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No, we're not. We are just teaching our kids the wrong things.

I recently heard a complaint that kids nowadays don't know how to do simple things like balance a checkbook and fill out job applications. The reason they don't is because those skills aren't covered by the standardized tests that we force down their throats every year. The curriculum of both math and English classes are dictated by what's on those tests.

School systems live, breathe and die by these stupid standardized tests. Their funding depends on it. If the scores are too low, then the school is taken over by the state. If the scores are high, then the school receives rewards. Individually, if a student fails, they are put into a remedial reading class (at least in my school district). The success of the students are measured by these test scores. But are they really? If graduating seniors don't know the simplest life skills, are they really successful?

Math and English are given, by far, more emphasis than science or social studies. As a matter of fact, in the school system in which I work, students don't even attend those two classes every day - they go every other day. And they aren't assessed on it as heavily, either. But yet science is arguably one of the most important subjects we could teach. If we don't give our kids the opportunity to explore different subjects, how will we get the next Albert Einstein? Or Jonas Salk? As for the history and geography subjects all covered under social studies I find those to be the most interesting classes, the ones I enjoy the most. But since we do not emphasize history, a lot of graduates now don't know it very well. And by not teaching our history, where we came from, we could start to lose our culture.

What we, as Americans, need to do is to refocus our attention on what's really important to learn. A lot of middle schoolers can't even count change, so how will they know if they received the correct change when shopping in a store? If they aren't taught how to write a check or fill out a job application, how will they get jobs and pay bills? I won't deny that some of what is on our standardized tests is important to know. It is. But aren't there other things out there that are equally important?

Americans are just as bright as any other culture in this world. What we need in order to reflect that is to teach our children what the rest of the world knows.

Learn more about this author, Nikki Fitz.
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