America, From C To Shining C
We’re mediocre! We’re mediocre!
U.S. students will be first in the world in math and science by the turn of the millennium, according to Goals 2000, the federal-state education effort. With four years to go, we’re earning a C- in math, a C+ in science.
Singapore is No. 1 in math and science, according to the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, which compared a representative sample of 13-year-old students from 41 countries. Japanese, Korean and Czech students also excel.
American kids - mostly eighth graders - scored a bit lower than the international average in math, a bit higher in science.
More than 500,000 students ages 9, 13 and 18 were tested between 1991 and 1995, answering both multiple-choice and open-ended questions. Results for the elementary and high school students will be released next year.
U.S. students did better than average on probability and statistics, average in fractions and number sense and algebra, below average in geometry, proportions and measurement. Only 5 percent scored in the top 10 percent in math; 45 percent of the Singapore students were in the top 10 percent.
Girls did nearly as well as boys in math. In science, girls lagged in physics, chemistry and Earth sciences, but did as well or better in life sciences.
Earlier international tests showed American students below average in both subjects. This time, researchers made sure countries didn’t select their best students to take the test. The test was sponsored by a Dutch-based consortium and run by Boston College researchers.
So what do those high-scoring foreigners have that we don’t have?
Parents who value education. Researchers measured home support by asking whether students had study aids at home, such as a dictionary, computer or student desk. “Home factors were strongly related to math and science achievement in every TIMSS (Third International Mathematics and Science Study) country,” said Albert Beaton, a Boston College education professor who directed the study.
Higher expectations. The average eighth-grade curriculum in the United States resembles the seventh-grade curriculum in top-scoring countries. While our kids are still calculating the lowest common denominator, their kids are solving for x.
Better teaching techniques. While Americans tend to think that Asian students are rote learners, just the opposite was found from analyzing classroom videotapes: American and German math teachers tell students the procedures to solve routine problems; Japanese math teachers help students understand mathematical concepts.
Coherent textbooks. “Typical eighth-grade mathematics textbooks in America cover more than 35 topics, compared to fewer than 10 topics in both Japan and Germany,” said Dr. Bruce Alberts, president of the National Academy of Sciences. “By trying to cover everything, we fail to teach the basic concepts in-depth and our children gain no real understanding.”
According to the study, some of the usual suspects are innocent. American eighth graders don’t watch any more TV than Japanese kids, or do any less homework. Class size was under 30 in most of the high-scoring countries, but not in South Korea, where students learn - very well - in classes with more than 40 students.
Are American kids unable to learn because of family poverty? Then why do Bulgarian students do so well?
Our kids aren’t failing. They’re earning a gentleman’s C. But it’s not a gentle world out there. xxxx