Rowell Joven

Every child deserves the opportunity to learn, belong, and be supported.

Most teachers agree with that.

The difficult conversation begins when inclusion stops meaning "supporting every child" and starts meaning sacrificing the learning environment for everyone else.

A classroom is not made up of one student.

It is made up of thirty.

And teachers are responsible for all of them.

When one child's needs require so much time, attention, and intervention that 29 other students regularly lose learning opportunities, it is fair to ask whether the system is serving anyone well.

That is not a criticism of the child.

It is often a criticism of the support available.

Many students need additional help, specialist interventions, smaller settings, behavioral support, or resources that classroom teachers simply do not have access to.

Yet too often, the expectation falls on a single teacher to somehow meet every need while also ensuring that every other student continues to make progress.

The result is frustration for teachers.

Frustration for classmates.

And often frustration for the very student the system is trying to help.

True inclusion should benefit everyone involved.

It should not come at the expense of the other children in the room.

Because every child matters.

Including the 29 who came to school expecting to learn.

Educator, unseen does not mean unnoticed.

Some days, you pour into students, prepare lessons, solve problems, and give your best with little recognition. When no one acknowledges the effort, it can make meaningful work feel invisible.

But heaven has a different scoreboard.

Colossians 3:23 reminds us to work wholeheartedly for the Lord. When God is your real Employer, faithfulness matters even when applause never comes.

The classroom may feel quiet, but your work still has an Audience of One.

What would change if being faithful mattered more than being noticed?

The results of PISA 2025, released earlier today, paint a worrisome picture of the state of student skills around the world. Across the 36 OECD countries included in the study, average performance among 15-year-old students was the lowest ever recorded in all three core subjects: science, mathematics and reading. Reading skills saw a particularly steep decline, with average reading scores falling 16 points compared to the 2022 study. This is especially concerning as reading skills, including the ability to process and evaluate information and think critically, are more important than ever in the age of AI and misinformation.

The longer-term trend is just as concerning. As our chart shows, average scores in science, mathematics and reading have gradually declined since the turn of the millennium, with the decline in math and reading skills picking up pace since 2018. Science scores have been slightly more stable, deteriorating by just 17 points between 2006 and 2025.

The Programme for International Student Assessment, widely known as PISA, was launched in 1997, with the study across 43 countries conducted between 2000 and 2002. Held every three years, it assesses not only what 15-year-old students have learned but also how well they can apply that knowledge to real-world challenges. PISA 2025 drew on results from more than 760,000 students in 91 countries and economies, representing around 33 million 15-year-olds worldwide.