BillW wrote:

>The problem is that homework has to be well designed if it's actually going
>to be educational.
..........
>The US military hardly selects for good students...
>
>
>> [singapore math program]
.........
>Part of the problem is that there's so much more to learn these days.  We
>add all sorts of things to what we consider "basic knowlege" (ie computer
>skills, multi-culturalism) and then complain that students don't get
>concentrated education is some area that's been de-emphasized.  In the US,
>this frequently shows up as an oscillation between an english/"humanities"
>curriculum and a math/science emphasis.


Despite all the other factors being talked about both here and in the
US at large, as someone who spent several years as a teacher [oh lord,
why did I ever quit? it was so much easier than real work! :)], I still
think the larger part of the problem is "attitude", and that most things
being discussed at the national political level today are just plain
wheel-spinning.

I am not sure whether the following numbers are 100% accurate, but at
my old alma mater, UC/Berkeley, as I understand it, 40% of the current
student body is asian or asian/american, whereas they only make up
about 7% of the population at large. Since I assume Berkeley still
admits students based mainly upon "merit" [how else could you possibly
get this 40%], I suspect this says a very lot about the motivation and
educational attitudes of the asian students --> and their families.

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