In Davis Guggenheim’s documentary, “Waiting for ‘Superman,’” the Oscar-winning filmmaker unearthed the staggering factoids that U.S. students rank 25th in math and 21st in science in comparison to the rest of the world.
Many have contested that America is just not as academically competitive as other countries, so it is unjustified to draw such a stark contrast that may be more because of cultural differences than scholastic ability.
The 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress also reported that only 21 percent of high school seniors are proficient in science.
This data, however, is concerning because it is a national representation of our scientific capabilities — or lack thereof — demonstrating that U.S. students don’t measure up to their own country’s standards.
With the next assessment scheduled to take place in 2013, American schools have the opportunity to reevaluate the way they approach teaching science to hopefully renovate the entire educational system.
Aside from socioeconomic factors, one of the primary dilemmas educators must address is how high — or rather, how low — they set the academic expectations for their students.
President Barack Obama highlighted this pressing issue in his State of the Union Address on Tuesday when he said, “Over the next 10 years, nearly half of all new jobs will require education that goes beyond a high school education. And yet, as many as a quarter of our students aren’t even finishing high school. The quality of our math and science education lags behind many other nations … When a child walks into a classroom, it should be a place of high expectations and high performance.”
When a child does not initially demonstrate a propensity for grasping scientific or mathematical concepts, they are often told that they just aren’t naturally “left-brained” and would be better served to focus on the more creative or linguistic parts of their education.
However, teachers do their students a disservice when they confine them to one pattern of thinking.
The theory that people are strictly talented in either logical or creative abilities has been largely debunked since psychologist Michael Gazzaniga and Roger Wolcott Sperry originally proposed it in the 1960s.
Clinical neurologists Gereon Fink and John Marshall published in 1996 findings indicating that the distinction between the hemispheres of the brain wasn’t so definite. They discovered that, overall, the left side processed details and the right side interpreted ideas about the “bigger picture.”
More importantly, they illustrated that the two sides of the brain work together for both logical and creative kinds of thinking.
Thus, instructors shouldn’t be so hasty in determining the type of learner a child is; they ought to hone and adapt their teaching style to the student so that their potential can be fully realized in all areas of educational development.
Furthermore, schools will soon be forced to consider enforcing higher quality control when it comes to teachers.
Educational experience indicates just how crucial the role of the teacher is in the student’s success; a talented and well-qualified instructor can make even the most seemingly dry, convoluted material compelling and understandable.
As the country faces the need to vastly improve its educational system, this chivy of academic achievement should not be reduced to merely fortifying test scores and percentages.
Rather, people ought to view this as an opportunity to rekindle a genuine love for learning among the nation’s youth.
Reach Julie at julianna.roberts@asu.edu
