British kids getting stupider

Dominus Atheos · Post by **Dominus Atheos** » 2006-01-29 04:11pm

Times Online wrote:Failing to teach them how to handle real life
A new report reveals that children today struggle with questions they could have answered 30 years ago, says Sian Griffiths
For a decade we’ve been told that our kids, just as they seem to be getting taller with each generation, are also getting brighter. Every year new waves of children get better GCSE, A-level and degree results than their predecessors. Meanwhile, in primary schools, the standards in national maths and English tests at 11 head in one direction — relentlessly upwards.

Last week came the bombshell that blew a gaping hole in this one-way escalator of achievement.

Far from getting cleverer, our 11-year-olds are, in fact, less “intelligent” than their counterparts of 30 years ago. Or so say a team who are among Britain’s most respected education researchers.

After studying 25,000 children across both state and private schools Philip Adey, a professor of education at King’s College London confidently declares: “The intelligence of 11-year-olds has fallen by three years’ worth in the past two decades.”

It’s an extraordinary claim. But it’s one that should startle parents and teachers out of complacency. Shocked by the findings, experts are questioning our entire exam system and calling for radical changes in the way our children are taught in primary schools.

In their painstaking research project Adey and his colleague, psychology professor Michael Shayer, compared the results of today’s children with those of children who took exactly the same test in the mid-1990s and also 30 years ago. While most exams have changed (been made easier, if you listen to the critics) this one is the same as it was in 1976 when pupils first chewed their pencils over the problems.

In the easiest question, children are asked to watch as water is poured up to the brim of a tall, thin container. From there the water is tipped into a small fat glass. The tall vessel is refilled. Do both beakers now hold the same amount of water? “It’s frightening how many children now get this simple question wrong,” says scientist Denise Ginsburg, Shayer’s wife and another of the research team.

Another question involves two blocks of a similar size — one of brass, the other of plasticine. Which would displace the most water when dropped into a beaker? children are asked. Two years ago fewer than a fifth came up with the right answer.

In 1976 a third of boys and a quarter of girls scored highly in the tests overall; by 2004, the figures had plummeted to just 6% of boys and 5% of girls. These children were on average two to three years behind those who were tested in the mid-1990s.

“It is shocking,” says Adey. “The general cognitive foundation of 11 and 12-year-olds has taken a big dip. There has been a continuous decline in the last 30 years and it is carrying on now.”

But what exactly is being lost? Is it really general intelligence or simply a specific understanding of scientific concepts such as volume and density? Both, say the researchers. The tests reveal both general intelligence — “higher level brain functions” — and a knowledge that is “the bedrock of science and maths” says Ginsburg. In fact it’s nothing less than the ability of children to handle new, difficult ideas. Doing well at these tests has been linked with getting higher grades generally at GCSE.

So why are children now doing so badly? Possible explanations are numerous. Youngsters don’t get outside for hands-on play in mud, sand and water — and sandpits and water tables have been squeezed out in many primary schools by a relentless drilling of the three Rs and cramming 11- year-olds for the national tests.

“By stressing the basics — reading and writing — and testing like crazy you reduce the level of cognitive stimulation. Children have the facts but they are not thinking very well,” says Adey. “And they are not getting hands-on physical experience of the way materials behave.”

Ginsburg says parents too can do their bit. “When did children stop playing with mud, plasticine and Meccano and start playing with Xboxes and computer games?” she asks. Parents should switch off the television and “sit children around the dinner table to debate issues such as ‘What should we have done about the whale in the Thames?’ ” says Adey.

If these experts are right — and our children are losing the ability to think, the burning question is: what is the value of what they are being taught in primary school and of all those test results that every year rise to new heights? Paul Black, professor of education at King’s College, London is one of the experts so startled by these findings that he now wants ministers to reassess what our children are being taught.

“The decline shown up by this research is big and it is worrying,” he says. “It casts doubt on claims that standards are improving . . . There is not much evidence, in fact I don’t know of any good evidence, that the things tested at the moment in national tests at the age of 11 and 14 are of long-term benefit to learning . . . The government should look at this again.”

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), the exams watchdog, has called in the research. Asked whether it may prompt changes in what is being taught in our schools, a spokesman said: “We are cautious about research where questions never change because times change and the world changes.”

And our children’s knowledge and intelligence is changing too — but not, perhaps, in the direction ministers would have us believe.

The Guid · Post by **The Guid** » 2006-01-29 05:23pm

Quick! They're obviously not being tested enough! Exams for babies!

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2006-01-29 06:03pm

I don't see how typical outdoor play would have taught kids about the concepts of density, volume, and mass 30 years ago. How do road hockey, skipping stones, and snowball fights explain these concepts? I think it has more to do with the touchy-feely inclusive approach of modern teaching.

Anyone with young kids today will know that modern report cards are totally fucking useless. Instead of giving a kid a "C-" and writing in a comment like "needs to work on his reading comprehension", you'll see a goddamned early-grade report card that has no actual grade on it, and contains only a comment like "demonstrates ability to read with some assistance." What the fuck does that mean?

This is happening for the simple reason that teachers are terrified (for some reason) of ever telling a kid that he's not making the grade. They seem to keep lowering the standards in order to make sure that none of the kids feel bad, and then trying to create the impression of a hard-working academic program by loading the kids down with repetitive and simplistic (but voluminous) homework.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2006-01-29 06:51pm

Hear, hear. The problem lies in the way the kids are being taught, not so much the syllabus or culture. This PC world is giving kids who are obviously failing a huge benefit of the doubt by essentially saying "You're not failing maths, you're just not as brilliant as others" and so on.

I also doubt the veracity of any claim stating more examinations help too. If anything, they only produce more stress on already overstressed pupils and teachers and produce nothing but very efficient pre-planned question answering machines. Regurgitating key facts and not having any intuition or idea as to what they mean or how we derived them is about as effective as giving every student a pack of Trivial Pursuit cards with answers and giving them a GCSE or other qualification at the end.

Post by **Surlethe** » 2006-01-29 07:38pm

But what exactly is being lost? Is it really general intelligence or simply a specific understanding of scientific concepts such as volume and density? Both, say the researchers. The tests reveal both general intelligence — “higher level brain functions” — and a knowledge that is “the bedrock of science and maths” says Ginsburg. In fact it’s nothing less than the ability of children to handle new, difficult ideas. Doing well at these tests has been linked with getting higher grades generally at GCSE.

General intelligence seems to be directly correlated with the understanding of science and math; perhaps the lack of knowledge of the basic scientific and mathematical principles causes the dip in general intelligence, since an individual who is unable to reason logically or to think scientifically will be less able to correlate information logically and recognize patterns, and thus will learn at a slower rate.

Boyish-Tigerlilly · Post by **Boyish-Tigerlilly** » 2006-01-29 08:17pm

I remember in school some problems I had in math and science, and it is problem why I am never good at it today. The teachers would never explain how or why. They just wanted you tot do it and do it their way.

Why, applications, or how were not important. It was an effort for them to tell you. I was never great at math in the first place, but I never liked that teaching method. When I learn something, I want to know what it can be used for, how something works, and why this equation works.

In science, we never really went into any depth about volume and density. We did a few brief labs on it, but nothing about how or why.

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2006-01-29 08:29pm

Darth Wong wrote:I don't see how typical outdoor play would have taught kids about the concepts of density, volume, and mass 30 years ago. How do road hockey, skipping stones, and snowball fights explain these concepts? I think it has more to do with the touchy-feely inclusive approach of modern teaching.

Anyone with young kids today will know that modern report cards are totally fucking useless. Instead of giving a kid a "C-" and writing in a comment like "needs to work on his reading comprehension", you'll see a goddamned early-grade report card that has no actual grade on it, and contains only a comment like "demonstrates ability to read with some assistance." What the fuck does that mean?

This is happening for the simple reason that teachers are terrified (for some reason) of ever telling a kid that he's not making the grade. They seem to keep lowering the standards in order to make sure that none of the kids feel bad, and then trying to create the impression of a hard-working academic program by loading the kids down with repetitive and simplistic (but voluminous) homework.

No Child Left Behind, perhaps?

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2006-01-29 08:32pm

EDIT: Oh Snap! I didn't see 'British' in the OP, but considering Blair's flagrant, close, intimate, and creepy relationship with Bush...

tharkûn · Post by **tharkûn** » 2006-01-29 08:56pm

British education has been doing their testing since long before NCLB. The British have a far more centralized system than anything Bush has ever envisioned. If anything the flow of influence went from the UK to the US.

Post by **Surlethe** » 2006-01-29 09:32pm

Einhander Sn0m4n wrote:No Child Left Behind, perhaps?

More likely lawsuit-happy parents; at my school, we've actually had parents threaten lawsuits over grades, or other perceived slights against their children, and I'd imagine the blight isn't restricted to the U.S.

Xon · Post by **Xon** » 2006-01-30 02:05am

Darth Wong wrote:I don't see how typical outdoor play would have taught kids about the concepts of density, volume, and mass 30 years ago

These are intrinsic properties of matter, experience in how they effect handling is critical during the time when the human brain is the most flexible. They might not formally know these properties, but RL experiance helps provide the foundation for the theory.

How do road hockey, skipping stones, and snowball fights explain these concepts?

Better training of hand-eye coordination? Also good exersise. Remember there is a increasing obesity problem in school children, and physical fitness impacts on mental health.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-01-30 02:25am

I was kinda talking about this the other day with Flash: when I was in primary school, we got questions like 'what's $2.45 less $1.20', and I thought they were lame. In our QCS (end of highschool statewide standardised bullshit, not for any specific subject) I remember some bullshit question like 'if you've got exactly $2 and have six coins, what coins are they' and thinking 'stfu n00b, I'm a highschool student. This is offensively easy 'real life skills' BULLSHIT'.

Now I'm 26 and, thinking about highschool students and 17yos in general, I wouldn't assume they could perform the same calculations. The proportion of essentially skill-less people emerging from highschool is disturbing - and I'm not even that old. Just mentioning I could read before I went to school is enough to make all my contempories with children gape, like I must have learnt it by magic or something.

Seriously, on the QCS thing, people thought a question involving empty space in a tennis-ball tube with three balls in it was hard... and they gave you the volume formulas. Things haven't gotten better since then.

Can all this really be blamed on the reportcard issue? I'm getting to the stage in my life where I don't have the stomach to laugh at these problems anymore... at least I know if I actually spend time with my kids learning, they won't have any problems.

Post by **weemadando** » 2006-01-30 04:04pm

Tassie's new "Essential Learnings" thing is bullshit. Sarah told me some horror stories from when she was doing her Bachelor of Teaching. Apparently, you aren't meant to tell kids their wrong. Even in a subject like maths.

eg:

Teacher: "Billy, can you tell me what 28 divided by 4 is?"
Billy: "12?"
Teacher: "Very good Billy, but does anyone else have an idea?"

Rather than:

Teacher: "Billy, can you tell me what 28 divided by 4 is?"
Billy: "12?"
Teacher: "Sorry, but that's not correct, but does anyone else have an idea?"

CelesKnight · Post by **CelesKnight** » 2006-01-30 06:03pm

weemadando wrote:Teacher: "Billy, can you tell me what 28 divided by 4 is?"
Billy: "12?"
Teacher: "Very good Billy, but does anyone else have an idea?"

That's pretty messed up.... but at least the kid will feel good about himself when he's flipping my burgers.

At the end of the eighth grade, I took a test to get into "Advanced Placement" science. The questions were things like:
Which would do the LEAST damage to a forest:
A) Buring it down
B) Killing all the animals
C) Sending radio waves over it

Which will change the most if outside in 90 degree heat for an afternoon
A) An ice cube
B) A piece of steel
C) A piece of wood

At the time, I thought that those were meant to be funny. Now, I wonder if they were there because a lot of students would have gotten them wrong.

One day my eighth grade science teacher told us that our science books were designed for students with learning disabilities. I presume they bought them because people weren't doing well with the regular books. *sigh*

Darth Servo · Post by **Darth Servo** » 2006-01-30 06:16pm

Surlethe wrote:
Einhander Sn0m4n wrote:No Child Left Behind, perhaps?
More likely lawsuit-happy parents; at my school, we've actually had parents threaten lawsuits over grades, or other perceived slights against their children, and I'd imagine the blight isn't restricted to the U.S.

I think the fear factor does come into play. I've known people who's parents would come in almost screaming at the teacher if the teacher gave the kid a bad report. "Are you calling my kid stupid?!?"

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2006-01-30 08:21pm

Darth Servo wrote:
Surlethe wrote:
Einhander Sn0m4n wrote:No Child Left Behind, perhaps?
More likely lawsuit-happy parents; at my school, we've actually had parents threaten lawsuits over grades, or other perceived slights against their children, and I'd imagine the blight isn't restricted to the U.S.
I think the fear factor does come into play. I've known people who's parents would come in almost screaming at the teacher if the teacher gave the kid a bad report. "Are you calling my kid stupid?!?"

And this is why I will never work in education. Because my answer to that would probably end with the parents leaving the school crying and then coming back several days later to try and get me fired.

tharkûn · Post by **tharkûn** » 2006-01-30 08:51pm

And this is why I will never work in education. Because my answer to that would probably end with the parents leaving the school crying and then coming back several days later to try and get me fired.

And that matters why? At least in the states getting a tenured teacher fired requires a bloody act of God; not even criminal sexual conduct is enough in some instances.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2006-01-30 09:46pm

Darth Servo wrote:I think the fear factor does come into play. I've known people who's parents would come in almost screaming at the teacher if the teacher gave the kid a bad report. "Are you calling my kid stupid?!?"

Some parents do get ridiculous regarding their children's educations. My grandmother was a school teacher in the Midwest, and one of her favorite stories was that one day she was in the office, and this parent was giving it to the principal. "How dare you call my son illiterate. His father and I were married three weeks before he was born."

It was bad.

And I actually do blame this fear of failing kids for a lot of the failures of education. I don't know how it is in the UK, but in the US they let kids pass middle school even if they're FAILING 3/7 classes--math, English, science--doesn't matter. If they pass PE, Home Ec., their elective, and an academic class then they're good enough to move on. The problem with this attitude is two-fold: not only does it show other students that it doesn't really matter what they do (thus encouraging others to slack off, even if they're capable of doing better), but it also forces the NEXT teacher who inherits these morons to spend a substantial fraction of their class time reviewing concepts that the kids should've already mastered. I'm grateful that CA has decided to play hardball (finally) on the HS exit exam, but I know that that's not going to address either problem fully because the issue is more rampant with kids ENTERING HS than those who are trying to leave it with a degree. And why don't they just hold kids back? It's bad for their self-esteem. As if it doesn't suck for the other kids to be stuck for their academic lives with people who should've been kept back two grades ago.

Darth Servo · Post by **Darth Servo** » 2006-01-30 10:35pm

Master of Ossus wrote:And why don't they just hold kids back? It's bad for their self-esteem. As if it doesn't suck for the other kids to be stuck for their academic lives with people who should've been kept back two grades ago.

I've heard that the reason has to do with protection of the younger ages. What would it be like to be in a class with someone who was held back two years. Someone who should be in Jr high still down with the grade school kids. The one kid has gone through puberty, everyone else hasn't.

wilfulton · Post by **wilfulton** » 2006-01-30 10:55pm

weemadando wrote: Teacher: "Billy, can you tell me what 28 divided by 4 is?"
Billy: "12?"
Teacher: "Very good Billy, but does anyone else have an idea?"

Hmmm.... let's have some fun, shall we?

Billy, you've got 28 pounds of meat and 4 hungry lions to feed. How much meat do you give to each lion?

He answers: "Ummm... 12?"

Okay Billy, Bear and Bruiser will now each get a flank, and Tiny and Tigger like spareribs...because you are clearly too stupid to ever get this problem right, you will now be divided equally among the lions to show the rest of the class how it is done...

Okay, maybe that's too barbaric, but then the smart ones don't get fed to the lions, and it doesn't take long to convince them to do their homework. Lo, another generation of stupid people is thereby prevented!

wolveraptor · Post by **wolveraptor** » 2006-01-31 02:10pm

I'm ashamed that I didn't expect 11 year olds to understand water displacement. In fact, when I was eleven, half of the people didn't know what "displacement" meant, and a few in 8th grade asked me what, "efficiency" meant when I used it in a sentence. Granted, they were extremely stupid kids, and they really don't apply because I live in the US, but it still says something that they actually entered highschool.

Post by **NecronLord** » 2006-01-31 04:52pm

CelesKnight wrote:At the end of the eighth grade, I took a test to get into "Advanced Placement" science. The questions were things like:
Which would do the LEAST damage to a forest:
A) Buring it down
B) Killing all the animals
C) Sending radio waves over it

I'm looking for the trick in this question, but I can't find it...

wolveraptor · Post by **wolveraptor** » 2006-01-31 08:13pm

How the hell does that demonstrate advanced thinking skills? It just means you know that what radio waves are. Hell, even if you didn't , you could easily guess that your car's radio uses them, and they must be harmless. I suppose that could be interpreted as "use of reasoning" but honestly, who in 8th grade doesn't know what radio waves are?

nickolay1 · Post by **nickolay1** » 2006-01-31 11:31pm

In my experience, very few truly understand them.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2006-01-31 11:55pm

wolveraptor wrote:How the hell does that demonstrate advanced thinking skills? It just means you know that what radio waves are. Hell, even if you didn't , you could easily guess that your car's radio uses them, and they must be harmless. I suppose that could be interpreted as "use of reasoning" but honestly, who in 8th grade doesn't know what radio waves are?

Considering the popularity of the myth that cell-phone radio waves can ignite gasoline vapour and make gas station pumps explode ...