DanGerity

If you have been following education hot button issues for any length of time, you've likely read about the nationwide push to better encourage girls in areas like science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The thought is that by showing young women that these topics are just as appropriate for them as their male peers, more women will find lasting careers in these traditionally male-dominated fields. Do women simply need a degree to land a job in any field? If so, the opposite is certainly not true for men - at least not yet. America Is Struggling at Math

Reasons Why the Education System is Failing Part 12 Less than half of students are able to proficiently read or complete math problems. Students are being passed on to the next grade when they should be held back, and then they are unable to complete grade-level work and keep up with their classmates. Some students are lost to the school-to-prison pipeline.- Sadly, over half of black young men who attend urban high schools do not earn a diploma. Of these dropouts, too, nearly 60 percent will go to prison at some point. Perhaps there is no real connection between these two statistics, or the eerily similar ones associated with young Latino men. There is a nationwide college-gender gap, and surprisingly, we are not focusing on it.

Reasons Why the Education System is Failing, Part 10 At a time where children need more attention than ever to succeed, overcrowded classrooms are making it even tougher to learn and tougher still for teachers to be effective. 80 percent of students are graduating high school...yet less than half of these students are ready for what's next.- The U.S. Education Department reports that the high school graduation rate is at an all-time high at 80 percent. Four out of five students are successful in studies completion and graduate within four years. While these statistics sound like a reason for a standing ovation, they are overshadowed by the crisis that is sweeping the United States. 80 percent of high school seniors receive a diploma.

Reasons Why the Education System is Failing, Part 9 District schools need to find ways to better recognize different types of learning talent and look beyond the typical "gifted" student model. The national push to make talented and gifted programs better mirror the contemporary and ever-evolving student body is a step in the right direction. Real change happens on a smaller scale though - in individual districts, schools and TAG programs. That progress must start with understanding of the makeup of a particular student body and include innovative ways to include all students in TAG learning initiatives. Our schools are overcrowded.