More evidence for the absence of critical thinking in our schools
I was looking over the National Science Boards' recently released Science and Engineering Indicators 2006 and saw that the report referenced last year's release of the results of the 2002 Education Longitudinal Study on the American sophmore. The findings back up much of what I've noted before here, here and here, namely that our schools are not imparting the critical thinking skills which are key to an equality of opportunity and a thriving nation.
The ELS report notes that in 2002, 89% 10th graders "showed mastery of simple reading comprehension, including reproduction of detail and/or the author’s main thought," but only 46% could had the "ability to make relatively simple inferences beyond the author’s main thought and/or understand and evaluate abstract concepts" and a mere 8% had the "ability to make complex inferences or evaluative judgments that require piecing together multiple sources of information from the passage."
Put another way, less than half of 10th graders can read past a basic textual understanding, and less than a tenth can read critically. That's pathetic.
The story doesn't get any better when we shift to math. Here:
I could start by talking about how frightening it is that a full third of 10th graders can't perform simple operations with demicals, fractions, powers and roots, but I'd rather talk about the less than half who can do simple problem solving.
The absence of any higher-order thinking skills in students two years away from graduation should drive a stake through the heart of any argument that it's OK to just teach the basics because students will pick up the advanced skills later. It should also confirm that our pedagogical regime is simply not imparting the learning which we should want our students to have. There is a crisis of thinking in our schools, and I don't know how anyone can still maintain that tweaks and nudges are going to fix the problem.
The ELS report notes that in 2002, 89% 10th graders "showed mastery of simple reading comprehension, including reproduction of detail and/or the author’s main thought," but only 46% could had the "ability to make relatively simple inferences beyond the author’s main thought and/or understand and evaluate abstract concepts" and a mere 8% had the "ability to make complex inferences or evaluative judgments that require piecing together multiple sources of information from the passage."
Put another way, less than half of 10th graders can read past a basic textual understanding, and less than a tenth can read critically. That's pathetic.
The story doesn't get any better when we shift to math. Here:
Overall, 92 percent of sophomores were able to perform simple arithmetical operations on whole numbers. (In turn, 8 percent of 2002 sophomores were unable to perform simple arithmetical operations on whole numbers.) About two-thirds (67 percent) could perform simple operations with decimals, fractions, powers, and roots. Fewer than half (46 percent), however, could perform simple problem solving that involved the understanding of low-level mathematical concepts. At level 4, one-fifth (20 percent) were proficient, that is, could understand intermediate-level mathematical concepts and/or demonstrate ability to formulate multistep solutions to word problems. Level 5 involves solving complex multistep word problems and mastery of material found in advanced mathematics courses. Since few sophomores have yet taken advanced courses (such as precalculus and calculus), it is not surprising that few showed mastery at this level—just 1 percent of sophomores were proficient at level 5.
I could start by talking about how frightening it is that a full third of 10th graders can't perform simple operations with demicals, fractions, powers and roots, but I'd rather talk about the less than half who can do simple problem solving.
The absence of any higher-order thinking skills in students two years away from graduation should drive a stake through the heart of any argument that it's OK to just teach the basics because students will pick up the advanced skills later. It should also confirm that our pedagogical regime is simply not imparting the learning which we should want our students to have. There is a crisis of thinking in our schools, and I don't know how anyone can still maintain that tweaks and nudges are going to fix the problem.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 at 3:01 PM.
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