Is Education Disappearing?: The De-evolution of Education

Several years ago, a document started circulating the internet (and perhaps its circulation preceded the internet) that showed an 8th grade graduation exam from the early 20th century from a school in Kansas. The test is tough. In fact, I have given the test to dozens of my college classes, hundreds of students; few aced the test; in fact, most failed. Let me restate that: high school graduates attending college could not pass an exam given to 8th graders 100 years ago. That says a great deal (not flattering) about the state of education in our country as it devolved during the 20th century, but it also comments negatively on other aspects of our culture.
At the turn of the century (19th to the 20th), life was much more family-centric, with families being much larger; discipline being stricter, swifter, and more corporal; and home duties aplenty. Included on the list of chores to be completed daily was often the reading, memorizing, and reciting of holy scripture. And the study of the Bible was not limited to the home. In schools, what is now called “classical education” was the norm. It included the study of philosophy, literature, physics, mathematics, and often even scripture. And such instruction, especially in rural areas, took place in a one-room schoolhouse, in which sat anywhere from one to four dozen youngsters, in the charge of a single teacher. Rules were concrete, discipline strict, expectations high, and results impressive. In general, those four attributes are no longer the case.
Our educational system has also slowly turned away from the classical notion of education towards vocational education, i.e. schooling focused on preparing students for specific careers or jobs. Whereas schooling once exposed students to great works of philosophy, literature, and theology, as well as mathematics, helping them develop the critical abilities – critical reading, active listening, effective communication – schooling now is increasingly focused on training young people for a specific job or career (Project Lead the Way being just one example, and engineering schools being another). Among a plethora of shortcomings that are inherent in that evolution, a significant one is this – most young people simply do not know what they want to do with their lives professionally. Statistics show that most college students change their major at least once. So why are we intent in asking high-school students to make that choice. I understand exposing them to various fields and career options, but a broad, liberal arts-based curriculum will serve the vast majority of students much more effectively than a narrowing focus on capabilities and technical skills.