One Size Does Not Fit All

Academic success requires talent (ability), which is not equally distributed among students. Almost all American undergraduates hail from K–12 public schools, based on the theory that everyone is academically educable. This has led to the one-size-fits-all system, which has underserved the less academically inclined students, a majority of the K-12 population. The theory that every student is academically educable, an unverified axiom of the current K-12 educational paradigm, has not been subjected to serious scrutiny. Consequently, little progress has been made toward curricular revision except tweaks of the existing system, currently the world’s most expensive. However testing, classroom performance, teacher assessment, advances in human biology and, most importantly, family and community experience, suggest that it is possible to determine who is suited for an academic or a technical education. Once that hurdle is crossed, the question of how to best educate/train/prepare America’s non-academic youth can be thoughtfully, practically and compassionately addressed.

There’s an old Yiddish proverb, a stranger can see for miles, and this certainly applies to Indrek S. Wichman’s masterful One Size Does Not Fit All. What makes Indrek a stranger is that while the book addresses K-12 education, Professor Wichman is a long-serving professor of Mechanical Engineering at Michigan State University. His assessment of American education is based on teaching the products of America’s schools, and his sensible conclusion is that perhaps half of those currently enrolled should not be pursuing an academic education. He is brutally honest: these “students” just lack the requisite cognitive ability and would be better off in a vocationally oriented program. In today’s political landscape in which “investing in education” has become a sacred and financially wasteful cliché, One Size Does Not Fit All should be required reading for every elected public official and education-minded philanthropist eternally willing to squander yet more billions on a futile task while ruining the lives of millions of academically challenged youngsters. A fine book with an important message.

Indrek Wichman, PhD, has taught in the department of mechanical engineering at Michigan State University for over thirty years. A full professor, his technical research area is in combustion, fire research and basic applied science.