Americans, knowing they can always get serious in college, have a fairly casual attitude towards the high school years, according to Bracey. Some experts, who have been slow even to admonish high school students attitudes, put the burden on the far end of the educational pipeline. They claim that the American university system, possibly the best in the world, makes up for the many failings of our high schools. Eighth-graders scored above average in math and below average in science. Education researchers are in despair over the promise of 4th-graders dashed against the undemanding curriculum of the nation s middle schools.
Textbooks seem to be a common source of blame.
We have the fattest textbooks in the world, says Marc S. Tucker, President of the National Center on Education. Worse than heavy but shallow textbooks is the fact that the same elementary topics that form the core curriculum in 4th grade appear again and again in higher grades. The first in a series of hearings this session on math and science education was held on March 4. A myriad of solutions to what seems like the ever-present educational crisis were suggested by education researchers and professionals. New York University Psychology Professor Susan Carey believes the goal of education should be teaching for understanding.