freetrav came up with what I consider a very smart idea about how to make the US educational system (and the products thereof) competitive again. Instead of the current navel-gazing of No Child Properly Prepared where schools are basically encouraged to teach to the standardized test and call it done, and if schools aren't meeting the standards, we lower the standards (a strategy the results of which we can all clearly see), he proposes that we treat world educational rankings as the target. Here's his suggestion, slightly edited for clarity and continuity:
I would set the standards as follows: Look at the world educational ranking, and require a US student to achieve at a level equivalent to the 80th percentile in the country rated #1. Exception: for English, limit the examination to those countries where English is either official or the chief lingua franca. For foreign languages, inspection of countries where the foreign language in question is either official or chief lingua franca.
In other words, if the South Koreans are #1 in math, a US district is deemed failing in math if the average score of its students on the South Korean measure does not come out in the 80th percentile.
I'll even go so far as to allow for 'easing in' to the higher standards - say the educational dictatorship is initiated in 2010: In 2010, the target is 50th percentile, but rises to the 53rd percentile in 2011, 56th in 2012, and so on until it reaches the 80th in 2020.
I think he has something.
no subject
The direct comparison is skewed. When I was in school, the system served approx. 1.5 standard deviations from the mean. (I was a social and academic outcast.) Today the schools serve closer to four standard deviation from the mean. Only the true outliers are not served by the local school district in some fashion.
Compound the problem in the elementary school by so many kids coming to school unprepared to learn. You may think I am only talking about the inner city schools, I am not. I am also talking about schools served by well to do couples, where both work full time. Those elements of society are demanding that the schools fulfill the role of parent, as well as educator. Schools are responsible for everything except sleep schedules it seems.
The only way to combat the problem is to have parents responsible for their child's education. My children have gone through the public schools. I feel that they have a strong foundation, not just in education, but in thinking for themselves and solving problems. (Something some higher scoring cultures do not emphasize.) We are training our children for something other than getting the highest grades. Parents need to remain engaged in the process.
Before we start directly comparing ourselves to other countries, let's decide what we want our children to know and be able to do. Our best executives are seldom the top scorers in school. The system is broken more because we no longer know what is important to our children, not because we don't know how to teach or care.