Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

The Permanent Recession

This article raises an interesting point: America doesn't educate all its people effectively. This creates a permanent drag on their earning capacity, which lowers the amount the country makes too.

Report Says Education Gaps Create "Permanent Recession"
Stacy Teicher Khadaroo, The Christian Science Monitor: "Educational achievement gaps are typically measured in terms of test scores - across lines of race and income, or even across state and national borders. But what if they were measured in dollars?"


One way to improve matters would be to narrow or close the gaps in education. Another would be to put some serious effort into matching people's interests and abilities to suitable careers. Right now, we are wasting a tremendous amount of human potential; we should not be doing that.
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  • 14 comments
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ysabetwordsmith

Thoughts

ysabetwordsmith

April 24 2009, 17:38:18 UTC 12 years ago

Different types of people learn differently. Cramming them all together is bad for the kids and the teachers, and it is not an effective educational strategy. Average kids can learn with average methods. Slow kids need plenty of extra help, and a lighter curriculum; they flounder and give up if pushed toward goals they can't possibly meet. Gifted kids miserate and become destructive if not challenged enough, and they require a far more stimulating environment. Putting them all together meets nobody's needs.

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ysabetwordsmith

Re: Thoughts

ysabetwordsmith

April 25 2009, 00:28:20 UTC 12 years ago

>>For instance, some people thrive in a group environment, while I always did better in a one-on-one situation. I rarely had the patience for groups activities.<<

I always did better alone. I might've enjoyed group work if it had been presented properly. Instead, it was one of two things: 1) I did most or all the work, or 2) I did only my share and let the project fail because I wasn't willing to do other people's work for them and I could afford a low grade.

>>And too few educational professionals, then or now, seem able to recognize the difference between a true trouble-maker and a kid who is just acting up out of boredom. Or, perhaps their hands are simply tied.<<

Sometimes the immediate person on the spot doesn't have enough power to be of any help. But in general, the adults have the power, so if they fail to provide an appropriate learning environment and a child causes problems because of that, it is the adults' fault. You don't plant a rosebush under a walnut tree and scream at it for turning brown: it is your fault for putting it there.