Sinhue Noriega - If It's Broken, Don't Fix it: A Candid Look at Our Complacent Education System

30. If It's Broken, Don't Fix It: A Candid Look at Our Complacent Education System by Sinhue Noriega (2013)
Length: 237 pages
Genre: Non-Fiction
Started: 29 July 2013
Finished: 3 September 2013
Where did it come from? Many thanks to Sinhue Noriega for sending me a copy of this book to read.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 21 May 2013
Why do I have it? I like non-fiction and Sinhue Noriega is a new author for me.

Told from the perspective of an educator and author, Sinhue Noriega reveals many of the secrets of America's broken and failing education system. Learn the reasons why - despite spending tens of millions of dollars on education - the American education system still allows and accepts failing test scores and graduates students who are poorly prepared for life beyond the classroom. Learn how the government managed to wrest complete control over education from the states; bypassing congress with a power-grab that happened seemingly overnight.

From inside a women's correctional facility, to the small town public junior high school, a teacher on the "inside" takes you on a tour of our public education system and exposes the hypocrisy of the philosophy: "they preach what they don't want you to teach."

I have to say, that as I read this book, there seemed to me to be more news coverage of the American education system than there ever was before. Perhaps that was the way it has always been; but I was just more attuned to the news coverage, because I was reading this book. Anyway, I knew that the American education system was in dire straits; I just never realized that education standards had slipped as low as they have so quickly. It's frightening to witness!

I have a question: How is it possible that debate over children's health and weight can be so rampant - which certainly is a worthy debate, don't get me wrong - but how then can schools remove recess or physical education classes from their schedule, and still complain that children are no longer as fit as they should be? If you remove cursive writing from a school's curriculum, I believe that schools should subsequently be denied the ability to complain about their students' handwriting skills.

How can teachers allow students to continue to believe 3 times 4 equals 11; just as long as they can show their work sufficiently? My father was a former math teacher, and usually - if I used a particularly difficult mathematical concept correctly, but still got the wrong answer - I was certainly praised for figuring out the tough mathematical formula; but I was also told that my answer was wrong, or that I was using a particular mathematical formula in the wrong context. Then my dad taught me how to do the math correctly.

I give this book an A+! and am eagerly looking forward to reading Sinhue Noriega's novel, Prisoner of Paradise sometime in the future.

A+! - (96-100%)

May you read well and often