Last week (5/12/11), there was an interesting article by LZ Granderson entitled “We Need Year-Round School to Complete Globally.” Granderson argues that while US students continue to fall behind globally in reading, math and science, our countries attitude is not reflective of the seriousness of the continuous decline.
Granderson cites a 2009 report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to support his argument for year-round school. The report which occurs every three years assesses students (age 15) in 34 nations in math and science. Currently US students age 15 rank 14th in reading, 17th in science, and 25th in math. The reports estimates that if US scores increased in reading, math, and science increased by 20 points over the next 20 years, the US economy would gain $41 trillion dollars over the lifetime of the generation born in 2010[i]. The data also showed that even though US students have fallen behind, their perception of their academic skills is higher than students in other countries. Granderson believes the students high perception of their academic skills is due to praise given for mediocre work. It is for these reasons Granderson argues that our country needs to consider converting to year-round schooling.
On average, US students have a shorter school year (180 days) than students in countries such as
“each summer, our kids lose about a month of progress
in math and low income students lose as month as three
Granderson reminds the readers the primary reason for summer break was for youth to help their family in the fields during growing season. Since farming is less prevalent in a global economy, and more people live in cities than rural areas, US students are at home watching tv, playing video games, and losing valuable instruction time that could keep them competitive in the global market.
There are a number of districts, both large and small that have converted to year-round schools. While Granderson did not discuss or provide data on districts currently operating year-round schools, he argues:
“The world is getting smaller, the world is getting smarter and
if you look around you’ll see when it comes to education, we’re
no longer basking in the glow of superiority…We are wallowing
With the economy still in recovery and some economist claiming that by 2016 China will over take the US as the leader of the global economy, our educational system is the main impetus to ensure the US remains the leader of the global economy. Our nation must understand that students who receive poor to mediocre education present a threat to democracy, national security, and future economic leadership.
No comments:
Post a Comment