My Take - The Global Achievement Gap

I've officially crossed the line into old man territory.  For father's day I unwrapped a book light and Kindle case -- both of which I desperately wanted.  I had been frustrated with my old reading light which took 2 AAA batteries and died in 5-6 hours... flat out ridiculous.  Now I have a light that takes 1 AAA and lasts for 20 hours.  As for the Kindle case, that was a requirement -- it was only a matter of time before I carelessly dropped the unprotected Kindle on the ground.  But this isn't why I'm writing, back to the subject....

It takes me a good 2 hours to decide the next book I'm going to read... since I have a limited period of time each day to devote to a book, it had better be a good one!  I'm not one of these speed readers that can blow through a book in no time, I typically chug at a 20 page clip per night.  Anyway, I did my research on this book and it scored raving reviews... so I had some confidence that this one would be worth my while.  Here's the message that The Global Achievement Gap (Tony Wagner) tries to convey:

Why even our best schools don't teach the new survival skills our children need and what we can do about it.

Why this book received such good reviews is beyond me, I stuck to it and read this one thoroughly hoping that it would suddenly get better... but like the tv series Lost, something was missing.  This guy brings up some good points which I'll share in a bit, but he brings them up over-and-over again -- I felt like I was reading a freshman research paper.  Now I'm by no means what I would consider a good writer, but I can spot talent -- and have read much more engaging books in the past.

Issues where I think he's spot on:

• Students are accustomed to having teachers tell them what to do.
• I couldn't agree more.  THINK people!  Figure it out yourself, I'd take the wrong answer at the expense of a great effort any day.  Many kids/adults just want to know the right answer and move on -- what are you gaining here?
• Tests are too focused on mastery of factual content-at the expense of research, reasoning, and analysis -  I can tell you that Albert Einstein proved E=mc^2.
• Lead by influence rather than authority
• Many kids seem to think that interrupting adults whenever they wanted something was their birthright - Discipline!
• ..a tendency of some teachers to accept mediocrity, a low level of performance from students.
• I can't think of any classroom that did anything but prepare me for tests, I did well because I knew how to take tests-but now I can't recall a thing.
• "Parents shouldn't worry so much about how their children are doing in school.  They should find out more about what their extracurricular interests are".
• First, it's not about more content.  AP courses are a mile wide and an inch deep...... Second.. it's not just about more complex content, it's about deepening the quality of the analysis.
• Less is more, depth over coverage.
• Demonstration of mastery - Perfect practice makes perfect.
• Research, writing, and effective oral communication matter far more than performance on multiple choice tests - I've discussed this with one of my friends in the past here in MI.  He always says:  If you can master the english language you can do anything -- I completely agree.
• I do not believe that all students need to go to college to have a rewarding and successful life. 

These were just some of the highlights I pulled (and repeated throughout the book ad-nauseam) -- great points nonetheless.  However the one factor lacking from this book -- the PARENTS!!  I got the sense that the author truly believes educational institutions can one day be an assembly line which cranks out perfect students that are prepared to make the world a better place.  PARENTS, by far, play a bigger role than the teacher.  Take some of the good points I highlighted above,  these are all things that a parent can (and should) teach their children from the first day they can understand:

•   Students are accustomed to having teachers tell them what to do - Think for yourselves first.  Make a solid effort and share your reasoning.
• Lead by influence rather than authority.
• Demonstration of mastery.
• Many kids seem to think that interrupting adults whenever they wanted something was their birthright - This is easily avoidable.

There are also examples in this book that put the burden on the teacher and not on the parent as well:

• How do we both support our educators and hold them more accountable for results? - If a parent doesn't like what a teacher is doing -- take action, find another teacher, school, etc.
• How do we ensure that every student has an adult advocate in his or her school who knows the student well?  Maybe in cases where the student has a rough home life.

 
Bottom line is the author does understand the issues in how the majority of schools across the U.S. (do not) teach material... but lacks the discussion on the importance of how a child is raised.  The title of the book had me intrigued at first as well, I thought there was going to be an in-depth discussion about schools around the world and how their cultures played a key role in their success -- bad assumption.  And don't get me wrong, I do think some teachers can (and do) greatly impact a child's future... I just take issue with placing the burden on the teachers for more accountability of student results when clearly this is something the parents have significant influence over.