Smart thinking on education

[unixronin]

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.

Comments

[koyote.livejournal.com]

Dude. You want to test french I as taught in freshman high school classes on a LEVEL WITH FRENCH HIGH SCHOOLERS?????!!?!?

okay, look, our system has issues- most of which come from the federalis and apathetic non-communities, but ... aside from the fact that Yet Another One Size Fits All Federal Mandate From Hell isn't going to fix anything (can we just fucking balkanize already?)- this is way extremo. Give people a chance to learn arabic before requiring them to out orate osama, k?

Now, that was probably just an unclear statement, but my comment can be extended a bit. you can put all sorts of insane requirements on teachers and schools- like expecting and undefunded school that's over half immigrant to excel on english exams before the stude3nts have been in the country for 2 full years (NOT uncommon out here. but it's california, so it's not bush's fault.) - and you can add 4th grade trig to that, on top of it. But you aren't going to GET anywhere.

1: Sweeping one size fits all solutions never work. That alone- the 'mass man' automaton idea of education- probably does the most harm, period. It ain't money nor even cheesey ass tests. It's the idea that kids are lightbulbs, or even better, walmart batteries.

2: Test something real. I know a kid who will bomb a trig test over and over and over again, but can design and build a boat that not only floats, but sails well. It's the same skillset in many ways. She's doomed to fail that exam, though. Too bad for her. Humans aren't punch card machines!

I'm not even convinced I buy the world educational rankings, anyway.

[robbat2.livejournal.com]

no, your french case is misleading.
It's "french as a second language" (in the US), vs. "french as a first language" (in France and portions of Africa).

Some might suggest relaxing the 80th percentile for fringe subjects, but I suspect this may not be required. How many US kids are taking Arabic classes at a high school level? I'd venture that their average grades far exceed the average grades for the core subjects.

You're right on the testing issue however, you either end up with grade inflation and inequities, or sucky standardized tests.