thoughtmechanics

There seems to be plenty of doom and gloom in the latest reports about how our children are fairing in terms of education; the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is reporting that high school students are not performing as well as their counterparts in Asia and Europe, though fourth graders are doing better their gains are diminishing to their international counterparts. For example the report states that “[f]ourth-graders showed improvements in math and science, with rising scores between 1996 and 2005 on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) [but] [t]welfth-graders’ performance in NAEP science declined between 1996 and 2005.??? It should come as no surprise that some are arguing that the US education system look to the East for inspiration on boosting math and science scores particularly the concept of employing specialists to teach those subjects rather than generalists—but that could undermine the movement to “teach the controversy??? and we wouldn’t want that.

Privatizing the public education has been one argument floated out there to address the ills of the current system but that might not be the best solution. Given our fascination with the profit motive there exists a better investment than seeding Montessori and religious schools around the country and it can be found on today’s college campus: Smart Drugs. “[F]ueled with “smart pills” that increase … concentration, focus, wakefulness and short-term memory,??? these kids are proving that want to learn. So rather than improving teaching methods or building newer and better schools why not partner with the pharmaceutical industry to provide government subsidized Adderall and Provigi. It would be a one-two punch as the drug companies would gain entrance to an emerging market and our children would have the tools necessary so that they are not left behind.