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                                                Not the Top of the Class:

                                                  Why American Schools

                                                           are Mediocre






                                                               By Rifka Schonfeld, Director of S.O.S.
                                                                   (Strategies For Optimum Success)



         “Without a high school diploma, you           on the three countries that are produc-
         couldn’t work as a garbage collector          ŝŶŐ ƐƚƵĚĞŶƚƐ ǁŝƚŚ ƚŚĞ ƐƚƌŽŶŐĞƐƚ ĐƌŝƟĐĂů
         in New York City; you couldn’t join the       thinking skills: Finland, South Korea, and
          ŝƌ &ŽƌĐĞ͘ zĞƚ Ă ƋƵĂƌƚĞƌ ŽĨ ŽƵƌ ŬŝĚƐ ƐƟůů     WŽůĂŶĚ͘ ZŝƉůĞLJ ĐŽŶƚĂĐƚĞĚ ͞ĮĞůĚ ĂŐĞŶƚƐ͕͟
         walked out of high school and nev-            American teenagers who took a year
         er came back.” – Amanda Ridley, The           ĂďƌŽĂĚ  ŝŶ  ƚŚĞƐĞ  ĚŝīĞƌĞŶƚ  ĐŽƵŶƚƌŝĞƐ͘
         Smartest Kids in the World                    What she found, she believes, is the key
                                                       to success in our schools as well.
         The United States is one the most pros-
         perous and powerful countries in the          Finland: In the late 1960’s, Finland shut
                                    Bulletin
         world. Yet, for the last several decades,     ĚŽǁŶ ƚŚĞŝƌ ǀĂƌŝŽƵƐ ƐĐŚŽŽůƐ ŽĨ ĞĚƵĐĂƟŽŶ
         ŽƵƌ  ƐĐŚŽŽůƐ  ŚĂǀĞ  ďĞĞŶ  ƐĐƌƵƟŶŝnjĞĚ  ĂŶĚ     and moved them all to the elite universi-
         ŚĂǀĞ ĐŽŵĞ ŽƵƚ ǁŝƚŚ ƉƌĞƩLJ ƉŽŽƌ ŐƌĂĚĞƐ͘         ƟĞƐ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ĐŽƵŶƚƌLJ͘ &ƌŽŵ ƚŚĞŶ ŽŶ͕ ƚĞĂĐŚ-
         tŚĞŶ  ŝƚ  ĐŽŵĞƐ  ƚŽ  ĐƌŝƟĐĂů  ƚŚŝŶŬŝŶŐ͕       ers would only be accepted from the top
         American high school students perform         10% of the applicants in the country.
         about 26th in the world in math, 17th in      tŚŝůĞ Ăƚ ĮƌƐƚ͕ ƚŚĞƌĞ ǁĂƐ Ă ƚĞĂĐŚĞƌ ƐŚŽƌƚ-
         ƐĐŝĞŶĐĞ ĂŶĚ ϭϮƚŚ ŝŶ ƌĞĂĚŝŶŐ͘ /Ŷ ĂĚĚŝƟŽŶ͕      ĂŐĞ͕  ǁŝƚŚ  ƟŵĞ͕  ƚŚĞ  ƚĞĂĐŚĞƌ  ƉŽŽů  ďĞ-
         ƚŚĞ ŶĂƟŽŶĂů ŚŝŐŚ ƐĐŚŽŽů ŐƌĂĚƵĂƟŽŶ ƌĂƚĞ        ĐĂŵĞ ƐĞůĞĐƟǀĞ ĂŶĚ ŵŽƟǀĂƚĞĚ͘ dĞĂĐŚĞƌƐ
         is now below that of twenty other na-         were teaching because they wanted to
         ƟŽŶƐ͘                                         teach.  A New York Times reviewer ex-
                                                       ƉůĂŝŶƐ͕ ͞  ǀŝƌƚƵŽƵƐ ĐLJĐůĞ ŝƐ ƚŚƵƐ ŝŶŝƟĂƚĞĚ͗
         Amanda Ripley, a writer and social sci-       ďĞƩĞƌͲƉƌĞƉĂƌĞĚ͕  ďĞƩĞƌͲƚƌĂŝŶĞĚ  ƚĞĂĐŚ-
         ĞŶƟƐƚ͕  ƌĞĐĞŶƚůLJ  ǁƌŽƚĞ  Ă  Ŭ  ĞŶƟƚůĞĚ     ers can be given more autonomy, lead-
         The Smartest Kids in the World, focusing      ŝŶŐ ƚŽ ŵŽƌĞ ƐĂƟƐĮĞĚ ƚĞĂĐŚĞƌƐ ǁŚŽ ĂƌĞ
















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