The motto of the United Negro College Fund can today be applied to all children in our school systems—not just the socially disadvantaged, or poor, or intellectually challenged, but all children regardless of SES characteristics or intelligence. I say this based on 20 years of working as a volunteer tutor or staff in elementary and middle schools in various parts of the country.
The problem has several components. The first is the pervasive negative impact on children's minds of their compulsive use of screens, social media, and the internet. There is no shortage of articles that have been written, both scientific and anecdotal, about the various aspects of this negative impact. Research shows that the compulsive use of screen devices leads to a variety of social interaction and psychological problems.
Then there is the use that is being made of computers in schools as a major part of the instruction program. From what I have seen, students spend more time on the laptop than receiving instruction from their teacher. While computers have a place in a learning program, I believe that too much reliance has been placed on them. Research adds credence to this feeling.
Parents don't seem to place the same emphasis on learning that they used to, and as a result, children are less committed to the process. As learning is not an easy process, and definitely often not "fun," this lack of commitment results in many students frequently tuning instruction out. (I found no research on this.)
Both ELA and math instruction are based on and depend on the mastering and understanding of fundamentals—for ELA, phonics; for math, the basic rules for adding and subtracting, and most importantly, the multiplication table. Yet time and again, I have found that students who have not mastered these fundamentals are moved forward regardless. Most schools today promote all students to the next grade, regardless of performance; I've been told that parents don't want their children held back.
Teachers are often blamed for the fact that the national scores of students' knowledge of English and Math have declined. But while there no doubt is some blame there, there is just so much a teacher can do when faced with children who don't care about education, who think learning is irrelevant for them, and who have minds that have a short attention span because of the impact of technology.
Another problem is that even with all the money the Federal government pours into our schools, there are still many children who are left behind because they don't receive the remedial instruction they need; teachers just don't have the time. I'm not talking so much about the children in Special Ed or Title 1 programs, I'm talking about the many children who don't qualify for these programs but just never learned the basics in elementary school, not because of a learning disability but because they just couldn't keep up, and so each year fall farther and farther behind as they are promoted to the next grade. This applies to both English and Math. Even if they learn some process in 5th or 6th grade, the basics—whether it's phonics or the multiplication tables—need to be applied, and if those were never mastered, the student is stuck.
But school districts uniformly do not spend the money to provide one-on-one remedial services to such children. Because they fall between the cracks of the various Federal programs, they are doomed to low functioning in life. In a country as rich as ours, this is disgraceful. No child should be left behind.
Finally, the way in which schools are funded in this country is a recipe for inequality. Local property taxes account for 45% of school funding; another 45% comes from the state, with the federal government contributing only 10%. Although states often apply equalization formulas, they usually don't work. As a result, children who grow up in areas that have a better tax base receive a better funded, and typically a better, education. Thus, poor children—both White and people of color—never receive the education that gives them the equal opportunity that is promised in the Declaration of Independence to pursue happiness.
The result of all these factors is that untold millions of minds are wasted. This is not just an unnecessary tragedy for the individuals so impacted, but it is a drag on our society and economy because these individuals will never be able to contribute to the economy as they otherwise would and their participation in society is limited.
Regarding the impact of technology on children's lives, after numerous studies around the world of the negative impact on children, there is movement to limit the use of smartphones and other technology by children under 16. Regarding the use of technology in the classroom, I am not aware of any movement to return to a system of greater teacher involvement. Regarding those that never master ELA or math, parent, teacher, and school organizations must lobby state and federal governments for funds to provided one-on-one remedial instruction for such children, initially whatever grade they're in; at some point, it should only be necessary in the elementary grades where those skills are taught.
But beyond such efforts, it is critical that parents emphasize the importance of learning to success and happiness in one's life. There is a reason why certain cultures, both in fact and stereotype, produce students who excel more in their education—Asian and Jewish come to mind immediately—it is that parents in these cultures, regardless of their social status, generally emphasize the importance of education, not just to get ahead for a better life.
All parents should be encouraged by whatever agencies or health providers they come in contact with to bring education into the home and emphasize its importance to their children. If a parent is not comfortable with that because of their own low-level of educational attainment, they need to be shown how they can do this simply but effectively.
This should be seen as a component part of the push for equal opportunity in our society. Everyone at all levels of society should be committed to this goal that has its roots in the words of the Declaration of Independence, that:
"all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men."Ronald L. Hirsch is a teacher, legal aid lawyer, survey researcher, nonprofit executive, consultant, composer, author, and volunteer. He is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Chicago Law School and the author of We Still Hold These Truths. Read more of his writing at www.PreservingAmericanValues.com
