How to fix our crisis
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Anonymous
You need to understand how many kids out there have parents who don't care about their kids' education. They send them to school and that's the end of their involvement. Many aren't even getting them to school (and that's an entirely different issue!). They aren't teaching their kids anything. That's the role of schools. I have many, many students with MIA parents. They could be incarcerated, dead, generally disinterested in their kids, living with relatives, addicted to drugs/alcohol, etc. Even the ones who aren't in these categories don't see themselves as educational role models for their kids as many never finished school. If nobody at home ever asks to see your report cards or asks about what you are learning at school, even the best student won't care about school by MS. |
Anonymous
Nothing I’m saying makes sense? Are you kidding? 1) you assert that in America has such system, because kids at 13 don’t know what they want to do- something that is true of all 13 year olds in the world. 2) you assert that America has such system because people can’t know that they want to go to college immediately after high school. Luckily, most western nations also work towards this issue 3) you assert that I only believe stem has value. No where have I said that. I do think students are underprepared in stem, which is corroborated by American institutions having retention issues across the country. My home country is Germany. It doesn’t just kick you out of school at 13. If you look beyond the surface, you’ll discover it is a developed nation that addresses all your concerns while also tracking talent to improve our education system. Educating for the bottom doesn’t work and is endemic across the US. |
Anonymous
You are so obtuse it’s painful. I’m saying these degree programs which are represented in college aren’t fields explored in high school. That’s it. It really isn’t that complex. |
Anonymous
Exactly! I think I now why your biz sold for $13M! Congrats! I’m curious - do you have kids in school now, or did you have them in within the past four or five years? Did you send them to public or private? |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
Huh? US grads at the vast majority f T75schools and especially T15are highly competitive in a global market, majority compete quite well with international students often better. T15 stem programs have 97% retention in engineering, my kid’s ivy has 99%. The average starting salary in stem is over 100k for the best of these elites, 65k plus for the majority of the T75 in stem. That is an excellent starting salary and very much a living wage, and 100k is obviously an amazing starting salary. USA’s best and brightest are doing very well and the above average ones do fine too. Find a different problem to worry about |
Anonymous
| What Stat says there is only a 40 percent retention rate for STEM majors? Which colleges are these? |
Anonymous
The American institutions that make it many times more difficult for international students are…majority American? You don’t say. |
Anonymous
| I really don’t think we ever will fix it. People treat k-12 like it’s daycare. A lot of Americans don’t admire scientists or engineers, they care about billionaire business men who have a lot of influence. There’s a reason Mark Zuckerberg’s story is already wrongfully told that he just dropped out of college and made a ton off of Facebook. The guy went to the best private high school in the US, was an absolute computer nerd, worked hard and created something people wanted and dropped out to do that full time. People care far too much about business skills. |
Anonymous
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The top American students at both well-resourced public schools and the better private schools are doing just fine. In fact, I'd say they are way smarter and more disciplined than my generation. Calculus BC and multivariable are the norm for this group. In addition to the AP english, history, and science classes.
The problem is the average kid. Too often, they don't have parents that read to them when they were little. That alone is a very big deal. They failed to instill a love for reading and learning. Add in changes to the way reading is taught in the formative years. Throw in screens and smartphones and these semi-literate kids are derailed forever. They have the attention span of a gnat. Now add changes in discipline in classrooms. Far too often a poorly behaved student or two can derail the educational experience for a classroom for an entire year. It really is tragic. And the result is that are very few high school students these days that enjoy reading a book and learning about the world. These average students become dopamine fiends. They need the stimulation of their phones and perpetual, immediate drama. Because there is no discipline in schools anymore, teachers can't reach them. The teachers are busy with the difficult students. And eventually, it leads to kids not reaching their potential. The Covid isolation didn't help either. Such a stupid move closing public schools for all that time. Every kid is behind because of that. The strength of America is that it is freewheeling. This is the country for creativity and innovation. It's why the best and brightest come to America for university. But all that depends on having a baseline average that is solid. Our top ten percent of students are doing great. But that baseline average is sinking rapidly because of technology, changing social norms, and poor parenting. |
Anonymous
I agree, but not sure what this has to do with anything. All the more reason to offer these classes at school. |
Anonymous
When your parents don't care, very few kids will care about school and learning. They are lost by MS. They don't give a crap about a financial literacy class. They often read far below grade level and don't hand in work. They don't attend school regularly because who would if your parents don't care and don't make you go. |
Anonymous
Give it a rest Vivek. |
Anonymous
| I forgot this forum is majority upper middle class, so they don’t see the issues. On average, for the average, education is really poor in this country and not teaching the skills students need to get through college. |
Anonymous
I'm curious: why should American institutions make it *easier* for international students? Don't you have your own institutions? |