<p>"Out of 34 countries, the U.S. ranked 14th in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math." Moms and Dads, why do you think this is so?</p>
<p>What tangible motives do students have to perform well on this test?</p>
<p>At my high school we sometimes have practice tests in various classes that are simply graded on completion. Most students do not give their best effort on these types of tests because they are not competing for a grade. I would expect the same result on a “world survey” in which students were given some type of test for which they did not receive a letter grade. Everybody is obsessed with grades and “stats”! I know this is for parents but I felt that I had a personal account that could add to the discussion.</p>
<p>^ It could also be that most American students are sick and tired of testing. In my experiences, I have seen students who do not complete the forms and rush/sleep through the exams.</p>
<p>These rankings are pretty misleading. The United States is so large and diverse that comparing our rankings are a whole vs South Korea, Finland, etc is a disservice. </p>
<p>How about comparing Connecticut scores with South Korea, or only the Northeast with the Scandinavian countries. </p>
<p>The USA is incredibly diverse and will be just fine. </p>
<p>Although I would like to see more kids focus on the harder sciences, but everyone is free to study whatever interests them. I wouldn’t change that for the world.</p>
<p>Compare our college students vs foreign college students and see what happens. It’s something to brag about to have your son/daughter to be “US educated” as a foreigner.</p>
<p>So many countries funnel off their best students to special schools and their other students go to technical and apprenticeship programs. Does anyone wonder whether that affects scores?</p>
<p>I would also agree with other posters that our students have figured out that those tests mean nothing for them. My own darling son laughs about filling in band names (ABBA, ACDC) when he takes standardized tests. And from looking at his scores, which have fluctuated as much as 30 points in a year, I don’t think he is kidding.</p>
<p>Politics of Education</p>
<p>Spent 12 years (last 2 of Bill and 8 years of W and 2 of BO) that promoted NCLB or its variation.
Budgetary problems will aggravate USA preparation and technology leadership.</p>
<p>In all probability DS will lose his job in robotic research at a major research (state) institution.</p>
<p>OK.
Firstly you can claim that the tests don’t matter
…But that doesn’t alter the results</p>
<p>You can claim the US is big and diverse so the results aren’t representative
…But there are plenty of big/homogeneous countries, small/diverse countries in the mix with better scores than the US.</p>
<p>You can say that kids have no motivation to excel at these tests.
…But then why would any student in any country be particularly motivated?</p>
<p>You can say that US kids are tired of being tested and are in fact over tested
… But they are not tested anywhere near a much as UK or European schools</p>
<p>You can compare current US college students vs Foreign students and argue that there is a cachet to a US education.
…But you would be missing the point.</p>
<p>The point is that the decline in US standards of secondary education will have an effect in the FUTURE…
Future college admissions, the future US economy and its competitiveness, and the future of American society</p>
<p>Or you can stick you head in the sand and believe that American Exceptionalism extends to an education system that is increasingly disjointed, chronically underfunded, politically interfered with, religiously skewed, used as a political football by the trade unions on the left, overtly hijacked by the religious conservatives on the right, and has been reduced to little more than a zipcode lottery for those who cannot ‘buy’ their way out of the system by affording a private education…other than that, everything is actually ok.</p>
<p>^ well said</p>
<p>we are fine. just need more science/tech people…sort of in shortage of them. internationals dominate the scene.</p>
<p>I LOVE how much American’s who see this make a whole bunch of excuses instead of realizing that the educational system is messed up! Really there direct correlation between time spent in school and rank…and guess what America is on the lower list of time spent in the class. So please stop making excuses for America when it is the people’s faults!</p>
<p>Lots of things are linked to test scores & many indicators may be more important regarding the health of the nation.
Take infant health for example.
USA is 33rd on the UN ranking for infant mortality.
Slightly better mortality rates than Croatia.
However our under-five mortality rate is higher. 7.8/1000.
Our literacy rate, life expectancy rate is just as depressing-
but Hey!
We are #1 in money spent on health care!</p>
<p>Parents are responsible for this situation. They don’t set the priority for children.
When teachers give homework they complain. When children misbehave, they come up with excuses such as ADD. Playing with xbox, nintendo … takes priority over school work.</p>
<p>Wow Wesley 108…that was really loud.
:)</p>
<p>i totally agree with wesley. the first thing that people offer is excuses. the fact of the matter is that it is pathetic that students do not take a test seriously if there is no grade. there is no excuse to be ranked so badly and that is because we have a seriously failing education system. this should be a wake up call, not a call for excuses</p>
<p>This is a comparative AVERAGE. The top kids in the US are as good as the top kids anywhere. There’s a reason more foreigners come to the US for college than vice versa.</p>
<p>Every year the flawed educational system breeds low standardized test results. The scores in impoverished areas kill the countries average and show us in a negative light. If the US were REALLY so far behind, we wouldn’t be a world power.</p>
<p>Have faith in our top students - they’re among the best.</p>
<p>I don’t know about that. For example, the IMO, in which usually the best math students compete, the USA’s closest competitors seem to be places like South Korea, Thailand, Japan, Iran, North Korea, and Russia, all of which have the disadvantage of having a significantly lower population than us.</p>
<p>Truzzi 182</p>
<p>You are correct inasmuch as you think the education system is only about catering to the top percentile of students.</p>
<p>However as the future of the US economy depends on more than the top students being successful I think I see the flaw in your plan.</p>
<p>By the way…
As for all those foreign students who will come to US colleges in the future?..
There are a finite number of places available at US colleges…
The rest of the world is getting wealthier and thus the possible candidate pool of foreign students will be increasing accordingly
So, given that US students are achieving demonstrably inferior student skill results compared to their foreign counterparts in high school…</p>
<p>Who WON’T be going to US colleges in the future?</p>
<p>Time to start looking at affirmative action for American kids in American colleges</p>
<p>So many people jump to excuses upon hearing that students in the U.S. on average did not perform the best on this particular worldwide standardized exam… don’t you think this points out a need for reform in the U.S. education system to improve the quality of teaching of public schools in those improverished and low performing areas such as those truzzi mentioned? To fill that gap in academic achievement?</p>
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Yeah I had to make sure people “heard” it and not just skip through to the most resent :)</p>
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YES!!! Thank you exactly how I feel about it to!</p>