Earlier this month, I took my 13-year-old son to buy a get-well card for a teammate who had taken a baseball to the face during a tournament.
asserted
who → take → tournament
“How about this one?” I asked.
asserted
I → ask → one
He took the card I’d offered, paused, and looked up at me.
asserted
I → take → me
“Dad, I can’t read cursive,” he replied.
asserted
he → read → cursive
We bought the card, but I left that encounter even more discouraged by the state of education in America.
asserted
I → buy → America
And I’m not alone.
asserted
I → ’m → ?
A Gallup poll released last week found that satisfaction with K-12 education has hit basement levels, with just 32% saying they are satisfied with the quality of education.
asserted
they → release → education
That’s the lowest level in the 27 years Gallup has conducted the survey, and a 19-point drop from 2019, when 51% said they were satisfied.
asserted
they → ’ → 2019
While attitudes about education alone don’t necessarily mean quality has declined, the evidence suggests people have good reason to be dissatisfied.
uncertain
people → mean → reason
One day after Gallup released its poll results, the New York Times published the results of the latest Program for International Student Assessment, which measures 15-year-olds across countries for proficiency in science, reading, and math.
asserted
which → release → science
To say the results for U.S. students are bleak is an understatement.
asserted
results → say → students
Performance in science, reading, and math all hit 20-year lows.
asserted
Performance → hit → lows
“Our kids are going in the wrong direction on the skills that are absolutely essential for their — and our — success.
asserted
that → go → success
The end,” Margaret Spellings, an education secretary under former President George W. Bush, told the New York Times.
asserted
Spellings → tell → Times
Considering these results, it’s hardly surprising that more than two-thirds of people say they are dissatisfied with K-12 education.
asserted
they → consider → education
Indeed, the only surprise is that a third say they are satisfied.
asserted
they → say → ?
Why student scores are plummeting is a more interesting question.
asserted
plummeting → plummet → ?
If you read the New York Times story, the primary culprit is artificial intelligence.
asserted
culprit → read → story
The newspaper reports that in the United States and other mostly free-market countries, most of which scored even worse than the U.S. in the latest PISA, AI is highly prevalent.
asserted
AI → report → PISA
Whereas in Asian countries that scored much higher, such as China, Singapore, and Japan, “AI is not typically used by students.”
asserted
AI → score → students
The New York Post, meanwhile, says social media, smartphones, and tablets are “behind the brain-rotting.”
asserted
media → say → rotting
The paper, citing data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, said evidence suggests that these technologies have created a “hasty reading” epidemic, which has hurt reading comprehension.
uncertain
which → cite → comprehension
“In reading, more screen time and less reading for pleasure have gone hand in hand with weaker results,” OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann told reporters.
asserted
Cormann → go → reporters
Technology has no doubt played a role, but simply blaming tech ignores the pressure schools put on students to adopt it.
asserted
schools → play → it
In 2013, the year my son was born, cursive was disappearing from U.S. classrooms.
asserted
cursive → bear → classrooms
It was “increasingly becoming obsolete,” an elementary school principal told the Washington Post.
asserted
principal → become → Post
The newspaper also reported on what was taking the place of actual writing.
asserted
what → report → writing
“Cursive writing is a traditional skill that has been replaced with technology,” a union official told the paper.
asserted
official → replace → paper
Like many children, mine were sent home with tablets purchased by schools — no doubt with the aid of federal dollars.
asserted
mine → send → dollars
They were ordered to do their homework on these devices.
asserted
They → order → devices
Now the tide is turning once again.
asserted
tide → turn → ?
My younger son, who is entering fourth grade, won’t be bringing a tablet home, his teacher told me.
asserted
teacher → enter → me
He will not be receiving cursive instruction — he is “too old” at this point — but many younger students will.
asserted
students → receive → point
Now, it’s tech that is in the doghouse.
asserted
that → ’ → doghouse
“Sorry, the social experiment on a hundred million kids did not go as planned,” school administrators seem to be saying.
asserted
administrators → go → kids
This whiplash raises a lot of questions, but it’s a mistake to simply blame technology or believe that reintroducing cursive will improve U.S. education without identifying the root of the problem.
asserted
reintroducing → raise → problem
Many claim that only greater funding and an optimal student-teacher ratio can improve schools.
uncertain
funding → claim → schools
But K-12 spending is at historic highs, $21,065 per pupil, even as student achievement has reached historic lows.
asserted
achievement → reach → lows
Banning screens can’t fix the system’s lack of accountability and skewed incentives.
asserted
Banning → ban → accountability
Schools continue to receive funds no matter how poorly they perform.
asserted
they → continue → funds
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
