No child held back . . .

This was our president's recognition that something was seriously wrong with our educational system!

This was also our president's failure to understand just what it was that was wrong!

Fundamentally, the system as presently designed does not work in a manner that develops the child to his maximum potential. In fact, the system holds back the brighter students and restricts the speed at which they learn to that of the slowest students in the class! At the end of each study year, all students are passed on to the next higher level without regard to whether they had actually learned all the subjects that had been a part of the curriculum of the class from which they were graduating! Worse yet, the brighter students who could have learned a great deal more were restricted to learning only as much as was taught at a speed at which the slower students, hopefully, could become proficient.

Now all that we hear is that our school system is not working! Each year, the statistical evidence from all the countries in the world indicates that the students in our schools are graduating to each next higher class without having learned each subject to the same or higher level as did the students of many of the other countries throughout the world!

No one has the guts to publically identify the reasons why this is true!

I have the guts!

All children are not born with the ability to learn at the same speed!

All parents are not capable of teaching their pre-school children the fundamentals that they need to know in order to maximize their ability to learn!

Many parents do not even try to teach their pre-school children those fundamentals!

Any educational system that does not work in a manner that allows the faster learners to progress at their most challenging speed will invariably hold them back to the speed at which the slower learners seem best able to learn.

This is ridiculous! Such a system fails to bring out the best in each student!

Such a system fails to recognize that each child has a different learning speed, and that this different learning speed is different for each subject being taught!

Such a system fails to recognize that each student will tend to like and excel in those subjects that he finds most interesting!

We need to go back and re-examine the educational system that was in effect during and prior to the 1930's . . . prior to the Great Depression!

At age six, when the child first began his formal education, they were lumped together in the same class, commonly referred to as "Kindergarten." In that class they were exposed to various subjects that allowed the teacher to observe both their mental and mechanical dexterities. Usually, the teacher was a woman, and she kept records on each student, and she used an honest grading system that became a part of that record. Periodic tests were given to assess the degree to which each student was learning each of the subjects. At the end of the school year, some of the students were recognized as being "A" students, who were consistenly at the head of the class. Some were recognized as being "C", or average students. Some students were found to be at the bottom of the class, and received failing grades.

This system performed the job of sorting the students into performance groups, allowing those who did very well to carry additional subjects, or to be given additional assignments, keeping them busy and not bored, and allowing them to be recognized for what they were capable of doing.

Initially, the subjects being taught were primarily related to the three "R's" . . . reading, writing, and arithmetic. These subjects were considered to be the most important for the child to learn because they would be needed in the daily activities that all of us engage in for the rest of our lives, but, also, were very important in preparing the child to continue his education in his choice of our higher educational facilities after he had completed the requisite 12 years in the public school system. By this time, the students had been segregated into groups relating to their ability to learn, so that the faster learners were able to progress faster, and carry more subjects, while the slower learners were still given the necessary attention to see that they learned the essential three "R's."

Then the "do-gooders" got into the act!

They ignored the fact that the students in the slower learning groups would actually be competing amongst themselves . . . that, because the faster learners were in a different group, they were not considered by the students to be a part of the competition. In each group, the students were able to learn at about the same speed, and so the group, as a whole did much better than is the case in the system used today, where the brighter students languish in the doldrums of the teaching pace that is slow enough that the slower learners are mostly able to keep up.

In today's system, the under-challenged brighter students find themselves with time on their hands, and, very often wind up as problem students who are always getting into trouble, or are causing distractions in the class that makes it difficult for the teacher to give the other students the necsssary attention.

In a nutshell, this whole educational mess in our schools is directly related to the fact that some students learn faster than others and need to be taught at a correspondingly faster pace. Such students are the ones most likely to go on to higher education after public school. Some students will display an inclination toward the physical skills, and those students will do their best if they are directed to a school where they can learn various trades . . . where they can learn to become electricians, plumbers, carpenters, and all the various skills that will prepare them to become solid citizens who earn their own living raise their families, and without having gone to a more formal institution of higher learning.

People are not the same, cast from the same mold! Each of us has his own special interests, and tends to develop along a track that is most suitable to his particular talents and interests.

Our educational system needs to be designed to teach each student in a manner that holds his interest and lets him progress at a pace that maximises his educational opportunity!

This is not accomplished by lumping all students into the same class system where they spend 12 years of their lives, each year being passed on to the next higher level whether they learned the subjects they were being taught or not!

It is time that we pulled our heads out of the sand and developed an educational system that competes with those of the countries that are rated highest in the annual performance studies. Until we do, we will continue to go downhill, and eventually wind up at the bottom of the list!