Title: Re: [USMA:35969] RE: Video Podcast - Request for feedback.
On 5/02/06 11:29 AM, "Jon Saxton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> . . . I must question the validity of the
> underlying assertion, namely that in an educational sense, American
> children are less advanced than their counterparts in other countries
> because we don't use the metric system.
>
> I doubt that the argument is sustainable. Certainly some time is spent
> (wasted) learning and dealing with an outmoded measurement system but to
> blame the educational lag on it is stretching the bounds of credulity.
>
> To carry that argument, some statistics and supporting evidence must be
> provided.
Dear Jon,
In the pdf article 'Cost of non-metrication' at http://metricationmatters.com/articles I refer to the issue of education by referring to some research done by Dr. Richard P. Phelps in the early 1990s. Here is the relevant quote from the article:
"This question could also be considered as, 'How much money is wasted in teaching old pre-metric measures in schools in the USA?'
"In an article, 'The Case for U.S. Metric Conversion Now' (1992, December 9) Richard P. Phelps stated that:
'It (USA education system) teaches two systems of measurement in the schools and, the confusion from learning two systems aside, there is a cost to the time spent in teaching two systems. A full year of mathematics instruction is lost to the duplication of effort.'
"You can view Richard P. Phelps' article at: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/1992/12/09/14phelps.h12.html after you register on the Education Weekly database.
In the year 2003/2004, according to the U.S. Department of Education, the Total Expenditures for Education in the USA for all levels were $852 100 000 000 (852.1 billion dollars). This is made up of 501.3 for elementary and secondary education and 350.8 for postsecondary education and it includes all expenditures, federal, state, local, and other.
"If Phelp's conclusion is correct, that 'A full year of mathematics instruction is lost to the duplication of effort', then the cost of wasted effort in educating children in the USA will be about one tenth of the cost of educating children in the USA, that is the cost of this wasted effort is about 85 billion dollars per year. The assumption 'about one tenth' is based on the idea that children in the USA spend about ten years in school."
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305, Belmont, Geelong, Australia
Phone 61 3 5241 2008
Pat Naughtin is the editor of the free online monthly newsletter, 'Metrication matters'.
You can subscribe by going to http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter
Pat is the editor of the 'Numbers and measurement' chapter of the Australian Government Publishing Service 'Style manual – for writers, editors and printers'. He is a Member of the National Speakers Association of Australia and the International Federation of Professional Speakers. He is also recognised as a Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist (LCAMS) with the United States Metric Association. For more information go to: http://metricationmatters.com
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