Last week, The 74 featured a story about the think tank Populace’s most recent Purpose of Education Index. The study, released last Tuesday, showed how Americans ranked a series of 57 priorities for schools. The headline finding was that Americans no longer see preparation for higher education as a priority undertaking for K-12 schools, ranking college/university preparation 47th out of the 57 items.
As for what Americans did prioritize, practical skills were at the top of the list. Americans ranked students develop practical skills (e.g. manage personal finances, prepare a meal, make an appointment) most highly, and have consistently done so since before the pandemic. This was followed by students learning critical thinking and decision-making skills, students demonstrating character, and students can demonstrate basic reading, writing, and arithmetic as the top four priorities.
It certainly is important for any adult to have practical skills; and critical thinking, character, and a basic grasp of reading, writing and math are also essential aspects of what is necessary for young adults to function on their own. In many ways, the top priorities echo what we hear in focus groups. It seems that in nearly every group we convene on education, there is at least one participant who complains that young adults today can’t balance a checkbook or change a tire, and several others who speak to the importance of critical thinking.
What is so striking about the high prioritization of practical skills, however, is how low of a bar it seems to be. The highest priority for K-12 schools should be to equip students to be able to make their own meals and appointments? Granted, there is some math involved managing personal finances, and to an extent, in following a recipe. But compared to items like understanding biology, chemistry, or physics (#8); demonstrating knowledge of history, geography, and economics (#15); learning advanced math like calculus and algebra (#26); learning a foreign language (#43); or allowing students to pursue their own curiosity (#51), the emphasis placed on cultivating practical skills seems misplaced and self-limiting, to put it most charitably. Shouldn’t Americans aspire to more for themselves and the next generation?
The relatively low prioritization of traditional academic subjects also downplays how they can, in fact, give students the skills they need to function as adults. Take algebra as an example. Algebra is built on the concept of variables, which crop up again and again in modern society. In purchasing a car, for example, one has to consider the final cost, the amount being put down at the purchase, and the amount of loan, which has its own variables of interest rate and time frame. Finally, there is the ratio of the monthly payment for the car to one’s monthly income. A person who has learned algebra will have a much easier and better time successfully and responsibly purchasing a car. Yet learning advanced math like algebra was all the way down at #26.
On a survey for Winning the Issues conducted in September 2021, we presented voters with the United States’ standing in the latest PISA rankings. At that time, the latest data showed that the US ranked 37th in math, 18th in science, and 13th in reading on the OECD assessment. Six out of ten voters called that a poor or failing performance. Another seven out of ten agreed with the statement “The US is becoming the world’s C student.” But when the highest priority for K-12 schools is equipping students to cook their own meals and make their own appointments, it’s not hard to see why.
