Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
100 years ago we spent a fraction/pupil what we do now, but kids were 100 times better educated. Education takes 4 walls, books and teachers who are in it for the kids; not the money.
With all due respect, I would like to challenge this claim.
For one, you need to define what you mean by "100 times better educated." Secondly, would you mind very much substantiating your claim by providing a link or a copy/paste of the factual basis for this information?
With all due respect, I would like to challenge this claim.
For one, you need to define what you mean by "100 times better educated." Secondly, would you mind very much substantiating your claim by providing a link or a copy/paste of the factual basis for this information?
No stats here but it seems to me a, significant, portion of the population was illiterate 100 years ago.
My grandmother told a story of how girls were done with school after 6th grade when she was young. She used to sit outside of her brother's classes. He'd open the window so she could hear what was being taught. He got to finish 8th grade before going to work to support the family.
I'd say we're educating more kids and educating them longer than we were 100 years ago but I don't have a link to anything that supports that.
100 years ago we spent a fraction/pupil what we do now, but kids were 100 times better educated. Education takes 4 walls, books and teachers who are in it for the kids; not the money.
100 years ago, we spent a fraction of what we do now on ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. Heck, cars cost 10 times what they did when I graduated from high school (I'm dating myself here). Of course we spent a fraction of what we do now. It's called inflation.
And 100 years ago, the teacher could beat the kids who would then be beaten by their parents when they got home. Teachers didn't spend half their day on discipline problems.
And the amount of information that was required to be taught to students in 1910 was so small compared to today that the statement is just ridiculous. Today we teach elements of algebra to 1st graders; we start teaching calculus to kids in 9th grade. When I went to high school 45 years ago, we didn't even teach calculus. There was no national policy regarding education, no interference with the neighborhood school. There is simply no way to compare the two schools 100 years apart. Heck, there is almost no comparison to the way it was when I started almost 40 year ago.
And the amount of information that was required to be taught to students in 1910 was so small compared to today that the statement is just ridiculous. Today we teach elements of algebra to 1st graders; we start teaching calculus to kids in 9th grade. When I went to high school 45 years ago, we didn't even teach calculus. There was no national policy regarding education, no interference with the neighborhood school. There is simply no way to compare the two schools 100 years apart. Heck, there is almost no comparison to the way it was when I started almost 40 year ago.
Z
Calculus was offered in my high school for the first time in 1966, 44 years ago.
Calculus was offered in my high school for the first time in 1966, 44 years ago.
Lucky you. I went to a rural PA school. We had something called math anal, and there were some elements of calc in it, but it wasn't like taking AP calculus.
35 years later in a school even more rural than mine, my son breezed through AP calculus, and his teacher had no idea what constituted AP-A or AP-B, and so in the year just taught them everything he knew about calculus. My son tested out of three semesters of college calculus. This was really helpful since he was carrying a double major in mathematics and physics, and and held him in early goodstead as he is currently finishing his PhD in nuclear physics.
^^I went to a mill town high school in western Pennsylvania. (The one that taught calculus.) Good for your son. DH has a PhD in nuclear physics, too. Good luck in finding a job outside the university setting or for a defense contractor.
Last edited by Katarina Witt; 04-21-2010 at 11:11 PM..
Like most kids he attended school only thru the 6th grade.
His reading, writing, and math was better than some of the kids graduating today.
No the teachers weren't teaching --" algebra to 1st graders-- back then.
Maybe the teachers of today should concentrate on having their students able to read,write, and do simple math by 6th grade so by 12th grade they could function better.
Having teenagers working at a convenience store who can't make change is a disgrace to our education system !
I once knew a young woman who went into a panic cuz she couldn't find her calculator as the time for her garage sale was approaching.
( and everything was priced at dollar amounts and 50 cents amounts.
Many high school graduates have no clue whatsoever how to figure out gas mileage.
When I state my exact mileage on long trips,they ask me if my car computes my gas mileage for me.
Like most kids he attended school only thru the 6th grade.
His reading, writing, and math was better than some of the kids graduating today.
No the teachers weren't teaching --" algebra to 1st graders-- back then.
Maybe the teachers of today should concentrate on having their students able to read,write, and do simple math by 6th grade so by 12th grade they could function better.
Having teenagers working at a convenience store who can't make change is a disgrace to our education system !
I once knew a young woman who went into a panic cuz she couldn't find her calculator as the time for her garage sale was approaching.
( and everything was priced at dollar amounts and 50 cents amounts.
Many high school graduates have no clue whatsoever how to figure out gas mileage.
When I state my exact mileage on long trips,they ask me if my car computes my gas mileage for me.
Disgusting !
Anecdotes are not DATA. One would think if you are sooo much better educated than todays students you would know that. For every story you trot out above I can show you one of high school seniors getting published, getting perfect SATs etc. It is still not relevant.
The amount and degree of information which children are leaving high school with is significantly more than it was years ago if only because our information set has increased so much. Biology today is radically different a class than it was even just 10 years ago and if it is still being taught the same way with the same information shame on your school district.
As for concentrating on reading and writing, you should know that it is illegal for teacher to teach something in place of the curriculum. Additionally, the largest gaps between american students and the world are in science first and then more advanced math, not the "basics". If you want to complain we are falling behind the rest of the world it is not because they are better at the three r's.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have only had to supervise the lunch room once and I hope I never have to do it again. 
It's scary in there.
