Hi All,
I have been thinking about this Department of Eduction fiasco with some historical context. What is concerning is that on the PISA international testing scale the U.S. is 23rd in the world. Of course this does not mean a Sputnik moment where all focus of education turns toward just doubling down on established practices of engineering (which later hindered further movement of education into the computer and data/information processing age) but it does mean that “Houston we have a problem” and local independent thought is not going to solve it as it did on Apollo 11.
I feel this WIKI coverage of the Department’s purposes and history brings some of the pros and cons into the light. I fear we will throw out the baby with the bathwater if not careful. At all levels we as a society must be asking, relative to the student futures; “What is the purpose of school?”. That answer should be a vision statement for all departments of education. Here is a tip that it should not be; “That all go on to college” even though that has been the college led mantra that leaves the majority of our students unprepared for the actual realities of post education work and now holding $1.7 trillion in debt obligations. A serious ball and chain perpetuated by middle and high schools that teach to the college admissions test.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Education
We need a national assessment and research agency but not one as all encompassing as we have. I just hope someone is considering the bigger challenge at a national level. There is nothing in the Constitution referencing education just as there is nothing referencing which side of the road we drive on. I am sure the Department of Transportation is probably worse in wastefulness than the Dept. of Ed but we are all glad it’s not just left up to the local and state governments to decide left or right even though looking forward most consideration of education is being done by driving into the future while looking in the rear view mirror.
I came across this in Jenny Anderson’s “The Disengaged Teen” and felt it highlighted something very important that a federal level office can do research wise and offer such research back to the States and local school districts in hopes that they might see reason to change their methods of practice. Our educational systems obviously have no idea how to fail, pause, reflect and then make the changes necessary. Doubling down on what brought them to this point (19th century methods and content) is not an answer. (I suggest a 1939 coverage of taht found in “The Saber Tooth Curriculum” by Peddiwell.)
Rob Wood
