Democrat senator John Kerry did not think this was important.
Posted on 12/07/2004 6:33:12 AM PST by OESY
Fifteen-year-olds in the U.S. rank near the bottom of industrialized countries in math skills, ahead of only Portugal, Mexico and three other nations, according to a new international comparison that economists say is bad news for long-term economic growth.
Two of the study's most unsettling findings: The percentage of top-achieving math students in the nation is about half that of other industrialized countries, and the gap between scores of whites and minority groups -- who will make up an increasing share of the labor force in coming decades -- is enormous.
The U.S. ranked 24th among 29 countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which sponsored the study. Using the OECD's adjusted average score of 500 points, the U.S. scored 483 -- 61 points behind top-scoring Finland and 51 points behind Japan. In a wider group that also included 10 nonmembers, many of them developing nations, the U.S. tied Latvia for 27th place. The bad news is likely to be repeated next week with the expected release of another international math comparison. The U.S. scored near the bottom of that survey, the Trends in International Math and Science Survey, or Timss, when it was conducted four years ago....
In the test given last year, most of the teenagers were in ninth and 10th grade. Their poor showing is expected to provide fodder for President Bush, who wants to include high schoolers in his No Child Left Behind education program. That idea is likely to face stiff opposition from some members of Congress and many state legislators, who oppose any further expansion of the federal government's role in education....
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Democrat senator John Kerry did not think this was important.
Eh. We can still kick Finland's @$$. ;-)
I a predict a generation of bankers; and Federal Reserve employees out of this group.....
(Is it possible it's wrong?)
Democrat senator John Kerry did not think this was important.
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Of course not. Educating our children would mean the end to the far-left liberal Dems, especially in our educations system. As I continue to say, the Dems are not interested in this country and its people, JUST HAVING POWER AND CONTROL OVER THEM....welcome to communism with a happy face on it.
I figure this is a good thing. That way, when I am 60, there will be less people in their mid-40's trying to knock me out of my job to take my place.
But at least the kids feel good about themselves.
Could it be that American students know how to use a calculator and a computer? Was either one allowed in the testing center?
i've found it's a badge of honor to be bad at math. i tutor people (pre-college to MBA). it seems each has an ingrained block which isn't that hard to remove.
in all fairness, i don't know if i could teach a full class.
I fail to see how this affects long-term economic growth. Many of the internationals that excel at math will move to the US to make more money. Besides there are plenty of Americans that are good at math. The overall average may be low but capable Americans are not an endangered species.
NEA: Our kids may not be good at math but hey, they feel good about themselves and that's what's important.
doh! you beat me to it.
Percentages are irrelevant. What is the total population of high achiever math students in the US vs other nations? Do they have our advantage in asian immigrants? I think not.
You seem to be flummoxed by capitalization also.
Part of it is that the NSF has made the weak sciences -- biology, for example -- a growth industry. Biology is well-known for being a science that eschews mathematics. It's a shame, a monkey can conduct experiments.
It would be interesting to see the real numbers here. Does anyone know where the data is? (already tried googling.) I would akso like to see the actual numbers broken out at the high end.
But I bet they have better self-esteem.
I would disagree. When I went to engineering school, over half the class were foreigners.
Bogus stats.
Those other countries are predominantly homogenous. But the US is comprised of many subcultures. Large minority subcultures that fail to emphasize academic pursuits are factored into the stats. When you remove those subgroups from the calculation, the groups that have always done well continue to do well. Those are the kids who will rise to the top to become the scientists, engineers, accountants, analysts, CFO's etc. of tomorrow. They exist in large enough numbers that we would compare favorably with any industrialized nation when comparing the talent pools.
These kinds of studies are used to induce public panic and cause politicians to our more into schools for new programs. That money does no good for the kids who are underacheiving, and is not needed by the kids who are acheiving. But it empowers the NEA's social agenda.
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