Previously I posted some statistics about reading in America and how little of it actually went on. Another post referencing those statistics caused a bit of a stir in the comments. Well, I think I have another piece of the puzzle now.
It seems that a fifth of the United States is functionally illiterate. That number unsurprisingly jumps to one third in the place where they write the laws…
You have to understand that “functionally literate” doesn’t mean that someone can read a book or write a letter. Functionally literate means you can read a bus schedule or fill in a job application. Really, it’s only one step above signing an “X” for your name…
Pathetic isn’t it? And no, before anyone trots out the tired canard, it isn’t the fault of our schools. Our schools are a perfect representation of the society we have built. That is why they are not respected. As Alivn Toffler said
Why is everything massified in the system, rather than individualized in the system? New technologies make possible customization in a way that the old system — everybody reading the same textbook at the same time — did not offer.
Regimented, assembly-line schools serve only to produce industrial workers, and good consumers, not literate, numerate, reasoning human beings. No amount of discipline, money, or training, and particularly no amount of amazingly stupid standardized testing is going to change that.
The problem is that truly educated people are not very good team-players and they are notoriously incredulous. Perhaps we should begin fixing education by imagining a society that doesn’t demand and require that everyone be an easily duped (advertised to) herd-follower (corporate team-player).
Tags: america, education, literacy
These are the ramblings of 
I am going to jump right in here. When it comes to education, it appears that the public is quick to jump on the school bandwagon whether the schools are teaching/reaching every student that comes through the door. But what is always missing is the importance of family in education, rather the nuture aspect of a child. I was a teacher for a short time and student taught in poorer elementary school, then ended up at a high school as a sped teacher in a affluent community. My observation in the disparity of levels due to what the student brings to school, have they been read to, are there real communication skills being taught at home and is school a priority? What’s more important to the parent? Having money for cigarettes and the next six pack? Or having school supplies and clean clothes for their children?
Younger, poorer parents demonstrate poor parenting skills and it spills over in the classroom. The kids come in without any structure and present challenges to teachers and their peers. Yet, I still saw the challenges of students in High school as a problem for the system b/c they were not in the right educational setting for their personalities. Students are illiterate b/c they are not learning due to homelife, learning abilities and interest in education.
There are no easy solutions, but No Child left behind is one of the worst mandates ever proposed. You can’t believe how much time my 8th grader has spent this year on standardized testing for me to learn that his writing skills are not proficient. Well duh, of course not, b/c his teacher has not taken the time to proofread his work with him. Do you think you struck a nerve with me?
As a disclaimer, much of my view on this topic is the result of being married to a teacher and watching her struggles with public education in two countries.
I believe you and I are close to the same thought here. I only disagree that the fault stops at the familial level. Certainly family involvement is important, but to lay the blame on individual families, as if there were vast swathes of American families simply don;t care if their kids succeed or not. The problem, from my point of view, is that the goal is precisely that they do “succeed”. Education, in a “scholastic” sense takes a backseat to success and achievement. As long as the goal of education is “success” or “achievement”, then we as a society will buy into the idea that education is a quantifiable thing, something which can be measured via standardized tests, evidence folders, and achievement metrics.
Education is a qualitative, not quantitative thing, and, I believe, should be oriented towards educating, not achieving. With that in mind, it is hard to point the finger at funding, or teachers, or families. The finger is pointed squarely at the purposes and aims of education in a society; at that society itself.
Ask your wife about the pendulum metaphor in education, it was a phrase that I heard through my courses. We go from one extreme to the other in our education philosophies and goals, right now it’s all about numbers and test score results.
I don’t believe that families are at fault, but certainly part of the equation of children learning. I agree, it’s the responsibility of society and that’s where the pendulum comes in.