Education Law

What use is physical education?

Many Americans claimed that once they finished high school, skills such as increasing joint mobility and building muscle strength were no longer necessary.

This can?t be true?? Well, thankfully it isn?t. Or, at least BoardBuzz sure hopes not. It?s just a quote in an article from those wacky folks over at The Onion poking fun at the arguments made by some that much of what students learn in high school?particularly in math? are irrelevant to living in the ?real word? after high school.

The article quotes various individuals whose jobs require math skills, such as accounting clerks, engineers and insurance salesmen, claiming that they rarely, if ever, use what they learned in their physical education classes in their lives after high school. One such (fictitious) individual stated:

The only thing I still use in gym class is that occasionally I?ll throw on some sweatpants while I?m sitting on the couch watching television. So I guess I learned that.

If true, such a quote would strike fear into most people because we all know the importance of physical activity to having a long and healthy life. However, similar comments about the math courses students take in high school would likely be more accepted even though there is a significant amount of research that shows that students with higher math skills are better off after high school.

BoardBuzz doesn?t sit around solving for ?x? and ?y? all day either, but we do use the math skills we learned in our algebra courses to figure out how much paint to buy to paint the walls, whether we have enough gas to get home, or whether it is beneficial to refinance the mortgage.

Just because BoardBuzz doesn?t sit down and solve for ?x? to answer these everyday ?real world? problems doesn?t mean that we aren't using the skills we gained from our high school math courses. This is true for numerous other decisions we all make in our daily lives. So the next time you hear that high school math courses aren?t important, you?ll know why school boards across the country are working hard to ensure all students graduate with they math skills they need to be successful after high school.

BoardBuzz also wants to remind you to check out the Center for Public Education in the coming months as they explore what skills students need to live and succeed in the 21st Century. BoardBuzz is guessing there will be something about those math skills.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on November 12, 2008 (boomark / email).