The recent hullabaloo in the news of late about the deficiencies in our education system caused me to ponder. And that's always a dangerous thing, usually resulting in a rant. Here it is.
Back in the 80's the State of Florida decided that every police applicant must pass the TABE test. That's Test of Adult Basic Education. The test had been developed in the 60's to see if you'd learned enough in high school to meet the standard of what a graduate should know. Passing score on the test was 12th Grade Level. By the time it got to the 80's the failure rate was so high, the passing high school equivalence had eroded down to 9th Grade. That's a Freshman in high school.
When we began giving the test we were astounded. There was one group who consistently passed it and another who couldn't get past 7th grade. The successful group was usually folks in their late 40's and up. The group that couldn't buy a passing grade were recent college graduates.
That's what I said, recent college graduates. And not from these dubious towers of learning like Edison State College and the their ilk. These were people with sheepskins from state universities.
The situation got so bad that when one of these scholars applied we'd tell them to go to the book store, buy a study manual for the GED test, and concentrate on English and Math--the two killer areas for college grads. Most were glad for the help after they'd taken the test. It's been so long I've forgotten all that stuff. Right! Four years.
So we started slippin' and slidin' on this slope a long time ago. And I'm not blaming the teachers, which is the popular thing to do. I'm wondering who's providing the curriculum they are required to teach. And, worst of all, how any teacher can deal with the chaos that's allowed to go on in classrooms today.
We'd better make some changes. Our education level is in the bottom tier worldwide.
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