Educational Attainment by State.

[psikeyhackr]

That's the craziest shit I've ever heard. Republicans work tirelessly to destroy workers rights and privatize every single facet of our lives for decades, but it's the liberals who are to blame. Incredible.

The so called lower classes need to create need to create a reading list not controlled by the status quo. But this habitual competition keeps people hiding information from each other.

 

[frigidweirdo]

Does any state have a K-12 Recommended Reading List that could provide an education by itself to sufficiently smart and motivated students?

Go to school! Put up with boring teachers who think you can't learn without them.

School should be more than just reading books and learning from books.

I learned so much more in life from just talking to people on the internet about politics than I ever did from school. Why? Because I discussed things. Communicating with others at school is a very important part of learning about life.

I've seen great History lessons where kids were pushed to understand about how sources work, how you use them, how reliable they are. You can read all you like, but some things come from other places.
And a lot of boys should be learning in a different way to girls. There are different types of students with different needs when it comes to education, sitting at home reading books is not going to help any kid who has a concentration problem.

 

[psikeyhackr]

School should be more than just reading books and learning from books.

I hadn't noticed that I said that books were the only method of learning. My sincere apologies.

Schools don't seem to select excellent books anyway. Sometimes they seem to be into cahoots with book publishers.

The problem is that there are so many mediocre to crappy books. One excellent book can be worth 10 or more less than excellent books, but how does a single individual find them?

 

[frigidweirdo]

I hadn't noticed that I said that books were the only method of learning. My sincere apologies.

Schools don't seem to select excellent books anyway. Sometimes they seem to be into cahoots with book publishers.

The problem is that there are so many mediocre to crappy books. One excellent book can be worth 10 or more less than excellent books, but how does a single individual find them?

Books are books. Sometimes books are worse than nothing. I've come across this myself.

The reality is that what needs to happen is an education policy that has teachers who know how to get the best from students, researchers who are trying to find out those best ways, schools that give teachers the best chance of achieving this.
Politicians, especially in the US, couldn't give a damn. They don't care whether kids get a great education or not. They only care if they can spin it so it looks like the politicians somehow did a great job.
Education is a 30-40-50 year project at least. Politicians are on two or four year cycles.
Another reason why Proportional Representation is one of the best systems.

Education Rankings by Country 2025

worldpopulationreview.com

According to this (it's subjective at best), these are the best education systems in the world.

1. Denmark - proportional representation
2. Finland - proportional representation
3. Japan
4. Canada
5. Sweden - proportional representation
6. Germany - proportional representation
7. Israel
8. Netherlands - proportional representation
9. Singapore
10. South Korea

Half of these countries use PR. Three of these countries are in the Far East where education is revered, and two others. Why? Because politicians elected with PR have more reason to think ahead. Also, more crazy ideas are kicked out.

I've seen terrible education and I've seen great education. I've seen great education in Austria, and I'd bet Austria's education system is BETTER than Singapore, Japan and South Korea's. They have high achievement because people study hard, not because their system is better.

 

[psikeyhackr]

Books are books. Sometimes books are worse than nothing. I've come across this myself.

The reality is that what needs to happen is an education policy that has teachers who know how to get the best from students, researchers who are trying to find out those best ways, schools that give teachers the best chance of achieving this.
Politicians, especially in the US, couldn't give a damn. They don't care whether kids get a great education or not. They only care if they can spin it so it looks like the politicians somehow did a great job.
Education is a 30-40-50 year project at least. Politicians are on two or four year cycles.

So you don't think a list of 10,000 exceptionally good books could be assembled in significantly less than 30 years?

 

[frigidweirdo]

So you don't think a list of 10,000 exceptionally good books could be assembled in significantly less than 30 years?

I think someone could probably make their own list, but this wouldn't be helpful. Kids need more than that.

 

[psikeyhackr]

I think someone could probably make their own list, but this wouldn't be helpful. Kids need more than that.

I doubt that one person could make a good list. I might make one on electronics but not chemistry or history or biology. With all of the people making their livings in the education business a 10,000 book K-12 reading list should not be that expensive by comparison.

 

[DGS49]

There are a few things that must be said.

There is a correlation between education and success. Much of the elevation of generations of immigrants from poor to middle class can be attributed to their emphasis on education for their children. The same goes for working class people born in this country; the kids rise up to a higher "quintile" based on getting a "good" college education.

But as time goes by, the economy is bursting with more and more people who have degrees that are almost worthless as a credential for a good job (career, if you must). Those who stream into our colleges and universities today should be aware of the fact that many degrees are a veritable waste of money. Academic advisors don't seem to be conveying this vital information to their charges.

The best JOBS for non-college grads tend to be in the skilled trades and heavy manufacturing, and there is a huge overlap in earnings between skilled craftsmen and the lower-level college grads. There are lots of electricians, plumbers, welders/pipefitters, carpenters, etc., who have six-figure W-2's every year. It appears to me that union craftsmen are doing a lot better than non-union.

On a related point, Blacks and Hispanics have historically been badly under-represented in the big, powerful unions. Things are improving, but slowly.

The best route to wealth in the U.S. has always been entrepreneurship, and it remains the case. And you don't need a college degree to start a business. I know of several friends and family members who went to college, started normal careers at big banks and such, then after a couple years just said, "Fuck it," and started businesses. Landscaping, pizza shops, painting, roofing, car repair. Their parents were at first horrified, but they are uniformly better off than they would have been as wage slaves.

As for how the states are doing getting people "educated" in colleges and universities...not terribly important.