Photo: Standardized testing in China.
Texas reading scores have fallen to their lowest in decades, consistent with national trends. However, Texas eighth grade math scores fell more sharply than the national average decline, extending a more than a decade-long downward trend…
— from Texas2036.com
My central question: What is the definition of an “excellent” school?
If you ask the educational scientists and bureaucrats who have taken control of public education, the answer appears to be, “Does the school show success teaching Reading and Mathematics, as measured by an annual standardized test?”
As I drive through my home town of Pagosa Springs, and take note of the wide range human activities taking place — ranching, construction, retail sales, restaurants, health care, road maintenance, motels, fire protection, bars, government, fitness centers, child care, engineering, nonprofits, accounting, vacation rentals, automotive services, education, beauty salons, resort services, real estate, marijuana cultivation — it seems to me, without having any firm scientific data at hand, that the vast majority of the 6,000 jobs in Pagosa Springs have little or no need for algebra, trigonometry or calculus.
Some of those jobs might require occasional addition or multiplication. Almost none of them require anyone to solve an algebraic equation.
But the Gods of Education Science demand that all students learn — or at least attempt to learn — how to solve algebraic equations.
I myself took all the math courses offered in my high school — algebra, geometry, trigonometry and calculus. Geometry was mildly useful when I worked as a carpenter. The other courses were, speaking practically, a year of wasted time for me.
Almost every job available in Pagosa Springs demands proficiency in social interactions and in cooperation, and especially, in understanding another person’s point of view, and their needs. But the Gods of Education Science care first and foremost about Reading and Math.
Is that because Reading and Math can be easily evaluated and quantified through a computerized test? Or for some other reason?
Here are some graduation requirements at Pagosa Springs High School. Once again, we find two areas of knowledge held up as essential to modern life:
English and Mathematics…
…Even though most jobs that our students will eventually work at, require at most addition and multiplication. In other words, Basic Arithmetic.
General requirements
Students will be required to accumulate 28 credits before becoming eligible for graduation.
1. Students will need to demonstrate a competency level in English and Mathematics.
The skills that most jobs require are not taught in a typical high school. If they are in fact taught, they are often treated as “electives”. Superfluous. Unnecessary.
Many Daily Post readers are no doubt familiar with the popular online hiring platform, Indeed.com. The website claims to provide access to 580 million job seeker profiles, with about 6 million job applications filled out each day on mobile devices. They also claim to provide access to 32.5 million job listings.
I looked through the 19 pages of Indeed.com job listings for “Pagosa Springs” — about half of which were for remote jobs or jobs in other communities — and found 138 local job openings. About 35 required some type of certification or college degree. The rest — about 103 jobs — looked like the type of job that didn’t require any advanced training or education.
Only one of the 138 local jobs listed on Indeed.com looked like it might require knowledge of basic algebra… or statistics… or calculus… or logic… or data management… or geometry…
Here’s one of the job listings that suggests special training, though perhaps not advanced mathematics:
Elementary Classroom Teacher: 2025-26 school year
Pagosa Peak Open School
3133 Cornerstone Dr, Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
$47,000 – $50,000 a year — Full-time
In Part Two, I included a quote from Bob Lynch, President of the Archuleta School District Board of Education. Here are a couple of sentences from that quote:
One of the main levers the board has for ensuring improvement in student achievement is to make sure we do everything we can to attract and retain great teachers. We have some of the best teachers in the state and we want to keep them on board and ensure that they are valued for what they do.
My research into education over the past 40 years — as a parent, teacher, journalist, and most recently as a Pagosa Peak Open School board member — leads me to agree with Mr. Lynch’s statement. Study after study into the “levers” that drive successful educational outcomes point to one determining factor:
Great teachers.
What skills and talents and character traits are necessary to be a “great” teacher, in one of the world’s more challenging professions? What type of person can gently lead a group of 20 children through — children from all walks of life, from different family background, with a wide range of abilities, some of whom have experienced various types of trauma — what type of person do we need to handle this essential work?
First and foremost, I would argue, a great teacher is empathetic, nurturing, and compassionate… and loves the work of helping young people unfold their potential.
A great teacher elicits respect from students, not through heavy-handed punishments but through competent leadership and reciprocal affection.
A great teacher is creative, inventive, and constantly learning.
A great teacher is patient, and persevering.
A great teacher is a model of these character traits, so that the students can absorb these attributes by osmosis, and grow into kind, caring, productive members of society.
I’ve said it before. Education is not a science. Education is an art.
We’ve allowed the Gods of Education Science to distract us from the development of a healthy, compassionate society, through their insistence that what America needs most are scientists and engineers and mathematicians.
We now appear to be reaping the harvest.