Especially when the facts show that we are, indeed, getting dumber. And we're in the midst of possible long-term unemployment issues while China is growing nonstop, including through a global financial crisis. Compare America's global position today to what it was 30 years ago. If you don't think it's declined, you're fooling yourself. Which might be relevant, if only China didn't have a whole bunch of people.
Yes, ever singe Reagan lowered tax rates for the wealthy while people like yourself pooh-poohed the fact that we are getting trounced in education. It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that we have squeezed our educational system to the point that schools have to run multiple fundraisers each year to stay afloat and teachers have to purchase supplies out of their paychecks.
here's a link to the results, in case anyone's interested... of note: Hong Kong and Shanghai did well...the rest of China, not so much. India doesn't seem to be rated. US did better (or about the same as) Germany, France, UK, and most of Western Europe. Qatar was near the bottom -- but they have other priorities right now . US math did seem particularly low. also: These are averages -- doesn't mean the best and brightest aren't doing very well. But still concerning -- I would think. 30 years ago the decline of the American Empire was imminent due to the superior work ethic and management skills of the Japanese. Somehow the US survived.
But...but...but...according to the delusions of grandeur of liar Mathloom, they are "flying into the best universities" [sic]..."a few hundred thousand of them". http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=5776601&postcount=149 Hybris.
I think size matters, literally. How dominant can a little island nation with no significant provinces be.
Yes. The money needs to be targeted. The problem is that reading programs, and companies that make the tests and sell them to the districts have too much pull. The curriculum needs to be redesigned, teachers to get more professional development and training once new programs that deal more with critical thinking are put in place. The initial cost would be large, but the benefits would be well worth it. It would be better for our education system, students and our nation as a whole.
Can you define "dominant"? Where do you think the standard of living ranks in the "little island nation with no significant provinces" compared to the USA?
The idea is good kind of. Though it is ridiculous that at a certain point 100% of the students in a school will pass the test. But the problem is the way the students are tested, and the emphasis placed on tests makes the system the teaching to the test system we have now, instead of the critical thinking skills students really need. It's a big problem.
Absolutely. Not to mention a practically land-locked country smaller than Texas with enemies on each border. Or some little group of horse herders... or another little island...
Actually, one of the MAJOR reasons for China's economic success stories over the past 30 years IS the fact that it has a relatively SKILLED AND EDUCATED workforce. It is also one of the many many reasons (that do not occur in isolation) why India is nowhere close to and won't be in the foreseeable future, catching up. If it was merely a change in the system, then logically, another country in a similar state of development, with an already advantageous system, would do better. Non is. Higher education in China went from non-existent (heck they were shut down) in 1976 to something quite respectable, along with an overall increase in the education system and literacy. This interestingly, I always thought was a hilarious argument. Whenever some new power came to be, invariably a segment of the population never fail to point to the Japan example, pretty much ignoring the obvious differences between the comparisons. Japan, relative to pretty much many countries in the world, is a tiny country with no natural resources. One of the benefits (ignoring sustainability issues) had been is relative high population. Never the less, its size is a fraction of that of the US and it's population, a bit over a third. The size of Japan's economy, gasp, a bit over a third. It's not so much the Japanese fell of the smart cliff as supposed to its economy pretty much reaching its critical mass. China? It has much more land, it has many more people, it's ceiling is much higher. Using Japan as an example why some other country such as China won't catch up is unfortunately bordering on self-delusion. Now that the US economy is a bit less than three times that of Japan, interestingly it's starting to have the same problems. What a shocker huh? Now the way you beat that constraint through technological advances. Some new territory of economy not previously explored. But there's no guarantee that the US will be the one to discover those new technology and, apparently the US education system is increasingly unprepared to be at the fore-front.
Except that this is ignoring the obvious that during those times, the rivals of those powers were equally small.
As a teacher, I will take my share of the responsibility for this educational deficit. However, we can't be blamed for everything related to education. Ultimately, it starts at home and ends at home. I have "your" kids for 7 hours each day. In that time, I can only do so much. I take it all home with me and try to prescribe solution for academic misunderstandings, but again, there's only so much that I can do. I've aged at least ten years within the last two years of working.
I was watching an interview on CNN. Some chair for a teacher promotions group said that Finland, who is top 5 on some global education list, hires teachers who from are top 10% class in Highschool/College. The govt pays for their undergrad/grad tuition and gets them teaching jobs with hefty salary and incentives. Sounds like a winning formula to me. Why wouldn't we ever adopt it? It comes down to the status of a teacher in America. Students, parents, and lawmakers have very little respect for teachers and the teaching profession. Until we completely change our ideology about what it means to be a teacher, we're going no where.
