What should the new administration do to increase student engagement in mathematics, the sciences and the arts?

We've become overly focused on reading and math at younger and younger ages, when in reality many children are not ready to read or do math at 5, 6, or 7 years old.  There is nothing wrong with not focusing on them!  As suggested in Maya Frost's blog, it would be wonderful for the lower grades to focus completely on arts education.  Through drama, music and art, students could definitely be exposed to history, culture, literature, science, and even math, which would build their foundation for more formal study at later grades.  Have several years after that focused completely on science (not memorizing terminology in preparation for a test, but observing and experimenting with how the world works) and math would feed into childrens' natural curiosity instead of killing it the way we are now.  Presently, although we try to encourage cross-curricular study, we still have math time, reading time, writing time, science time, etc.  Every subject is separate from another.  Topics are introduced, covered very quickly, and then left behind as teachers move onto the next concept.  What does this teach our children?  It teaches them to study to pass the test, and then to forget it because it's time to move on, and the next concept doesn't have much to do with the last concept.  Students don't have an opportunity to become engaged!  They aren't allowed to become engaged!  As for learning to read, and learning to do math, the reading and math that we expect our children to do in grades K-5 is not difficult to learn.  Our students struggle mostly due to the fact that they're either not developmentally ready, they're not exposed to interesting and meaningful literature and math usage, and the only purpose that they are taught for it is to pass a test (as opposed to using reading, writing and math as a means for exploring the world).  In fact, in the homeschooling communities, it's very common for students to learn to read completely on their own, if given the time to do it when they're developmentally ready.  So basically, back off of the testing at young ages, focus on the arts for several years, and then math and the sciences for several years,  and allow students to develop their reading and writing skills as they become developmentally ready for it. - Michele from NJ

As a student, I often feel this way myself and I know I'm not alone among other students. Many educators have recognized what seems like a flaw in current curricula and other educators have attempted to address this problem through what is claimed to be methods for "student engagement." However, without actually changing the presentation of educational ideas and perhaps even what ideas are presented, there is no way to reasonably increase student engagement, especially in math and science.

I agree that the overall solution is to make the subject matter more interesting and engaging, which is definitely not accomplishable through the use of grades alone. I sometimes wonder what the purpose is, other to pass a test, of memorizing specific concepts and formulas, which will likely never again be encountered in my life unless I go into a very specific field of work. Even if I was previously interested in a topic, after rushing through and concentrating on memorizing facts, equations, and concepts for tests, I lose a lot of interest in the subject. Focusing on the "concepts," doesn't help either because it means memorizing opinions, which is even worse than memorizing facts.

I am curious, deep inside I want to learn as long as it is done in an enjoyable fashion. Hence the Internet has become my "haven" for learning what I am personally interested in. I love reading Wikipedia articles on diverse subjects and then clicking the internal links to read other articles that are also interesting or ones that further explain ideas. And I'm not alone!

I would recommend more up-to-date electives in the math and sciences. Note that, particularly in computer science, what interests a student today is probably not the same thing that interested a student 10-30 years ago.

I understand that accomplishing a change of this magnitude would be very difficult, and it's of course easier said than done, but I believe it's necessary. Material learned through current methods is quickly forgotten when it's no longer necessary for grades. With a loss in interest and a loss in knowledge, education has not had the long-term positive impact I think it should have. -- Dara from NY