A Few Radical Proposals
The Stark Evidence that there is a Problem
Americans boast of being a superpower. However, in comparison to other students around the globe, there is considerable room for improvement. The First Lady, Michelle Obama, described our educational failures as a threat to national security.
2007:
How do United States students compare to students in other countries?—in brief, in education we lag behind. In a 2007 comparison of academic performance in 57 countries, students in Finland came out on top overall. Finnish 15-year-olds did the best in science and came in second in math. Other top-performing countries included: Hong Kong, Canada, Taiwan, Estonia, Japan and Korea. How did the U.S. do? As much of a superpower and an educational mecca as we see ourselves, students in the United States performed barely in the middle of the pack. 16 industrialized countries scored above the U.S. in science, and 23 scored higher in math.
“These rankings are reasonably consistent across surveys within grade levels for the same subject…” Professor Erling E. Boe, University of Pennsylvania. And subsequent testing periods indicate that we are not making much improvement. Experts noted that the United States’ scores remained about the same in math between 2003 and 2006, the two most recent years the test was given. Meanwhile, many other nations, Estonia and Poland being two, improved their scores and moved past the U.S.
Researchers also made note of the fact that while the United States has one of the biggest gaps between high- and low-performing students in an industrialized nation, Finland has one of the smallest gaps. Students in Finland perform remarkably well, regardless of the school they attend, unlike the situation in America. Why Finland outperforms the U.S. so dramatically will be considered in the next blogspot where suggestions for improvement will be considered.
2012
In the most recent set of comparisons, The World Economic Forum ranked the United States an abysmal 52nd in the quality of mathematics and science education, and 5th in overall global competitiveness. Global competitiveness was once our main claim to fame owing to the financial power of America. It is a sad commentary that our position is not only below where it should be, but it is steadily declining. As a reflection of our relative failures in mathematical and science education in our grammar and high schools, the United States ranks 27th among developed nations in the proportion of college students receiving undergraduate degrees in science or engineering. It is a shame that there are more foreign students studying in U.S. graduate schools than U.S. students. Despite our serious need to produce well educated and trained engineers, more than 2/3 of the engineers who receive Ph.D.’s from United States universities are not United States citizens. -Level Playing Field Institute.
“Fourth- and eighth-grade students in the United States continue to lag behind students in several East Asian countries and some European nations in math and science, although American fourth graders are closer to the top performers in reading, according to test results released [recently]…Fretting about how American schools compare with those in other countries has become a regular pastime in education circles. Results from two new reports, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, are likely to fuel further debate. [Those studies revealed that] South Korea and Singapore led the international rankings in math and fourth-grade science, while Singapore and Taiwan had the top-performing students in eighth-grade science. The United States ranked [only] 11th in fourth-grade math, 9th in eighth-grade math, 7th in fourth-grade science and 10th in eighth-grade science… Several nations far outstripped the United States in the proportion of students who scored at the highest levels on the math and science tests.
“In the United States, only 7 percent of students reached the advanced level in eighth-grade math, while 48 percent of eighth graders in Singapore and 47 percent of eighth graders in South Korea reached the advanced level. As those with superior math and science skills increasingly thrive in a global economy, the lag among American students could be a cause for concern. ‘Clearly, we have some room to improve, particularly at the number of advanced students we have compared to the world.’ -Jack Buckley, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics at the Education Department, which administers and analyzes the results of the tests in the United States. The tests, which are designed by the International Study Center at Boston College in collaboration with government education officials and academic researchers in participating countries, are administered to a random selection of demographically representative students across the world… Fourth graders in 57 countries or education systems took the math and science tests… In reading, 53 countries and education systems participated.
“[In this latest set of studies], Hong Kong and Russia had the highest average test scores in fourth-grade reading, with American students ranking sixth. Students in Finland, which is often held up as a model education system for its teacher preparation and its relative absence of high-stakes testing, outperformed American students on all [blogspot author’s emphasis] the exams. But students in countries with intense testing cultures also exceeded American students. ‘Some of the high-performing math and science countries have extremely rigorous testing regimes,’ Mr. Buckley said.’” –Motoko Rich, U.S. Students Still Lag Globally in Math and Science, Tests Show, New York Times, December 11, 2012
2013
“A report by Harvard University’s Program on Education Policy and Governance in October, 2013 found that U.S. students aren’t progressing to catch up to their foreign peers. Students in Latvia, Chile and Brazil are making gains in academics three times faster [blogspot author’s emphasis] than American students, while those in Portugal, Hong Kong, Germany, Poland, Liechtenstein, Slovenia, Colombia and Lithuania are improving at twice the rate…The study’s findings support years of rankings that show foreign students outpacing their American peers academically. Students in Shanghai who recently [2013—blogpost author’s note] took international exams for the first time outscored every other school system in the world. In the same test, American students ranked 25th in math, 17th in science and 14th in reading.
“Just 6 percent of U.S. students performed at the advanced level on an international exam administered in 56 countries in 2006. That proportion is lower than those achieved by students in 30 other countries…”- Huffington Post, Education Olympics: How Does America Rank Compared To Other Countries? (INFOGRAPHIC), July 22, 2012. “Students in the District of Columbia had the lowest math scores in the U.S., putting them behind students in 29 countries.”-YoExpert, Matters in Education, online magazine.
These test results are much more than a meaningless competition among children. The test results indicate a dismal outcome for American children as a result of the failings of the system which purports to educate them and over which they have little or no control. Our economy–and indeed, even our national security–is affected. We cannot and do not produce the competently trained professionals that we need, and we fall further behind every year.
“[Percentages of children who graduate from high school around the world reveal] Germany-97%, Japan-93%, Great Britain-91%, France and Italy-85%, Hungary-78%, and the U.S.A.-77%…[Percentages of children who go on to post-high-school education]: Japan-44%, U.S.A.-41%, Great Britain and Australia-37%. [Ranking of each nation’s students on mathematics tests] China (PRC) 1, Japan-9, Australia-15, Germany-16, France-22, Sweden-26, Great Britain-28, Hungary-29, U.S.A.-31. [Global Science Ranking] China (PRC)-1, Japan-5, Australia-10, Germany-13, Great Britain-16, Hungary-22, U.S.A.-23…The overall Education Olympics champions were Great Britain 1st, Japan 2nd, and China 3rd.” [The United States did not rank].
Huffington Post, Education Olympics: How Does America Rank Compared To Other Countries? (INFOGRAPHIC), July 22, 2012.
We can do better, but we will have to make serious changes. Many of our present government and education leaders will have to abandon their present policies and get back to basics. It will require a sea-change in attitudes and efforts. If we intend, as a nation, to regain a high ranking among our peers and opponents, then we must humble ourselves sufficiently to learn from the truly successful nations; we must sacrifice some of our sacred cows; and we must adapt. In the next blogpost, the author will discuss what successful countries with successful school systems and successful students are doing.
