This post is not intended to promote or bash Newt Gingrich. It is not meant to be political at all, merely it deals with a politician and (paraphrased) comments that he made.
In 2008, I had the privilege of listening to a speech by former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich. He spoke on a variety of issues and topics and then at the end had a short Q&A session. Newt was pretty adept on the issues and was able to bring out some interesting points. At he very least he made the audience think, which I thought was brilliant!
Whether you agree or disagree with the policies and and platform of Mr. Gingrich, I think you will find this interesting so keep an open mind regardless of your political stance.
At the end of his speech a student raised their hand and asked "What is wrong with education?"
Newt, took a moment and put this way:
Being here on a college campus, let me ask you to raise your hand if you felt adequately prepared for college? Virtually no one raised there hand.
Okay, Newt continued, raise your hand if you feel like the primary reason you were not adequately prepared was due to your high school classes were just too easy and thus you were not prepared for the academic rigor of a college course? A significant majority raised thee hands.
Okay, the speaker continued, High school is not hard enough, or it is too easy to pass through High school. One more question, how many of you knows someone who cheated in High School? Everyone raised their hands.
The conclusions we can draw is that we are not demanding enough from our students to adequately prepare them for college and careers in today's world, and despite that the high school curriculum is too easy as it is, virtually everyone cheats to get through it!
So that is what is wrong with education. What can we do it about it, well that has numerous answers, but here is some of the suggestions of Newt Gingrich.
He proposed to us an incentives program that offers students monetary incentives to finish High School in 2 years or 3 years instead of the traditional 4 years. He said it costs x amount of tax payer dollars for each student to attend a public school every year.
If a student can complete a degree program faster then give that student half of the x amount of dollars that the government saves by not paying an additional year of schooling.
That is a simple structure that does not address all of the variables but it is also a simple line of logic. It generates student motivation to learn. If a student is motivated and has a concrete monetary reason to learn then they will perform better.
The good thing about this is real learning is taking place. That is a winning situation for the school. The student gets rewarded for their work and the government saves money while producing a better educational product.
What do you think of this plan? Would it work?
