Which subject is most inadequately taught?

I had to say science, just because I took all the biology that my high school offerred, and I got to college with really no concept of what modern biology *is*.

I was lucky, that my mom managed to move to Glastonbury, CT which is a very rich town (we weren't). They had an excellent school system - I got to use a local observatory at night for science projects, great foreign language classes, great sciences, good music. I loved ancient civ class. I think in general US schools don't offer enough "learn about other cultures" though - they concentrate on ours, and even that is sort of shallow. It would be so easy to tie other lessons into cultural history and learning. I'm hoping the internet will make this easier in the future (I have several email pals from foreign countries)

I also think it's really sad that Glastonbury kids got this incredible education while a few towns over, kids near/in Hartford got really awful ones.

It's hard to limit myself to three things.

I really can't pick any of them. I feel that in subjects that I cared about and needed to know, I got more than adequate instruction in, and other ones that I either didn't take any classes in or didn't care about it was adequate for me, because it wasn't really relevant.

None. I didn't learn much in am. hist. class, but I could care less.

That's odd, I actually didn't find anything to check. I went to public schools, ones that were not rated the best or anything, and I feel that they were fine. I blame students for the lack of skills, they need to want to learn...

I put presentation skills, because either we didn't do any presentations, or they weren't critiqued as a whole presentation (only the content was critiqued). Our programs for highly advanced students just seemed to be, well, there. There wasn't anything exciting or overly challenging about them, they just grouped us all together and taught us at a faster pace. I also put computer programming, because in junior high and high school, I learned Basic. Now _there's_ a useful language...not! ***lisashea: I went to school in Rocky Hill, right across the river from you!!

I'm really picky about schools, probably since I attended so many. The only thing all the schools I went to did 'adequately' was computer literacy (weird). I went to schools in Sweden, Liberia, Ecuador, USA, and Colombia; they're quite different. I'm also a knowledge freak, so I think I should have been taught more of everything. :)

I must say that I think that my school systems did a great job with all of these subjects. I know which subjects I am lacking in but I feel that that is more from my lack of interest than the system or teachers being subpar.

Gardiner Area High School (Gardiner, Maine, USA) is a mediocre school system that doesn't know what to do with anyone who is not in the middle of the bell curve. As of 1989 (when I graduated), they had only one Honors class, no AP classes, and their handling of the learning diabled (such as my younger sister) left a great deal to be desired. I'm informed it has only gotten worse since the principal, one of the best people in the administration, retired.

On the other hand, GAHS had a few -excellent- teachers scattered throughout the departments. One taught French, one taught Math, and one taught Writing and Literature classes (the fact that I dabble in creative writing to this day is a testament to that last one).

elijahblue: Yeah, it's not hard to guess... :)

One other clarification -- the "inadequacies" of your school system (if any) don't have to apply to you, personally. I'm just looking for problems that you noticed while you were there, areas where you think extra attention/emphasis would be most valuable to any or all students.

Well since I changed schools so many times I decided to go with the last one I attended (10-IB2). We had an excellent community service and cultural program, excellent English in every way program, average science and math... I guess what we really lacked was computer anything, arts and music and the history teacher was over 80 years old!

The answer is yes. I couldnt' pick a particular subject that was subpar. When I was in high school, there wasn't any emphasis on computers, because they were still too 'new'.(they had them, and offered some really basic courses) Everything else was hit to a degree. none was (IMHO) particularly great, but I don't have a basis of comparison, I was only in one high school. I didn't have courses in all of the above. If I didn't learn something, I wouldnt' blame my teachers.. I was either interested or not or I forgot it as soon as it didn't seem relevant.

Gee, I wonder where the idea for this survey came from :)... I picked Music/Arts (which I'm using to include creative writing), Geography, and programs for highly advanced students. All three suffered from lack of emphasis, or just lack, period. I'm not knowledgeable about how sufficient the programs for learning disabled students were. We didn't have classes in presentation skills per se, but I think other classes covered those skills pretty well. *** it's pretty silly to blame students for lack of skills if they weren't even offered certain subjects. My middle school, for example, nixed music (and other arts) entirely...so those whose families couldn't afford private lessons or instruments were pretty much out of luck.

History, geography, languages. I would put computers, but since the PCs/Apples didn't come out til I was moving into JHS and HS it really doesn't count.

I could have chosen all of them. Public school in the US is a joke, especially when it comes to teaching about the world outside this little country. I firmly believe students should have a good understanding of the basics of every subject to be able to graduate high school. What is currently considered the "advanced" curriculum should be the basic requirement. I also think teachers should be held to strict standards and be the highest paid professionals.

great, now you make me feel old ... there were NO computer classes of any kind in my high school ... to get this experience I joined an after-school club sponsored by one of the Math teachers and worked in the office ... we didn't have a drama dept. either and that always bugged me. every 4th year there was a musical put on by the music department. I was the student director for 'Once Upon a Mattress' in my senior year.

failed like most american educational institutions: history so slanted that haymarket was but a footnote and blamed totally on the scruffy anarchists. *** oh yah, public schools, in Virginia.

This is kinda a hard one. I went to public schools but they were actually better than a lot of the private schools around. There wasn't really anything specific that they lacked in, I don't think, although now they have a SERIOUS problem in the math and science areas, which was starting near the end of my high school years. Gotta love KERA. My poor brother got stuck in the middle of all of it, and the only reason he can add is because my mother used to be a math teacher and helped him learn. But he sure can write about things he doesn't understand, even if he can't spell any of the words right. I learned how to BS quite well without any help. ::mutters to herself:: Sorry. Since I doubt many of you are from KY this really doesn't matter much to you, does it? I'll be quiet now.

I feel that my early educational career was far too focused on rote learning, and lacked an inspiring environment for anyone with an even remotely artistic ability in any area -- and I believe that most people have /some/ artistic ability. I feel that schools, or more specifically, teachers, have taken it upon themselves to decide who shall become the artists, the scientists, etc. In reality, everyone probably starts out on fairly equal ground. Not only that, but to be a successful scientist, engineer, etc., creativity is incredibly important.

I picked math, because while we had one of the best English programs around, our mathematical education was handicapped by Stayon's combination Math and Coaching department, where students in lots of sports got priority.

I only chose "History/Culture (of other countries)", "Creative Writing", and "Presentation Skills", as these were the two most clearly deficient. We only had minimal Computer teaching, but for the time, this was reasonable (I finished High School in 1981). Today, I would expect quite a bit more, and much earlier on.
There were other areas which could have used improvement, but the quality varied sufficiently from teacher to teacher that there was usually someone who could do a reasonable job of teaching it. In general, though, there was too much emphasis on rote memorization (which to me seems pointless) and not enough on learning how to figure things out.
My kids are currently in private school, and the one in kindergarten gets spanish lesson twice a week, and is learning addition, subtraction, a little multiplication, reading, social interaction, leading and following, ... all in a very play-like atmosphere! They go on field trips quite often (about every two to three weeks, on average), too! I only hope I can maintain this level of quality for them throughout their academic careers.

Good arts department but nada for music. And while I don't think of this as a 'subject' the PE department wasn't up to snuff either. However all in all I am happy with my secondary education, and give money to the school

i started flunking in 4th grade and by 6th grade i had straight F's. not because I was stupid but because the education system and my parents failed me. nothing can be done about it, though.

history/culture of other countries, mostly through lack of emphasis. The others are roughly in the same bin, except for some which were better than that.

I'm thinking mostly of the Orthodox school I went to, which I would say was pretty deficient in all of these. to be fair, the day was split between English and Hebrew subjects, so there wasn't as much time, but still, it was pretty lame. I got bored a lot.

I would have to go with computer literacy. I am 26, but I never saw a computer until eigth grade. In my senior year I took a business computer class, because they were getting new computers. We got the new computers, but no instruction manuals. We ended up teaching the teacher how to use the computer. It was a very educational experience, but it should not have happened.