Posted on 05/13/2005 7:28:40 PM PDT by neverdem
For so many years, America's economy was so dominant on the world stage, so out front in so many key areas, that we fell into the habit of thinking we were competing largely against ourselves. If we fell behind in one area or another - whether it was math and science skills, broadband capacity or wireless infrastructure - we took the view that: "Oh well, we'll fix that problem when we get to it. After all, we're just competing against ourselves."
In recent years, though, with the flattening of the global playing field, it should be apparent that we are not just competing against ourselves. The opening of China, India and Russia means that young people in these countries can increasingly plug and play - connect, collaborate and compete - more easily and cheaply than ever before. And they are. We, alas, are still coasting along as if we have all the time in the world.
I helped teach a course at Harvard last semester on globalization, and one day a student told me this story: He was part of a student-run collaboration between students in the U.S. and China. The American and Chinese students had recently started working together by using Skype, the popular, freely downloadable, software that enables you to make free phone calls over the Internet to other Skype users. But what was most interesting, the student told me, was that it was the Chinese students who introduced their U.S. counterparts to Skype. And, he noted, these Chinese students were not from major cities, like Beijing, but from smaller towns.
On April 7, CNET News.com reported the following: "The University of Illinois tied for 17th place in the world finals of the Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest. ...
"That's the lowest ranking for the top-performing U.S. school in the 29-year history of the competition. Shanghai Jiao Tong University of China took top honors this year, followed by Moscow State University and the St. Petersburg Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics. Those results continued a gradual ascendance of Asian and East European schools during the past decade or so. A U.S. school hasn't won the world championship since 1997, when students at Harvey Mudd College achieved the honor. 'The U.S. used to dominate these kinds of programming Olympics,' said David Patterson, president of the Association for Computing Machinery and a computer science professor at the University of California at Berkeley. 'Now we're sort of falling behind.' "
Earlier this week, a special report on the Indiana University High School Survey of Student Engagement, which covered 90,000 high school students in 26 states, was published. The study noted that 18 percent of college-track seniors did not take a math course in their last year in high school - and that "more than a fifth (22 percent) of first-year college students require remediation in math." Just 56 percent of the students surveyed said they put a great deal of effort into schoolwork; only 43 percent said they worked harder than they had expected.
Even though 55 percent said they studied no more than three hours a week, 65 percent of those students reported getting mostly A's and B's.
"Students are getting A's and B's, but without studying much," Martha McCarthy, the Indiana University professor who headed the study, told me. "Our fear," she added, "is that when you talk to employers out there, they say they are not getting the skills they need," in part because "the colleges are not getting students with the skills they need." Ms. McCarthy said one of the main reasons Indiana did this study is to better inform high school educators about what is going on in their own schools so they can find remedies. All of these shortcomings developed over time, Ms. McCarthy said, but "we as a nation became complacent about them."
America today reminds me of our last Olympic basketball team - that lackadaisical group that brought home the bronze medal. We think that all we need to do is show up and everyone else will fold - because, after all, we're just competing with ourselves.
And we think we don't need to get focused and play together like a team, with Democrats and Republicans actually working together. Well, on the basketball court - and in a flat world, where everyone now has access to all the same coaching techniques, training methods and scouting reports - a more focused, motivated team always beats a collection of more talented but complacent individuals.
>>So what do you talk through Skype?<<
Other people who have skype - it lets you make free calls through the internet to other people with computers or very cheap calls to people with regular phones.
"And we think we don't need to get focused and play together like a team, with Democrats and Republicans actually working together."
Of course, Friedman's gotta slip that stupid 'bipartisan' horseshit in there. God forbid the GOP get anything done on their own for once.
It would be nice if both parties would work for the good of the country, rather than for their own power and aggrandizement.
Well, you're right. I saw a study that showed that teachers are consistently the lowest achievers in academia. Not surprising to me.
"It would be nice if both parties would work for the good of the country, rather than for their own power and aggrandizement."
It would be nice if EITHER party would work for the good of the country. Calling for bipartisan camaraderie is counter to good government, however, because that time is past. If 9/11 didn't make a difference in the Rat rhetoric and 'vision,' nothing will.
9/11 hasn't helped the GOP see we need better control of the borders either, has it? And what business is it of Congress if MLB players use steroids? Don't they have more important things to worry about?
I saw a study that showed that teachers are consistently the lowest achievers in academia. Not surprising to me.
It's not just the teachers' unions, it's the colleges of education and the state boards of education.
Georgia has attempted to implement several alternative teacher certification programs, but all I've seen eventually require students to spend at least some time with the education colleges.
One problem is that many people who are qualified for other jobs - especially now since so many more jobs are open for women - don't want to take the relatively low-paying teaching jobs, especially with the poor discipline enforced in the schools today (which is largely due to lawsuits and threats thereof).
You can say that teaching pays well for 9-10 months work, but it's still the annual salary that determines whether or not you can afford that house or car, is it not?
No argument on either point, but at least SOME of the GOP mouths about the borders, and at least the GOP seems to actually be a LITTLE concerned about terrorism. The Rat patrol doesn't care about either except when it's politically expedient...sort of like the Tory party harping on Tony Blair's 'lies' when they would be in Iraq themselves. You'd still rather have Tony Blair, even if you know he's a worthless POS on 90% of the issues.
Well, it's becoming more & more expedient, and I expect them to become more interested.
Isn't Hillary! now expressing an interest in control of the borders?
It's not just the teacher's unions - it's that we allow the teachers unions to require useless degrees in education instead of concentrating on what the teachers SATs were and where they went to college and how good of grades they got in the subjects they would be teaching... then adding some education courses.
What's the old saying "them that can, do. Them that can't teach."
How many parents demand more (teaching the basics) from their school boards, and less puff classes?
Were you near the top of your class? Can you "do"?
If so, would you be willing to teach, for the future of our country, "for the children"? Why or why not?
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