The Key To Fixing The US Education System

Written by John Droz on March 6, 2023. Posted in Current News

We’ve been told by multiple parties, that trying to fix the US Education system is a fool’s errand, and only indicates that the aspirants have masochistic tendencies

Maybe so, but there is simply too much at stake to let things continue on their current trajectory.

A major part of the challenge here is that there are so many serious problems with the education system bureaucracy, that it’s hard to appreciate what are the most important issues and which ones need to be tackled first. It’s a daunting challenge.

FYI, the primary audience for this Report, are state Boards of Education and Depts of Education. My top two candidates are not what have been commonly chosen, and IMO this is one reason that we are not making sufficient progress.

My vote for the number one education issue is: We are not producing graduates who have the ability to do (and interest in) Critical Thinking. So why would teaching Critical Thinking be a Big Deal?

An academic graduate going into the business world with Critical Thinking skills, has an extraordinarily powerful tool at their disposal. For example, it gives them the ability to adapt to
a wide variety of employment opportunities and careers. Flexibility is a keyword for succeeding in today’s fast-moving job market.

Additionally, the ability to Think Critically is extremely beneficial in almost every aspect of life, like choosing a spouse, managing finances, deciding on whom to vote for, etc., etc…
this article just appeared.

The clear message is that with the incessant promotion of computer models and artificial intelligence, anyone who is not a Critical Thinker will be left behind and likely be frequently victimized.

Critical Thinking recognizes no racial boundaries or economic limitations. As such, it is a powerful tool for minorities and financially disadvantaged students and citizens to make their
life better. Much better. Martin Luther King Jr fully appreciated this and famously said:

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively, and to think critically.”

Also important, Critical Thinking gives citizens the ability to see through the innumerable ruses being perpetuated on our society today by bad actors. Without the ability to do Critical
Thinking, education graduates will repeatedly become victims of those who are cleverly packaging a wide assortment of self-serving agendas.

Why is Critical Thinking especially important today? The Internet. It’s good that there’s more information available to us than ever before. On the other hand, it’s bad that there’s more
information available to us than ever before — when we ask for a glass of water we get fire-hosed.

What exactly is Critical Thinking?

Those of a certain political leaning are trying to pervert the meaning of this important phrase, so don’t be fooled! A layperson’s definition is that Critical Thinking is looking at things wider and deeper.

Let’s take the example where a developer has proposed an industrial wind facility for your community. The developer says that in your community’s decision-making process, the only consequential considerations are: a) it will be a financial windfall for the community, and b) it will be helpful in saving the planet.

Looking at this more broadly we find out that there are other major considerations not mentioned by the developer: c) health impact on proximate citizens, d) environmental impact, e) impact on a nearby military base, etc.

Looking deeper into the developer’s claims we find that their calculation of a local financial windfall does not take into account any negatives — like home devaluations, agricultural losses
(due to bat deaths), tourism drop, etc. An objective and comprehensive net economic calculation turns out to be negative. In this case, Critical Thinking is necessary to make a more informed decision!

The academic definition (substantially condensed from here) is that Critical Thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of skillfully synthesizing, conceptualizing, and evaluating
information, as a guide to belief and action.

Critical thinking can be seen as having two components:

1) a set of information processing skills, and

2) the habit, based on intellectual commitment, of continually using those skills (grounded in fair-mindedness and intellectual integrity) to guide behavior.

Despite good training and best intentions, no one is a critical thinker 100 percent of the time, as everyone is subject to episodes of undisciplined or irrational thought. One’s level of critical thinking quality is a matter of degree, and dependent on factors like attentiveness, commitment, interest in objectivity, etc. concerning particular issues.

For this reason, the development of Critical Thinking skills and dispositions is a life-long endeavor.

If you want more detail, please reference this comprehensive report: Critical thinking, what it is and why it counts

Chapter 2: What’s the #2 Education Problem?

We need to ask ourselves that after decades of pouring money and manpower into supposedly improving the US education product: are we happy with the results? For example, the fact is
that out of some 70 OECD countries, the US ranks about 25th in Science. …

Two questions:

a) is this acceptable? and

b) how did that happen?

Hopefully, we are in full agreement on the response to the first question — NO… Regarding the 2nd, IMHO a major reason for our middling results is that too often the system is
being unduly influenced by people with good intentions, but for a variety of reasons, they are unable (or unwilling) to see the Big Picture of what is going on.

Anyone with that deficiency, will not likely be able to come up with meaningful solutions. Maybe that’s a silver lining of the dark COVID cloud: that the education system was exposed
enough and shaken up enough, that insightful education leaders will finally say: let’s go about fixing this differently!

In applying critical thinking, IMO the answer is to take a rifle approach vs a shotgun strategy. Then we need to pick what is the most impactful target to aim at. I’m boiling down the
education system just to the K-12 part, and all of that just to the curriculum. The entire curriculum is then further distilled to just the Science curriculum — i.e., Science standards.

My vote for the number two education issue is: The corruption of the curriculum — particularly in Science.

(To keep the Chapters of this Report brief, I’ve provided more details in the Appendices — e.g., Appendix F and Appendix G for this part.)

Those of a certain political leaning know that this is the case, which is why they have taken over the Science standards of almost all the states, so that our children are graduating from K-12 with below a par Science education, plus superior indoctrination of Progressive ideology.

This is almost entirely attributable to A Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). {See Appendix B for more details.) FYI, the well-known Fordham Institute rated each state’s Science Standards, and gave the NGSS a “C”.

Why would any state adopt a “C” rated set of Science standards? Worse, the Fordham rating is very generous, and when all factors are considered the NGSS should get an “F”

Some may claim that the Framework and NGSS were needed to improve the Science education of K-12 students. However, the data say otherwise. When analyzing the U.S.’s results over the
last decade, it’s clear that there aren’t any genuine signs of real improvement…

In fact, there’s been no detectable change in U.S. students’ Science scores since 2006. (The Framework came out in 2012, and NGSS in 2014.) Neither has improved K-12 Science scores!!!

Let’s be clear: there are some good elements to the NAS/NGSS. However, there are also multiple major embedded liabilities. So what did a cursory examination of the NAS Framework/NGSS reveal? Eight serious deficiencies.

Here is an outline of each:

1-Promotion of the opposite of Critical Thinking. The NAS Framework emphasizes conformity over Critical Thinking. (Here is a basic explanation of What_Is_Critical_Thinking. Also: a good Report, plus a website dedicated to Critical Thinking.)
2-Disparaging linear thinking. (For good discussions see here, here, and here.)
3-Failure to delineate the difference between Real Science and political science.
4-Elimination of the Scientific Method. (See one-page discussion of the Scientific Method.)
5-Failure to explain how the Scientific Method accommodates complex matters.
6-Lumping scientists and engineers together. (Two insightful explanations of the major differences between Science and Engineering are here and here.)
7-Unwarranted endorsement of computer models. (See this good commentary.)
8-An undue emphasis on equity. (No such emphasis was given to Critical Thinking or the discussion of linear vs lateral thinking, etc. Here is a discussion of Equity vs Equality.)
So the answer to the question: what is the #2 problem with the US Education system, the answer is: NGSS (i.e., Science standards).

Yes, matters like DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), CRT (Critical Race Theory), and Wokism, etc are very threatening. However, the roots for these are in the Framework and NGSS.

The facts are that: 1) almost no parents, teachers, scientists, or conservative organizations have publicly gone against these, and 2) some four million propagandized new citizens are injected
into our society each year, which has emboldened the political left to expand their Woke, DEI, CRT, etc efforts.

Chapter 3: What’s the Solution?

We are already making GREAT progress in this Report, as we have quickly zeroed in on the top two US Education system problems. Most education reformers don’t get that far — or they
identify other problems (like school choice) that are not the top priority.

The solution to both of these major K-12 problems is straightforward: Properly fix the state’s Science standards.

If your state is one of 45± that has basically adopted the NGSS, the two likely best options are:

a) Make multiple changes to the NGSS, or
b) Modify another state’s good Science standards.

Regarding “b”, the best other state candidates to consider would be those that received the highest ratings in the Fordham Institute’s Report. The simplest way to know what needs to be done for either option is to closely study the eight failings of the NGSS (Chapter 2), and make sure that each is properly fixed.

If this is done right, the Critical Thinking problem will also be addressed. Considering how important that is, it would be advisable for the State Department of Education to also:

— Publicly identify that Critical Thinking is the state education program’s #1 goal.
— Specifically, instruct Science teachers that this is a top priority for them to impart.
— Mandate Science teacher in-service training so that they know how to properly teach Critical Thinking.

It would be a wise strategy to give a good descriptive name to the state’s upgraded Science standards — like NGISS (Next Generation Improved Science Standards).

Note: I am not saying that this major change will fix ALL education problems!

Other issues (e.g., school choice) still need to be addressed. However making this one change will fix something like 60 percent of the education system — a profoundly important improvement.

Here is a must-watch one-minute video. It sums it up nicely, and it applies countrywide.

PS: I have great respect for teachers. However, in the education bureaucracy, they are often pawns of parties promoting political agendas. Science teachers are victims starting with the science miseducation they get to obtain their teaching degree.

Those of a certain political leaning know full well that teachers are an important link in this chain, so they have made sure that teaching schools are on board (especially in Science and History).

This education component also needs to be addressed, but fixing the Science curriculum takes priority.

See more here c19science.info

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