Education
Here's an interesting article from The Atlantic Monthly. "Suppose I told you that I knew of an education reform guaranteed to raise the achievement levels of American students; that this reform would cost next to nothing and would require no political body's approval; and that it could be implemented overnight by anybody of a mind to undertake it." Thus begins Jonathan Rauch's essay. So, what's the prescription? Homework.
He says later something about hating to use the "L" word, but does. That word is lazy.
My wife teaches third grade. The biggest problem she has at thaat age is parents who don't care, sometimes even about their own kids, who don't provide motivation, who don't provide the kind of discipline conducive to learning, who often coddle their kids making excuses for their behavior or lack of work, and other similar attitudes.
She also says that she passes a couple of bus stops every day and seldom sees older kids with book bags or back packs. At third grade, she starts the students on their way to real work. According to Rauch, studies show that older students benefit greatly from plain old work. And it doesn't have to be four hours a night. Just an hour an evening adds 180 extra hours of study to the average student. Think about how much more you could learn with 180 hours of study. You could learn a foreign language in your car for an hour a day (I did).
Education is complex. I've met business people who think that students are just raw material to be formed. But if parents and students don't take some responsibility, then success will not be assured.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200411/rauch
5:53:43 PM 
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