Back to Basics: What American Schools Aren’t Teaching
Amie Carpenter
Bonnie Huels
Kaskaskia College
Sociology 101
What is the back-to-basics movement? Defining the movement, along with its flaws, is the goal of this paper. Many of these flaws are leading parents to home school their children, and the paper addresses that issue as well.
Most Americans today recognize there are many problems with the education system we are currently using. One of the solutions, a back-to-basics approach, is still failing students. Schools have embraced this method for over twenty years, despite its failure to show improvements. Parents are using this method as a reason for pulling their children out of the public school system and homeschooling them. The flaws in the program are all evident in the goals it has. While early childhood educators are now being informed of the flaws, changing the system takes time. American parents are removing their children from public schools and homeschooling them to counteract the back-to-basics approach to education.
Many parents are pulling their children out of the faltering public schools and homeschooling them. One reason for this is the back-to-basics movement in American schools. While the name sounds good, the movement has not lived up to its potential (Shepard, 2007 p. 363). The back-to-basics method can be summed up in six goals:
1. Every child must begin school ready to learn.
2. The national high school graduation rate must be 90 percent.
3. Competence in core subjects must be shown after grades 4, 8, and 12.
4. American students should be the best educated in the world in math and science.
5. All adults must be literate and possess the skills necessary for citizenship and competition in a global economy.
6. Schools should be free of drugs and violence (Shepard, 2007 p. 363).
Each of these goals is admirable; however, the system is still failing at an alarming rate. Each of the goals has an error, a flaw that could ultimately lead to failure.
The first goal of the back-to-basics movement is flawed. Every child must begin school ready to learn. There are three flaws with this statement; one is that children are born ready to learn, another is that it ignores the differences in learning, and the third flaw is that it requires a definition of the word “ready”. Children learn much in the first year of life. They learn to eat, babble, and sometimes walk. The differences in learning first appear in the first year of life. Some children begin crawling at six months, and are running three months later. Others crawl for six months or more before they attempt to take their first steps. One is not “smarter” than the other; they were simply ready at different times.
Children are unique, and so standards we set for “norms” do not necessarily apply to all children, or indicate a delay. The question of a child’s readiness to enter school requires us to define the word “ready”. Ready? What is ready? Must a child be ready to read, as well as ready to add and subtract? Do we impose readiness? How do we measure readiness? (Paciorek, 2002 p. 146). Many parents who home school their children begin before the child even speaks. They recognize differences in learning abilities between their children, and adjust the curriculum accordingly.
The second flaw with this approach is that the high school graduation rate must be 90%. The goals of the movement were described in 1987 (Shepard, 2007 p. 363). At this time, the graduation rate was 87.4 %. In 2000, when the target graduation rate was 90%, the rate was only 89.1% (Digest, 2007). Yes, the graduation rate is steadily increasing, but are the students adequately prepared to enter the workforce? This also does not account for college graduation rates. We now live in a world where a college degree is as vital to survival as a high school diploma. Simply graduating high school is no longer enough. In order to survive, a person needs a college degree. Should the focus shift from promoting high school graduation to promoting college graduation?
The third issue with the back-to-basics movement is the requirement for students to be competent in core subjects at various grade levels. This calls for standardized testing in grades 4, 8 and 12. There are many flaws with standardized tests. They do not measure the ability to think or create (Fairtest 2007). They do not reflect real differences among students. Their only aid to teachers is to show teachers how to prepare students for the test. When funding is dependent on test scores, teachers push their students to memorize that material without considering other knowledge children must have. Screenings for readiness promote flaws to be corrected, not having individual strengths and weaknesses. There are far better ways to measure achievement. Good teacher observation, documentation of student work and performance-based assessment each provide useful information for teachers, parents and the government concerning quality education (Fairtest 2007).
American students should be the best educated in the world in math and science (Shepard, 2007 p. 363). Unfortunately, America is out performed by Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Italy in math and science. The United States rankings were found in 2005 and 2007 through performance on a federally administered test. The foreign students took a test in 2003, as part of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (also called Timss) (Dillon, 2007). The methods we are using to teach math and science are not helping our global standing. The US should not be so far behind so many countries in math and science, given the efforts put forth to improve standing. There are national programs to encourage potential teachers to enter the math and science fields. Even so, few teachers choose to enter these fields, so when teachers retire there are not enough potential teachers to fill their place.
The fact that not all adults are literate can be seen in the Kaskaskia College community, where the Reading Link program strives to teach adults to read. Illiteracy is an embarrassing problem, and few people will admit to being illiterate. The National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) strove to measure adult literacy in 2003. They found thirteen percent of American adults still perform below a basic level. Three percent of those tested failed to correctly answer the easiest questions (Schneider, 2005). All adults are not literate and do not poses the skills necessary for competition.
Congress declared July 2 as National Literacy Day. Many cities and states celebrate the day. September 8 is International literacy day. Once again, local organizations often celebrate. Many homeschooling families teach their children to read at a much earlier age than public schools. This early preparation assists the child in transitioning through the education program. Reading fundamentals are crucial to every aspect of education. Parents teaching their children to read at age 3 or 4 are building a foundation on which the entire education can stand.
The sixth and final goal of the back-to-basics movement resonates with everyone. School violence has been increasing in the last decade. One incident stands out, since it led to more reform than any other. Columbine High School was just a normal school, until April 20, 1999. The following autumn, most schools across the nation incorporated evacuation plans should the school ever come under attack. Until that day, many parents naively sent their children to school, assuming all would be well. Bullies have been around since the beginning of schools. Unfortunately, it took two frustrated young men to push the pain of bullying into the spotlight. Even worse, thirteen innocent people died before major changes were made. Many parents pull their children out of school, due to the child’s fears of being in a classroom with bullies.
Today, nearly ten years after the massacre, schools are still grappling with violence. There are no quick solutions, there’s no method that will work everywhere. Some schools are practicing lockdown drills, so teachers and students will have a plan of action should a shooter arrive. Others use dogs to sniff for weapons or drugs in lockers. One school is even allowing its teachers to carry handguns, provided they complete a training course and have a license. More and more schools are encouraging children to come forward and name bullies, to break the cycle of violence. The internet and cell phones have also changed the ways in which teens bully, causing more problems for teachers.
In conclusion, the back-to-basics approach to education has many flaws. While the name sounds great, the program has failed to live up to its potential. Many parents are homeschooling their children in retaliation to various points of the agenda. It is proof that even a well-thought, comprehensive reform in education has flaws. What reform would be effective? There is no easy answer, there is no simple solution. Schools, families and law makers must all work together to bring out the education reform America deserves.
References
NA. Digest of education statistics. (2007). Washington, DC. International Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved February 23, 2009. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/index.asp
Dillon, S. (2007, November 14). Study compares state's math and science scores with other countries. Retrieved February 23, 2009, from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/education/14students.html
NA. Fairtest. What’s wrong with standardized tests? (December 17, 2007). Boston, MA. The National Center for Fair and Open Testing. Retrieved February 23, 2009. http://www.fairtest.org/whats-wrong-standardized-tests
Paciorek, Karen M. (2002). Taking sides: clashing views on controversial issues in early childhood education. Guilford, Connecticut. McGraw-Hill Companies.
Schneider, Mark. Commissioner’s report of education statistics. (December 15, 2005). Washington, DC. National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved on February 13, 2009. http://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/commissioner/remarks2005/12_15_2005.asp
Shepard, Jon M. (2007). Sociology, updated ninth edition. Belmont, CA. Thomson Wadsworth.
