USA - What’s Holding Back American Teenagers? – Our high schools are a disaster

In the article “What’s Holding Back American Teenagers? – Our high schools are a disaster” Laurence Steinberg, a psychology professor at Temple University in Philadelphia, discusses the flaws of American high schools. The article was published on the 11th of February 2014 on www.slate.com.

The author begins with the political debate in the U.S. concerning education, which he takes up again at the end of the article. He then continues saying that American high schools score below average in international assessments and asks the question that he is trying to answer in this article: “What’s holding back our teenagers?”

Laurence Steinberg then writes that a study based on OECD data that compares high school students’ participation and belongingness, hints that American high schools are a place of social rather than intellectual engagement, which is a difference compared to the economic competitors of the States.

He also mentions the fact that a high school student’s level of boredom peaks during class and that in the last 40 years students’ scores haven’t increased in reading or math.

Prof. Steinberg goes on by stating that contrary to widespread belief, both ethnic differences and poverty have nothing to do with the fact that the scores of high school students haven’t increased, but that it’s the American educational system’s fault that a large number of college students drop out of school.

Laurence Steinberg believes this underachievement costs the country multiple billions of dollars a year and comes to the conclusion that the only way out of this downward spiral is reform. In his opinion this reform should include programs to enhance the “non-cognitive” skills needed to complete a college degree.

He finishes the article with the sentence: “Our kids will never rise to the challenge if the challenge doesn’t come. “

What we have to say about this:

The first thing that the author of the article mentions is the political discussion about the educational system. This is an issue that has become very relevant again since President Barack Obama has  made renewed promises of change recently. However, the school system in America hasn’t changed much at all in recent history. Since we’re a part of the Swiss school system we notice or hear about changes all the time. For instance, we learn about changes in how certain subjects count for our report or how the year below us has an extra semester of Gymnasium before they do their final exams. Children in Switzerland also now spend a year more in elementary school instead of secondary school, perhaps to better develop the “non-cognitive” skills mentioned in the article. As far as we know, there haven’t been any changes to the American school system regarding which school children attend at what age or anything similar. Perhaps the schools in America would benefit if there was some reform in these areas.

The focus on social aspects of school also seems to be something that is especially prominent in the US. While developing social skills is certainly not a bad thing, it might be playing too big a role in students’ lives and taking focus away from school work. We only have experience with the Swiss system but it seems to us that there is less of a “high school popularity contest” than there is in some American schools. The educational system in the US seems to place more emphasis on things like high school sports teams or events like “homecoming” or “prom”. While these things are valued very highly amongst students, they might also be another factor distracting from what students actually attend school for.

Another reason for why American schools do so poorly compared to other highly developed countries might be the way the material itself is taught to the students and the way that their progress is measured. One of the ways that progress is measured in the USA  is through standardized testing. Standardized tests are exams where every student in the school system takes a test with the exact same questions. Many important exams relevant to college admission are done this way in the States. The school itself is also measured by the results of its students. Schools that do well in these exams are even occasionally rewarded with extra funding. Many believe that this has led to teachers “teaching for the test”. This means that teachers spend many of their classes coaching students to pass a specific test instead of actually teaching them the subject. So even if a student passes the final exam they might not know much about the subject.

Another reason why students might be coached to pass their exams is to boost admissions into college. This is a trend most likely brought about by the fact that nowadays many jobs require a college degree. But as mentioned in the article, many that attempt to get these degrees fail due to lack of knowledge, knowledge that they should have probably been taught in high school. In our school system our progress is measured through a long process where the average of our marks is taken from tests all throughout the semester.  Whether we get to go to university is decided by some final exams in key subjects, that are far less standardized compared to America, and a written project that is done by each student individually.

We are of the opinion that the point mentioned last by the author is the most important. We completely agree that certain people need to be pushed a bit to achieve their full potential. The brightest people will always succeed in whatever kind of school system they are placed. However we think there are some who will not if they are not faced with challenges. We think that the Swiss system of constant evaluation leads to increased pressure on students but also to more people reaching their full potential. We think that more focus on school work itself and more challenging tasks for students increases the level of education.
(M.C, M.H)