short essay I would like to briefly survey the serious problems and shortcomings of education today, and then provide an alternative to the sick and dying system that is in place today. Of course, I do not expect anything to change because our educational system is a big business generating billions of dollars for those who have their fingers in the tills of the schools, colleges, and universities. It is not unlike the symbiotic financial links of the American drug and health care industries. That is another sad story.

To set the scene for my new (old) educational system a little bit of history is order. I was educated from 1949 when I entered kindergarten until 1976 when I received my Ph. D. I mention this only to place things into proper perspective. While I went to school I did not have the use of hand-held calculators, computers, internet links, or any of the modern-day technology. Nonetheless, I know from my years in classroom that I was far better educated upon receiving my high school diploma than most college graduates today. When I graduated from high school I could read, write, and calculate to the level that would support me through the remainder of my life. I was also educated to the level that I could successfully begin taking the college-level courses of the 1960s. Note that these courses have little resemblance to those taught today at about 85% (conservative estimate) of colleges and universities in the 21^st century.

During the years of my education the idea of college for everyone was born. Prior to the 1960s college education was for those with strong intellectual and academic skills, really smart students (known as pupils at that time). Most of these students were from higher socioeconomic groups but a significant number were from the lowest economic groups. Many of this second group figured out that to sacrifice, persevere, and work hard would allow them opportunities to pursue their desired careers and to achieve more than their parents (many of whom were immigrants). They realized that it would be difficult and nothing was going to be handed to them. Their education was not a birthright but an opportunity to learn and achieve.

Fast forwarding to our present educational system, we have almost the antithesis of the system in which I was educated. Now the idea is that we can educate everyone and most are worthy of top grades. As a result we have many disinterested students who disrupt classes and consume time that could be spent on those students who want to learn. Today the incorrect idea exists that students will feel bad if they receive poor grades; thus, most students are given top grades if they know anything or not. Poor grades are reserved to any students who may be disruptive. For example I have students in preparatory chemistry classes (a low-level course for students who did not take high school chemistry) who have A averages out of high school but can only score 10 out of 100 points on the first test in preparatory chemistry. This tests their knowledge of the metric system and the symbols of the elements. I should mention that most of the students outside of the US learn the metric system and symbols for the elements in primary school not at the college level!

Another bane to the education of American students is the national and state testing that has been thrust on educators by unknowing politicians who have never taught or been involved in the education of students. An example of one of these tests is the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). Without getting into the specifics this test is now the focus of the education of students in Florida. Schools are graded according to their students’ results on the FCAT. Thus most school principals in Florida held meetings with their teachers and told them that they would cease educating their students and begin training their students to pass the FCAT test. Yes, they now spend hundreds of millions of dollars in Florida to train students to pass a test. Subjects that are not on this test are marginalized and often not taught. For example, how can you spend time teaching students the fundamentals of history and geography if they are not on the FCAT test? You get the idea.

So what would I do to improve the US educational system? I would almost totally throw out our current system and install a performance-based track system. What is that? A track system would allow students to enter academic, business, athletic, military, domestic, or disciplinary educational pathways. I list the aforementioned tracks as possible examples. Others could be included depending on the needs of society. This means that students from their first day of school would chose one of these tracks to follow. A child has little or no idea when he begins kindergarten what he wants to do with his life. During the first few years of all tracks, students would learn the benefits and difficulties of all tracks. At any time a student could switch their track from one to other or back to the original.

Each track would be further subdivided into many pathways. For example in the academic track a basic science/mathematics pathway could be followed in the early years. This pathway would then divide into physical, biological, and engineering pathways. Another example would be the military tracks dividing into to army, navy, and air force tracks. The military track would be similar to what is followed in a military school.

Our current organization of different grades (first grade, second grade, etc.) divided into elementary, middle, and high schools would evaporate into space. In its place I would have 10 academic levels for each disciple within a pathway. To obtain a pre-college or pre-university degree (akin to today’s high school diploma), a student would have to successfully complete all 10 levels. Note that brilliant students may be able to do this in five or six years and slow students might take 20 years. It does not matter how long it takes because all students with this degree would have the knowledge and skills associated with their desired pathway. As a result, colleges and universities would no longer teach basic classes to essentially functionally illiterate students!

All students would be required to take a full range of academic subjects. They would be exposed to the great works classic and modern literature, art, and music. Students would be required to take physical education throughout their years of study. They would be exposed to team sports, individual sports, and physical exercise programs. An important addition to the education program would be an extensive international education program that would expose students at all levels to the cultures and people of the entire planet. Finally, students would be required to take a minimum of eight years of a single foreign language. Besides the normal offerings, languages such as Mandarin, Arabic, Japanese, and Swahili would be taught.

To implement such a system schools would be open 12 months of the year. Students could take vacations or celebrate holidays whenever they like because their work will be there waiting for them. Teachers would essentially become tutors for their students. A teacher would teach in his own discipline at a particular level. For example, a ninth-level mathematics teacher would teach students analytical geometry and basic calculus to principally science, math, and engineering students. His/her function would be to educate beginning ninth-level mathematics students to the level where they could pass the tests and show their proficiency to the level that will allow them to progress to the final level needed for their degree, the tenth level.

Thinking of teachers, I would require that they would be well educated and well paid. All teachers of a particular subject will at a minimum have an undergraduate degree in the subject that they teach. Teacher education would be focused on first developing a solid level of knowledge in a discipline followed by a few important education courses. Learning how to teach in this new system will be developed in the classroom.

Students would be required to attend school until the age of 18 or until they completed all requirements for their track. Disruptive and violent students would immediately be moved either to the military or disciplinary tracks where they would remain until they turn 18 or can reenter another track if they have two years of proper behavior in the military or disciplinary tracks.

To conclude I would like to say that this proposal is only a bare outline for a greatly improved US educational system. All systems, even the one that I propose, have problems and limitations. Nonetheless, I feel that my proposal will put education back into our system. This system should produce better citizens who will be more competitive in our global economy.