This is truly shocking:

One-fifth of Americans still believe that the Sun goes around the Earth, instead of the other way around. And only about half know that humans did not live at the same time as dinosaurs.

Here's an interesting bit of strategy: for those of us who are focused on the achievement gap and who believe that fixing K-12 public education for low-income minority students is the civil rights issue of our generation, we can broaden our base of support SUBSTANTIALLY if we embrace those who care a lot about the dreadful state of math and science education in general (but aren't really focused on the achievement gap). 

 

The reason is simple: the steps necessary to raise math and science education overlap quite substantially with those necessary to close the achievement gap: the ability to pay some teachers more than others (once you break this stranglehold and can pay math and science teachers more than gym teachers, it's an easy step to pay teachers more who are willing to teach in the toughest schools); the ability to pay not solely based on seniority but also based on merit; setting high standards AND creating accountability, etc... 

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December 6, 2005

Op-Ed Columnist

The Hubris of the Humanities

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

http://select.nytimes.com/2005/12/06/opinion/06kristof.html?hp

The best argument against "intelligent design" has always been humanity itself. At a time when only 40 percent of Americans believe in evolution, and only 13 percent know what a molecule is, we're an argument at best for "mediocre design."

But put aside the evolution debate for a moment. It's only a symptom of something much deeper and more serious: a profound illiteracy about science and math as a whole.

One-fifth of Americans still believe that the Sun goes around the Earth, instead of the other way around. And only about half know that humans did not live at the same time as dinosaurs.

The problem isn't just inadequate science (and math) teaching in the schools, however. A larger problem is the arrogance of the liberal arts, the cultural snootiness of, of ... well, of people like me - and probably you.

What do I mean by that? In the U.S. and most of the Western world, it's considered barbaric in educated circles to be unfamiliar with Plato or Monet or Dickens, but quite natural to be oblivious of quarks and chi-squares. A century ago, Einstein published his first paper on relativity - making 1905 as important a milestone for world history as 1066 or 1789 - but relativity has yet to filter into the consciousness of otherwise educated people....