From: pat@chinet.chi.il.us (Patrick Louis Sugent)
Subject: Re: Spheres and Calculus (Rants on Education)
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 02:40:36 GMT

korz@cs.columbia.edu (Frederick Korz) writes:
>In article <1992Dec19.234517.5334@ucc.su.OZ.AU> DM writes:
>>
>[deletia]
>>
>>DM is surprised. "Don't you folks in the US learn calculus in high
>>school? What _do_ you learn in high school mathematics? (To clarify
>>my point - Australian high school students do learn calculus. Not too
>>advanced, but enough to solve reasonably tricky problems.)"
>
>
>  My turn to have a hot button pushed.  Not that I'm seriously angry 16
>years later, but I've got a slow simmer going on education in general
>that I have personal knowledge of for mathematics and science.  To
>your specific question the answer is "no".  In general, learning much
>of anything, on average I'm inclined to say, "no" too.

  "Well, in my case, the answer was 'yes' for 5%-10% of our school.  Basically,
it was not required, but my year had a relatively high number of 'bright'
students and our school responded by actually adding programs.  It was
amazing.  They also added some science, history, and literature courses
for us.

  "However, all of this was a direct result of parental attention and
a somewhat responsive school (both of which are probably quite unique
in the US public school system).  The basic math requirement was two years of
high school math which covered very basic geometry and algebra.
I think most students took this bare minimum.  

  "Even with my school adding 'advanced studies', it was still simple enough 
that I chose to graduate early and spend my last 'high school year' taking 
courses at a nearby University. (A unique form of 'College Prep'. :-) ).  The 
funny thing is that even though my HS seemed to support my desire to do this,
they eliminated (for all practical purposes) students' ability to do this
in years following my own.  I've never successfully deduced their motivations.
Maybe, they just thought I was setting a precedent that made them look
bad.   I would have thought they would encourage it.

  "What I still find amazing to this date, however, is that my high
school Valedictorian (I wasn't eligible since I graduated early) had taken
no more than the required and incredibly minimal science and math classes.
Nearly all of her electives were in Home Economics (cooking, child-rearing, 
and such). Now, I have nothing against Home Economics, but I always found it 
odd that our High School was willing to proclaim someone with such a weak
science/math/literature/history background our brightest student. 

  "This is part of why I always keep my head down in shame when talking
about my high school. :-)

>
>[[Patrons who've "been there, done it" might want to skim or skip the rest...]]
>
>
>Hindsight:
>
>  Hindsight of undergraduate work, 5 years as an officer in the
>submarine fleet and then nearly 6 years as a graduate student is:
>
>	your education is your own and what you make of it

>	to make the best of it, you *must* take an active part.

>	standards alone cannot impart education
 
>	the standards are mediocre and, because they are applied
>	across the board and because most HS students of my
>	acquaintance**** are passive about their education, standards
>	are unlikely to change to _ensure_ one gets a solid education.
>

  "This couldn't be more true at any level (IMHO).  The questions are (IMHO),

  "How does the educational system actually get students interested
in education?  

  "How do we get such monolithic institutions such as the
Chicago Public School system to stop playing politics and actually respond
to the needs of the students?  

  "There are lots of ideas, but I'm not sure what the right
one is or how effective any of them can really be.  The fact
that local talk shows proclaim that it takes 2-3 years for a new
administrator 'just to learn the politics' of the Chicago system does not
give me cause for hope.

  "Now that I'm living in Chicago, I get a chance to see one of the
nation's worst public school systems in action.  It isn't a pretty sight.
Aside from obvious problems with crime/drugs/poverty, the system seems
to face a bureaucracy wich places politics above students and has
budget waste which (I'm told) would be hysterical in its idiocy if it didn't 
impact so many people.

  "The only bright side I see is that there are a few brave souls who
seem legitimately interested in getting reforms imposed.  Whether or not
they stand a chance remains to be seen.

> Of course around here, The Place, I'm probably preaching to the choir.

  "Well, true enough in my case, but it does help vent frustration.


Pat


-- 
Patrick Sugent                       

pat@chinet.chi.il.us