US Teens Lag Behind Fab-Smart Chinese Children (feign surprise)
Fifteen-year-olds in the U.S. ranked 25th among peers from 34 countries on a math test and scored in the middle in science and reading, while China’s Shanghai topped the charts, raising concern that the U.S. isn’t prepared to succeed in the global economy.
Pretend you're shocked.
According to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, “This should be a massive wake-up call to the entire country.”
Really? I thought this was a massive wake up call: The fact that American children between the ages of 8 to 18 spend an average of 7+ hours per day engaged with various forms of media, a number that does not include media multi-tasking (watching TV while surfing the net) or texting (add 1.5 hours per day).
But back to the shocking test scores. According to Bloomberg News:
The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development, which represents 34 countries, today released the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment. For the first time, the test broke out the performance of China’s Shanghai region, which topped every country in all academic categories. The U.S. government considers the test one of the most comprehensive measures of international achievement.
Even without the Shanghai regional results, the US lags behind South Korea, Finland, Japan and Canada -- countries that led the results among the 470,000 students worldwide who took the 2009 exam.
The Obama administration's solution to this "massive wakeup call"? National curriculum standards and revamped teacher pay that rewards student performance over longevity or credentials.
Wow. Talk about your radical solutions.
Meanwhile, this problem was best illustrated back in November 2009 (right around the time our students were bombing these international assessment tests on behalf of the USA) by a video produced by Time Warner Cable’s “Connect a Million Minds” (CAMM) initiative.
Responding to previous international rankings that prove we’re far behind the rest of the world in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) scores, CAMM set out to identify the differing attitudes about these subjects among teens from several countries.
Not surprisingly, they learned that students in Finland, China and Australia understand how crucial it is to work hard, compete against other students, and master the skills that will enable them to find jobs in these areas.
American students “hate math” (what did it ever do to them?), preferring to “text,” “socialize,” “watch Youtube videos” and generally not appear to be intellectually engaged. (Want to be annoyed? Watch CAMM’s video here).
The CAMM initiative is looking to connect mentors to US students to show them how cool it is to study STEM subjects and work in related fields, proving that math and science now must compete in the arena of public relations for the attention of America’s over-indulged youth.
Yo, Arnie. Merit pay for teachers is not the problem.
More likely, the problem rests at the feet of the teacher education elite, who long ago usurped American public education for the cause of social justice and social engineering. Thanks to their “child centered” pedagogy, we’re more concerned about righting injustice than teaching kids the knowledge and skills they will need to be truly competitive, self-sufficient and successful.
We’re infusing self-esteem, while in far away Finland, Australia and South Korea, and especially in Shanghai, they’re simply teaching math, science and reading to an eager population of knowledge-thirsty learners.
This would explain why their kids are acing the tests, while ours aren’t.
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Jul '10
Re: US Teens Lag Behind Fab-Smart Chinese Children (feign surprise)
But our kids lead the world in sexting!
Jul '10
Re: US Teens Lag Behind Fab-Smart Chinese Children (feign surprise)
We can teach the kids the Muslim rule: If You can't beat 'em, overpopulate 'em.
Nov '10
Re: US Teens Lag Behind Fab-Smart Chinese Children (feign surprise)
That is undoubtedly a large part of the problem, but some of the blame must be placed on American kids, themselves.
For me, the "wake-up call" came from an odd source — a Japanese animated series (anime) called "Revolutionary Girl Utena," which follows the emotional travails of a group of high school kids. In one episode, the kids hit an educational slump and suffer a rash of bad grades. To remedy the problem, they take it upon themselves to get together at a friend's house one evening for a homework party.
Think of that! A homework party! In your wildest dreams, can you imagine American kids throwing a homework party? Not a chance.
Foreign kids are no "smarter" than American kids; they just take education a lot more seriously.
Edited on Dec 7, 2010 at 4:31pmSep '10
Re: US Teens Lag Behind Fab-Smart Chinese Children (feign surprise)
Pravda On The Hudson on the Dumbest Generation
Jun '10
Re: US Teens Lag Behind Fab-Smart Chinese Children (feign surprise)
Marybeth Hicks: This just in:
American students “hate math” (what did it ever do to them?), preferring to “text,” “socialize,” “watch Youtube videos” and generally not appear to be intellectually engaged.
I've heard students say they "hate history." That's because what they are served is a sheet of random dates and names and expected to memorize it. No story, just facts sucked dry of any living value or reason for caring. I'm a historian and I'm offended by what passes for history in our classrooms.
I had a very hard time with math. In part, I think, because I couldn't relate it to anything. I don't think it was a problem with the math or my mental abilities so much as the way it was taught.
American kids aren't stupid, they are ignorant. This is not their fault. They are having to learn on their own. Not just their schooling but also their values and ethics. And they watch us and they see our words and actions and they choose what they think works best.
So what do we do? I don't know.
Jul '10
Re: US Teens Lag Behind Fab-Smart Chinese Children (feign surprise)
Lady Kurobara
That is undoubtedly a large part of the problem, but some of the blame must be placed on American kids, themselves.
Let's not forget their folks. Plenty of parents just want Becky or Johnny to get an A and couldn't care less if the child learned anything. They apply pressure to administrators, who pass it on to teachers, who often follow the path of least resistance: grade inflation, social promotion, pick your poison.
'Course, if the Ed schools didn't denigrate learning, that would help.
May '10
Re: US Teens Lag Behind Fab-Smart Chinese Children (feign surprise)
There is a way to fix this problem. Group high ability students together starting in elementary school when they show a need for more challenging work. Make them learn vocab and spelling words they didn't walk into the classroom already knowing, and challenge them with high level reading, math and science assignments. Raise the bar; make them work to earn A's instead of rewarding mediocre academic performances with high grades. That way when they get to middle and high school they've developed good study habits and can tackle complex subjects with ease.
NCLB exacerbated a problem that already existed in our schools, the "self-esteem movement" that disparaged ability grouping as discriminatory and elitist, and led to an entire generation of students who didn't develop a good work ethic early. This is not the fault of the students; it's a systemic problem, but it can be fixed.
Edited on Dec 7, 2010 at 8:10pmMay '10
Re: US Teens Lag Behind Fab-Smart Chinese Children (feign surprise)
The confounding variable here is IQ. East Asians have a mean IQ of about 5 points higher than Caucasian IQ. Of course, you will answer it's culture too. Of course, it is, but I suspect there is positive feedback loop operating. People who are good at book-learning tend to like it and study harder. People who are bad at book-learning get bored and give up. This applies to societies also.
Unfortunately, the brain is not a muscle.™
Nov '10
Re: US Teens Lag Behind Fab-Smart Chinese Children (feign surprise)
Something else occurs to me...
America has always put a premium on a good, basic education, but, as a society, we have always been suspicious of the "ivory tower intellectual." And it does not help when people see so many Harvard-educated morons in the government, doing their level best to ruin the country.
We have blamed the teachers, the parents and the kids, but the "eggheads" themselves are setting a pretty poor example.
To hell with Harvard and Yale; I would be happy if we could just get back in touch with the "good, basic education" thing.
And no matter whose "fault" it is, the public education system is beyond repair unless the teachers' unions are destroyed.
Chris Christie in 2012.
Edited on Dec 7, 2010 at 9:02pmMay '10
Re: US Teens Lag Behind Fab-Smart Chinese Children (feign surprise)
outstripp: The confounding variable here is IQ. East Asians have a mean IQ of about 5 points higher than Caucasian IQ. Of course, you will answer it's culture too. Of course, it is, but I suspect there is positive feedback loop operating. People who are good at book-learning tend to like it and study harder. People who are bad at book-learning get bored and give up. This applies to societies also.
Unfortunately, the brain is not a muscle.™ · Dec 7 at 8:24pm
Couldn't disagree more. I know you probably didn't mean to make the "Asians are a superior race" argument, but in effect that's where your reasoning takes you. Yes, very bright Asians come to our great country to take advantage of the opportunites available here, and yes, their children often rise to the top at their schools, but this is not because they are innately superior to American children.
Edited on Dec 8, 2010 at 7:27pmMay '10
Re: US Teens Lag Behind Fab-Smart Chinese Children (feign surprise)
May '10
Re: US Teens Lag Behind Fab-Smart Chinese Children (feign surprise)
Diane
outstripp: The confounding variable here is IQ....
Couldn't disagree more. I know you probably didn't mean to make the "Asians are a superior race" argument, but in effect that's where your reasoning takes you. ....
...
I did not make the superior race argument because human beings vary along a myriad of dimensions, and it is unlikely that one ethnic group would be superior on all or most dimensions. BUT, do you think it possible that you and I differ in IQ? Do you think it possible that your family and my family differ on mean IQ? Extrapolate to larger groups. Sadly, the world is not a fair place.
May '10
Re: US Teens Lag Behind Fab-Smart Chinese Children (feign surprise)
I agree, Diane. This is what they do in Europe, or at least part of Europe (including Germany and Holland, which share the highest IQ rates on the continent. At age 12 kids are separated according to aptitude.
I know an American who got his PhD in physics or something over in Germany. He said it was shocking and depressing to discover the disparity between the abilities of the average German university student, vs. the average American university student.
But, interestingly, he said it all evened out in grad school.
May '10
Re: US Teens Lag Behind Fab-Smart Chinese Children (feign surprise)
I agree. Higher IQ does NOT equal superior person qua person. It just means smarter person.
Aug '10
Re: US Teens Lag Behind Fab-Smart Chinese Children (feign surprise)
We cannot underestimate the importance of parents in this discussion. Parenting is the make-or-break factor.
Aug '10
Re: US Teens Lag Behind Fab-Smart Chinese Children (feign surprise)
One of the key factors here that is being overlooked is that the study tested 15 year olds. Thus, we are not necessarily receiving a 1 to 1 comparison in overall quality of education.
Which 15 year olds were tested within a given country?
The language of the report conveys the appearance that "all" 15 year olds in the participating countries participated in the testing. Is this true?
Do all 15 year olds in the participating countries continue in school, or are they tracked into different programs or become dropped by the system?
Why did they choose 15? When America is represented in studies of students in the 6th grade, they perform quite well. What are the differences in education systems of the higher performing countries?
It appears that Shanghai segregates out low performing students before the age of 15.
"For higher education, students must pass examinations of all levels." Students are only required to attend the first 9 years of school and the only students who are 15 who are still in school are those who have passed assessment tests.
Apples to oranges.
May '10
Re: US Teens Lag Behind Fab-Smart Chinese Children (feign surprise)
Uh, how on earth does the standards and testing regimen of NCLB have anything whatever to do with the rise of the self-esteem nonsense?
Look, everyone, Rudolph Flesch published Why Johnny Can't Read in 1955; Johnny still can't.
But- since then, the cream- not the mean- of three generations of US students has excelled in every area you can imagine, for the same reasons that, as VD Hanson explains, the soldiers of free market democratic countries excel in war. The society progresses based on the achievements of the motivated producers.
The fact that a little girl in Shanghai can memorize and regurgitate the multiplication tables at age 6 instead of 20 means little if she stops thinking at age 16 or never learns to apply that knowledge to productive endeavors.
I want our kids to learn, and education reform is needed, the teacher unions are corrupt, and public schools need competition, sure.
But these study results are not particularly enlightening by themselves. There is a reason that Chinese kids all want to go to US universities, and it isn't the beer.
Re: US Teens Lag Behind Fab-Smart Chinese Children (feign surprise)
Nathaniel Wright:
It appears that Shanghai segregates out low performing students before the age of 15.
"For higher education, students must pass examinations of all levels." Students are only required to attend the first 9 years of school and the only students who are 15 who are still in school are those who have passed assessment tests.
Apples to oranges. · Dec 8 at 10:29am
You've pointed out a fascinating variable that I highly doubt was controlled for in the results of this study.
That said, the U.S. also lags behind South Korea, Finland, Japan and Canada. I don't know if the first three on that list more closely resemble China's education system or the U.S.'s, but surely Canada's system of education isn't all that different from ours.
May '10
Re: US Teens Lag Behind Fab-Smart Chinese Children (feign surprise)
Diane Ellis, Ed.You've pointed out a fascinating variable that I highly doubt was controlled for in the results of this study.
That said, the U.S. also lags behind South Korea, Finland, Japan and Canada. I don't know if the first three on that list more closely resemble China's education system or the U.S.'s, but surely Canada's system of education isn't all that different from ours. · Dec 8 at 10:55am
Diane, Canada's system performs better in K-12 for the same demographic reasons that for years they had lower health care costs. Same with Finland. And Japan and RoK have the same East Asian educational culture as Shanghai.
None of those factors means that their populations are necessarily going to cause those countries to outstrip long-run US economic performance, which is the reason we all worry about this stuff. They all still come to the US for grad school.
May '10
Re: US Teens Lag Behind Fab-Smart Chinese Children (feign surprise)