Why is education so bad in America compared to other countries? I’m sick and tired of reading and hearing about all the bad things in the American educational system. As a former teacher of both college and high school mathematics, I find my insides turning every time I read a report on how we are failing our children. But are we failing, or are there other factors which need to be addressed? Let’s take a look at these.

The educational debate has been raging for decades already, and every month or so someone comes up with the supposed solution to our educational ills. These soi disant experts rally their call and come up with new programs which will remedy our maladjusted programs. The “new math” is one example of these innovative constructs which only served to further bewilder an already confused educational curriculum.

The truth of the matter is that education can never improve when the very customers are against such, when they don’t see any connection with reality, and when they can’t find any reason why they need to learn the fodder we force on them. We need to make our children self-sufficient. We need to show them how to thrive and prosper. Our educational programs need to show students how to make it in the world, and yes, this means showing them how to thrive financially. It does no good to tell them that they need to learn history and geometry and English literature so that they can ultimately graduate high school, get into college, and then hopefully find a job. This type of persuasive speech can neither fool nor motivate our savvy kids of today, and it certainly will not get them to taking to the books and getting A’s.

As Napolean Hill mentioned in his classic Think and Grow Rich, if the Carnegie philosophy about accumulating wealth were taught in schools, the time spent in school could be cut in half. This should not be construed to mean that education should be all about learning to make money and such lofty ideals as being literate and well-read are not important; it’s just that what good is being lettered if you can’t make it in the world?—and yes, making it in the world means being able to make money and provide for your family.

The underlying theme of my educational philosophy, and one seen in all my teachings, writings, and ebooks, is that of the shortcut approach. No need to spend countless time trying to learn something. Get right to the meat and go straight for the jugular. My shortcut mathematical methods give one a huge advantage in that they permit one to master mathematics with a minimum amount of time invested. The rest of the time could be spent learning how to make money and how to thrive financially.

Once students are a on firm footing with school and don’t dread the daily routine of having stale fodder crammed down their already stuffed throats, they can approach school and their studies with a much healthier attitude. Look at it this way. Suppose you were a gym enthusiast and really liked to have a great build. You hated the time you had to invest to maintain your current physique. Suppose someone offered you a way to maintain that build with a program that took one-third to one-half the time. Would you still want to do your longer, already stale program, or would you like to jump on board the new one? I think the answer is self-evident.

The same is true with education in America. We need to show our kids the good shortcuts that will lead to academic success, increased self-esteem, and a healthier attitude toward school and learning. If we don’t, we’ll just get more of the same old innovative programs that come along promising to cure our educational ills. Much like resistant bacteria though, our savvy kids will just thwart any attempts to be overcome by the “new medicine” that the administrators and other educational gurus throw at them. Rather than breed new strains of bacteria, why don’t we work with our kids before they themselves mutate. After all, we don’t need any more mutations.

See more at Shortcut Math Ebooks

By: Joe Pagano

One of the quiet revolutions to accompany the Internet has been a change in the role and stature of correspondence college. Although some of the older institutions have probably been around since the time of the first matchbook, most people look somewhat askance at distance learning. Schools that offered degrees by mail have been considered suspicious shortcuts, at best; at worst, some have been outright scams.

Using the Internet

Distance learning is quickly becoming “Internet learning” in the most popular form of non-traditional education delivery. Online communication between students and teachers has somehow legitimized the process and at the same time altered the cast of players. Students are typically professionals and working adults but also include senior citizens and others who could not regularly travel to a campus for classes. Perhaps most importantly, the names of the educational institutions have changed–from specialized training schools with names like “Lucky’s Art Institute” to respected universities and colleges with long-standing campus degree programs.

To be sure, some online learning programs have simply replaced the U.S. Post Office with the Internet, conducting a rather sterile transfer of documents via e-mail. In many other cases, though, digital libraries are being made available to off-campus students, and cutting-edge technology for data sharing, collaborative research, and group conferencing are becoming invaluable resources, not mere gadgets.

Online college courses extend the scope of students to invalids or students who live and work outside the institution’s home state or virtually anywhere in the world. They also improve educational quality by offering access to famous lecturers (e.g., Gore Vidal, George Gilder, or Nicholas Negroponte). Some argue that classes that include skilled professionals, foreigners, and an overall broader cross-section of people have greater value than the homogeneity of many American college campuses.

Not all distance learning serves the completion of a college degree. The delivery of training materials via the Internet offers tremendous potential savings for corporations, especially in areas like Information Systems in which change and retraining are frequent. In some cases, online skill training takes place under the guidance of a college or professional training provider, but companies are also recognizing the value of offering internal employee training through private intranets.

Problems

There are problems yet to be solved in deploying distance learning, of course. Equipment remains costly, although the increasing ubiquitousness of PCs, both in universities and in the hands of students, is reducing the significance of this issue. Communications speed is another; overall Internet bandwidth is in high demand, and students generally are at the short end of the online stick, using modem connections that are too slow for satisfactory real-time audio or video transmissions.

Perhaps the greatest obstacle to the wider use of distance learning is a lack of understanding, and, in some cases, a reticence on the part of college faculty. Many college teachers view online education as a threat to their positions. Those who accept the new technology may struggle to understand it and wonder how it can be used and what special policies should be in place for students.

How it works

There are two common models through which online education is usually implemented. In the first, students gather in a place removed from the teacher’s location. The boundaries of a familiar classroom setting are then expanded by incorporating satellite, cable, and other networking technologies to bring the teacher and students together in real time. With the second model, the student works more as an individual, using a PC to supplement traditional course work, engage in directed study at his or her own pace, or “attend” a class that is in session within a networked environment.

The result is a more project-oriented mode of learning that may require a higher degree of discipline. The advantage, though, is that students can complete a course around their own schedule, yet it’s still an experience directed by the facilitator, with the potential for group interaction. This model is well-suited to a person who may not be able to access a classroom due to a disability, scheduling conflicts, or geographic location. The use of e-mail and electronic bulletin boards can also increase class participation by encouraging students who are normally too shy to speak in a group to contribute.

By: Mathew Simond

Most schools do not put enough emphasis on the fine arts, namely, as an example—the art of language. In an English class the teacher will focus on reading skills, reading comprehension, grammar and vocabulary—but language arts is recognizing written word as an art form.

Yes we do want our students to study and master the English language. But the fine arts should be reserved as different kind of lesson, preferably in a creative writing class that is separate from English class. But every English class, if there is no specific language arts class required, should at least include a unit that focuses on the beauty and importance of literary accomplishments throughout the ages. Poetry, plays, song lyrics, screenplays, novels, from authors like Shakespeare, Dylan Thomas, Ken Kesey, Harper Lee etc.

Language is composed of words—words carry specific meaning and sometimes carry double meaning. So the primary tool of language is words, another is sound. Words are, in combination with an almost musical goal, can show the transformation of words and basic communication into art.

Words are to the writer what paint is to the painter, they are what the instrument is to the musician, and they are what tone and pitch are to a singer. That is why children must understand that English is not just what they learn in English class—but the language itself is spawned the language arts years and years ago.

The empty page means to the writer what the score of music means to the musician or singer. The empty page is the blank canvas, the untouched page in a sketchbook and so on, the empty page is—the thing that the any artist of the written word must make to come alive.

As I mentioned before, there is a musical aspect and technique to literary language that is hard to grasp without providing prime examples of it. The musical technique involved in the art of language is well exemplified by the works of William Shakespeare, but he is just one of many. The poem, when read silently or aloud. Should have a certain song about it. Whether it in written in iambic pentameter, as a sestina or in the more modern style of free form, the music should be there. For example in a poem by Dylan Thomas, the first stanza reads:

“ Do not go gentle into that good night


Old age should burn and rave at close of day;


Rage, rage against the dying of the light.


Though wise men at their end know dark is right,


Because their words had forked no lightning they


Do not go gentle into that good night…”


The poem was written as Dylan Thomas watched his father lay dying, and there is a beautiful song here. Note the repetition. Note the syntax in which the words are used which is different than regular speech—there are articles like “the” or “a” that the author will drop—removed for the sake of rhythm. This particular poem is easy to find at the library or on the Internet, and I highly recommend it as a tool for any Language Arts instructor.

There is technique and beauty, form, use of syllables, pitch, pacing and sound even in prose. So demonstrate to your students the versatility of words.

If there is one thing I loved best about high school—it was what I learned in my Advanced English class, which was exclusive to the analysis of the literary arts

By: Anne Clarke