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<p>I understand, but think about your statement about geometry. Isn’t that a problem in itself when kids are seemingly unable to recall or answer questions about a BASIC subject such as geometry? This goes to the heart of our education system that is based on providing little slivers of “knowledge” and move on, without true regard to the student actual ability to use that knowledge. This is also why so many students do poorly on tests such as the SAT, as their blocks of knowledge have lost all foundation. </p>
<p>Then, there is the issus of the tests. People love to blame them, but those tests, ranging from the most basic ones to the AP tests, were NOT created by a superior creature from a distant planet; they were written, developed, and implemented by … teachers and educators. </p>
<p>All in all, when looking for reasons behin the dismal state of K-12 educationin our country, the providers of service and their administrators should simply look in the mirror, and ask … “where did we go wrong?” and the answer is found in sixty years of abdication of our education to people who simply sought to do the least amount of work for the highest possible stack of benefits and in the least amount of time spent … educating as possible. </p>
<p>The tests are not the culprits; decades of lack of dedication and reliance on untrained and unqualified teachers are the reasons why we have a need for accountability in the first place. </p>
<p>But, as usual, the system will dodge a bullet, and with very few casualties, will limp towards a few more decades. And after we might perhaps realizing that since the alarm bells went off 25 years ago (A Nation at risk) we have simply compounded the problems, and not developed any workable solution, but relied on a narrative to blame the students and their parents for … not educating themselves or relying on elves.</p>