Is the US Education System Hurting US Business?
The ever revolving door of education programs that are designed to make today’s students the best and brightest ever just keeps turning. From the “No Child Left Behind” act of 2002, to the Common Core introduced in 2009 that was leveraged into 42 states by tying $4.3 Billion in federal funding to the implementation of that curriculum, there has arrived only one real consensus. Teachers dislike getting grades and being evaluated just as much as most students, and that this grading does not actually fully recognize value or potential of either the student or the teacher.
The continual discussion always revolves around the ever impressive ratings of student graduates from East Asian places like Hong Kong and Singapore that top the list followed in close order by china and Japan and the apparent dismal ranking of the US as being 12th that we are assured is certain to lead to our demise in the near future as incapable of filling the needs of the new generation of business and industry.
The equally labeled savior and downfall of the US education system known as Common Core actually tries to include many tenants of the Asian system with a single curriculum across all schools and defined ages and times to learn specific skills out of only approved texts. It does a fine job of mimicking the overall structure, and any supporter will point to the lofty assessment of the designers of Common Core that it is a better system than it replaced in 95% of districts.
Understand that assessment is purely academic and not yet proven in any real world’s skills assessment of students that were taught under the old system vs the new system. They remain firmly in a typical cloud of optimism that any designer would about how their product is in fact better regardless of fact based evidence of results. This theoretical world is really the only thing that matters in education if one is to go off from the entire competition being geared around the “International Rankings” that placed the US in the realm of subpar in math, reading and science.
The real results and dire predictions of a country unable to compete due to the under education of its citizenry has yet to materialize. Based on the fact that global production has chased the lower wages as opposed to the higher achievement on education scores is apparently irrelevant. If the countries most valued export is its citizenry in the form of skilled professionals to other better economies then I am unsure that having the best rated public secondary education system in the world is in fact a noble goal.
There may be ways to find out in the future. There are experiments in the private schools touting Asian learning systems of course, but it is hardly fair to compare the results of free public education and class size to a $40k/year private school with a class size of 12. One place to look towards may be the UK and its experimenting with the same concepts in some public schools. They are similar enough in other areas that outstanding results achieved there may be transferable to here in the US, but most other places are not. Further, many of the traits valued by US business and industry would not be possible based on those learning models.
In the US, individuality, “thinking outside the box”, creative and different ideas are all considered assets. These exact qualities would be shunned in the typical Asian corporate environment. It is not a case of which is better, it is simply admitting there are different approaches. Some approaches to business, much like everything else in life, are bound by cultural norms. Why is it so difficult to admit that education may be the same?
Comparing the difference in emphasis of the Asian education emphasis and the US/Western education emphasis without simultaneously comparing the differences in what the US/Western business and management style is compared the Asian business and management style is shortsighted. If we were attempting to prepare our students to work for Asian companies then perhaps adoption of their education principals would make sense, but since we have fundamental cultural differences in business climate it makes more sense to pattern our education system after the goals and needs of US businesses.
It is common wisdom that comparing yourself to others is a bad practice and will often lead to unjustified feelings of inadequacy. It may be time to look at our education the same way. Despite the many decades of dire warnings of Americans being unable to compete due to lower education standards and attainment, we still have a strong economy and globally leading business and industry. While we must remain diligent in fulfilling the educational needs of our youth for a prosperous future, that future should be based on the assumption that the majority of them will in fact continue to live and work in US/Western companies or to create and build the US/Western countries of the future so making sure the learning is compatible with the traits this style of business finds desirable is the correct route.
Getting the highest score on a 12th grade mathematics exam does not automatically mean that you will be the best or most innovative engineer on an individual level, or as a nation. Whatever goals and education policy we pursue into the future, they should be based on what has historically and continues to provide the best potential future for our youth in our economy and not change that system out of test score envy on a test with little practical application to the real world.
An education is about far more than the accumulation of knowledge and facts. In the real world, it is the ability to utilize facts and knowledge in ways that result in practical applications and advancements that wins the day. While pure math and science will always have a place and be needed for continual advancement as a civilization, it is through practical application of knowledge and skills that a competitive economy and perhaps more importantly a higher standard of living is found for most people. An education system that fosters the thinking and innovation resulting in greater practical application and achievement is of greater benefit than higher abstract scores on a written test upon leaving the public school system.