Junior High Math Mastery as Key to Another $50k per Year?
I get tired of our Country’s math mediocrity when the benefits of an early and streamlined math education are so apparent
There is a relatively easy solution to the “failure of our schools” or “lack of domestic jobs problem”. That would be early intervention in math, somewhere around 6th or 7th grade, with a goal of getting perhaps 50% of students to calculus by the end of High School. Doing so would boost the numbers of domestic kids in high-demand careers such as engineering and nursing. This in turn would reduce the need for foreign H1B workers and increase the performance of kids in school across the board.
Special interests might say that English, History, and Science skills are equally as important, but in fact there are many statistics to show that if a kid does well in Math, the other subjects fall into place. It’s like the expression “If you’ve got them by the _ _ _ _s, their hearts and minds will follow”, with math being the _ _ _ _s, if you’ll excuse my bluntness. Strangely, Jr High Math teachers and other educators seem to be working against this purpose, as their high-handedness and job-protective-ness are sometimes counter-productive. It also doesn’t help that families and subcultures are not always promoting these ends, so as to diminish the importance of Math.
The justifications for math education are well-known, as the list of successful people primarily runs through STEM (Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics) education. This is well-known in East Indian and East Asian communities, who have been gaming math education for years as a way to gain employment in the U.S., along with creating powerful economies of their own. The statistics gleaned from successful STEM students show that they are likely to do well in education across the board, and that their children are also likely to be STEM. Math teachers such as Jaime Escalante of the movie “Stand and Deliver” have shown that low income inner city kids can be taught higher math skills, even beginning at the later stages (high school) by “jump starting” their math education (more on this later).
One inhibitor seems to be the way we look at education and math in the U.S. Often, we have a very nurturing K-6 system with a kindly liberal arts type teacher, trying to teach everything (including the broad-based subject material that our dynamic society requires) while Math often gets lost in the shuffle. When pre-algebra hits in 7th grade, many kids are at an age when hormones have hit or they are distracted in some other way, and since Math learning is sequential (the next subject depends on mastery of the previous) they get on the Math train to nowhere. Unionized Math teachers, who have often not worked in STEM fields themselves, can be overwhelmed and thus pigeonhole students into “good at math” and “bad at math” categories, labels which unfortunately stick with them. Meanwhile, kids with STEM parents or who know the value of Math are patient and give their kids a running start. They make sure that their schools have good pre-algebra prep prior to 7th grade, teach the “big picture” of math (that there is a big paycheck in their future if they can master it) and are sensible and nurturing.
A broader outcome of better math education may also be a rollback of the anti-science, anti-logic, movement in the electorate that conjures up conspiracy theories rather than serving up systematic solutions.
Granted that East Asian cultures have more respect for their parents (who are often geared up for STEM) and this really helps. But what to do with the kids that don’t get on the Math train? Here are some “triage” tricks that might appall Jr. High math teachers but I believe will work, because I’ve seen it work with my boys and their friends:
1) A trick learned from Jaime Escalante is that US secondary math moves slowly, and Jr. College math more quickly (ie Geometry is not part of the college math sequence). Thus if you want to “jump start” a high school freshman in math, send them to the local JC to take a semester of pre-algebra and then one of algebra. Another alternative is to sign up for one of the many correspondence Math courses that most public schools will accept (we chose BYU.edu to augment our kids math ed…some kids learn better in their own time and place, without school pressures). Either of these methods might help ensure that kids will be ready for the Algebra II, Trig/Precalc, Calculus sequence for the remainder of high school. Escalante also sold math as the all-important means of getting out of the inner-city, the ultimate means of pride and success, which most assuredly is true. Strangely, he was run out by the other math teachers, who were jealous of his popularity among students. It was as though the teacher’s union and teacher’s jobs were better served when kids took more meaningless classes and were confused about their futures.
2) As a corollary, math needs to be sold as an all-in kind of thing, the way Escalante demonstrated. You might say “If someone told you that if you did something for 30 minutes each day in high school, you’d be making an extra $50,000 per year you’d do it, right? Well that thing is Math, and honestly History, English and the other subjects don’t even come close” Sounds dangerous to say but it’s true and of course you’ll remember that good Math students usually do well across the board anyway.
3) Encourage the Math-Music or Math-Athletics link. Everyone knows about the Math-Music link right? Simple thing to get your kid to be in band in Jr. High or a year or two in high school, as they also begin to identify with the nerds who are good in math. What is less known and what I really push is the Math-Athletics link. Many boys (about 60%) and sometimes girls (about 40%) are “impatient learners”, which is to say they are outdoorsy and like their education very practical and direct, as they can’t wait to hit the gym. They are not bad kids, but can be “naughty” (except I never really thought so…). Why not simplify the math timeline for theirs (and everyone’s, frankly) sake? Calculus is the top of the Math mountain, and getting to the top of that mountain should be the priority. Teacher’s unions love to complain that eagerness to get to Calculus can overlook Algebraic fundamentals, but I ask “if algebra is hammered into you again and again during Algebra II, Trig, Precalculus, and Calculus, how the hell can algebraic fundamentals be overlooked? Is that the teacher’s union talking?” The impatient, athletic mind wants it hard and straight, so that instead of saying “the equilateral…stop that! and hypoteneuse…Kevin pay attention! blah, blah”, say “I challenge you to tell me about the equilateral and hypoteneuse!”. Tell the outdoors kids that math is the opponent’s best fastball and that you will teach them how to hit it out of the park. Make math a subject that appeals to tough and naughty and you’ll have high schoolers eating out of your hands. As an aside, I’ve always believed that student-athletes were the leaders and flagships of most schools, as athletes often have incentives to stay interested in education. We should work to a point where math-student-athletes are the coolest kids on campus.
4) Create better domestic job markets for STEM kids. There is already a very good job market for engineers and nurses, and this is virtually limitless. So many job markets complain that they can only get H1Bs, who often struggle with the language or culture (not to mention loyalty, remember that many of the 9–11 bombers were foreign engineers working in the US on H1B visas). Several years ago, when I was trying to get business support to prop up our high school drafting program, I was appalled to learn that Autodesk CEO Carol Bartz was promoting “outsourcing” for Autodesk design job-shopping, on the basis that American workers were lazy and wanting too much money. Thanks Carol Bartz for selling out the US high schools and our Country. How much easier it might have been for her to invest in jr. high and high school math/STEM education and perhaps even offer Autodesk internships or methods of domestic production.
More Education articles by Vern Scott:
“If you Have them by the Math and French, their English and Science will Follow?”
