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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Response to COVID proved we have done a serious disservice the USA citizens in the field of science. It’s not just the youth. So many people just don’t have the knowledge to understand basic scientific facts. 
It’s time we fixed that. [/quote]

I agree with this, but I disagree with those who spread a false narrative that generalizes everyone — that’s simply not true. Instead of calling our people dumb or incompetent, why not focus on providing real solutions? What’s wrong with recognizing genuine merit? Providing good education and recognizing there are authentically competitive, smart young people are not in conflict.[/quote]

When 50% of the students are not performing, we need to recognize that we have failed them. I'm never in favor of calling kids dumb. That's is counterproductive and it doesn't achieve anything. However, they are NOT performing at the level they should be. That's our failure, not theirs. Our kids would be competitive and perform just as well if we demanded it of them. [/quote]

Or maybe you should look to see whether we are teaching them the right things. Why does everyone need to be taught calculus?[/quote]

+1000

We need to have math and reading appropriate for the students.  If a kid is struggling with Alg 1 (and has always struggled with math), we need to help them learn, slow it down and find different ways.  Not just promote them with a C- and watch them struggle at the next level.  And yes, beyond Alg 1, a personal finance/real life skills math courses would be much more beneficial than Pushing that kid towards calculus.  
Similarly with reading, for kids who have struggled, let's meet them where they are, starting back in ES.  With NCLB, teachers were constantly pushed to get all kids on "grade level".  But at a 90%+ Low income/free lunch school (I knew a wonderful 2nd grade teacher at one in Montgomery county back then), a teacher is still massively penalized because 95% of their kids were not on grade level.  What they didn't look at is that teacher finally took kids who were 2-3 grade levels behind at the start of 2nd grade and advanced them 1.5-2+ grade levels in reading.  That was amazing and should be rewarded, not penalized. 
And for kids who are struggling, let's find books/ways to reach them that interest them. In ES and MS and HS, we shouldn't be forcing "regular courses" to read specific books that are unrelatable.  The kid who has always struggled in school and is below grade level for reading or barely at it, doesn't give a shit about Shakespeare (most likelY) and we shouldn't be trying to reach them with it---we need to find books they like and subjects of interest if we want to engage them.

In 5th grade, my advanced kid finally had an amazing teacher---one who highly encourage kids to start a book and if after 15-20 pages (10-15% of the book) they didn't like it, they were free to put it back and select another book.  Only requirement was you had to read X books from each "category" (fiction/non fiction/biography/fantasy/etc) each semester.  You know what, I watched 2 kids in that class who had struggled all thru ES (we were in Howard COUnty, at one of the better schools, so "struggle" was not the usual--they were still on/near grade level) and hated reading...well these 2 kids suddenly started to enjoy it!  Why?  Because they were finally given the choice of what to read and the permission to stop reading a boring book---just like we do as adults, if it's not a page turner after 20 pages I am switching books

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