1 to 100

I was raised in the British education system and I compare the American and British system with the analogy 1 to 100.

The American system is flawed; atleast in my humble view. Why in the world do American students score better than other nations in the early grades then fall well behind as years pass. In America, we rush to get so much information into the young minds that little is absorbed or retained. Here's the goal...I want to teach my students to count from 1 to 100 by the time they reach 10th grade. Obviously this is merely a fictitious scenario that is only used to prove a point. I will present two separate and vastly different systems below. One will seek to be wide and shallow and the other narrow and deep.

The American system that is wide and shallow will accomplish the goal in the following manner. As 1st graders, the students will have a huge text book that has the numbers 1 to 100. The teacher will teach the students to count from 1 to 100. 10% of the students will complete the entire lesson and count from 1 to 100. Of the remaining 90%, 60% may reach 20 and the others will struggle to count to 10. In the second grade, the students will again be taught the same lesson. Let's count from 1 to 100. Because the thought is, if we repeat the same lesson enough times, surely they will get it. The same process is followed until the students have reached their 10th grade year. At that point, 30% may have achieved and mastered the skill of counting from 1 to 100. Of the remaining 70%, 60% can count to 75 and 10% are truly struggling with counting from 1 to 100.

The British system that is narrow and deep will accomplish the goal in the following manner. As 1st graders, the students will have a thin textbook that only has the numbers 1 to 10. Chances are, more than 90% of the students in this 1st grade class will successfully attain mastery at a staggering level. However, if we had testing at this level, the American students would certainly test better than the British and be able to count to numbers that the other students have never seen. The same education process would continue yearly and add 10 more numbers each year, until the 10th grade. Having only counted by ten each year, I would suggest that these students would have an understanding and grasp of the process of counting from 1 to 100 that the rushed system couldn't accomplish.

It is at this point where the gap begins to appear and the American students steadily decline. Let's face it, capitalism is all about survival of the fittest. So our mission is not to educate everyone and bring them along with the rest of the group. Someone must fall behind. The world needs garbage men and grocery baggers, right. So when the system leaves millions of students behind every year, we should not lament; the system is working.

Obviously I don't support leaving children behind. That's why I hope, someday, we slow down and sift through our curriculum and deliver information in a manner that promotes depth and mastery.