American adults score poorly on global test

[Ambereyes]

Ouch! This could explain a lot.



WASHINGTON — It’s long been known that America’s school kids haven’t measured well compared with international peers. Now, there’s a new twist: Adults don’t either.

In math, reading and problem-solving using technology — all skills considered critical for global competitiveness and economic strength — American adults scored below the international average on a global test, according to results released Tuesday.


Adults in Japan, Canada, Australia, Finland and multiple other countries scored significantly higher than the United States in all three areas on the test. Beyond basic reading and math, respondents were tested on activities such as calculating mileage reimbursement due to a salesman, sorting email and comparing food expiration dates on grocery store tags.



http://news.cincinnati.com/viewart/2...ly-global-test

[wy_white_wolf]

40 years ago the US would have scored in the top 3 of each category, if not in #1. 34 years ago Department fo Education was formed to dumb down the public so it would be easier to rule them. That's one department that needs shutdown permanently.

WWW

[Ambereyes]

Definitely, the debt of education has proven to be useless. Unless that was the goal in mind.

[Ozarks Tom]

An interesting statistic would be at what age/year does the decline start. It wouldn't be surprising if it coincided, as WWW said, with the establishment of the DOE.

Anybody want to bet whether that study will be done, or published?

[Old Vet]

Originally Posted by Ozarks Tom

An interesting statistic would be at what age/year does the decline start. It wouldn't be surprising if it coincided, as WWW said, with the establishment of the DOE.

Anybody want to bet whether that study will be done, or published?

The older ones fared much better than average middle age is about average the young ones are much below the average. The moral is that the young must listen to the older people.

[plowjockey]

What's more realistic, than comparing educational demographics, between such "similar" countries such as the Unites Sates and Japan, or even better Finland?

Japan has 90% of their people considered middle class,(u.S. is 50%) and education is heavily forced and the costs subsidized, up through college.

T

he overwhelming majority of college students attend full-time day programs. In 1990 the most popular courses, enrolling almost 40 percent of all undergraduate students, were in the social sciences, including business, law, and accounting. Other popular subjects were engineering (19 percent), the humanities (15 percent), and education (7 percent).
The average costs (tuition, fees, and living expenses) for a year of higher education in 1986 were 1.4 million yen (US$10,000). To help defray expenses, students frequently work part-time or borrow money through the government-supported Japan Scholarship Association. Assistance is also offered by local governments, nonprofit corporations, and other institutions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educati...s_and_Colleges


Finland?

Finnish schools are nationally funded based on the number of students. Schools are provided additional funding if they have a higher proportion of immigrants or students whose parents are uneducated or unemployed, he said.

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/j...rm-012012.html


Regarding the "good old days", apparently we were not that bright then, either.

In discussing the "new math" movement, it is easy to think that the curriculum and pe----gical changes were felt in every classroom in the nation. That wasn't quite the case. The greatest effects were felt in urban high schools of over 1500 students. But a limited 1963 survey of the College Board among 181 urban schools with a significant percentage of college-bound students still found that 30% of the schools did not teach a number of topics, such as set theory, probability, real numbers, and calculus, considered central to the new math programs (McIntosh, p.21). Among rural schools, new math was not much more than a rumor, perhaps seen in the presence of set vocabulary in new textbooks.

The whole phenomenon of this attempt at such radical reform is quite a story all its own with volumes of recommendations and ideas about the essence of the problem. Most reflect Pestalozzi's ideas of discovery learning or specific schools of learning theory, like Skinner's programmed instruction. But despite all the great ideas and good intentions, standardized test scores in the 1960s and 70s actually decreased slightly and disillusionment abounded. Funding sources began requiring "Back-to-Basics" programs and established tougher standards of accountability. Such demands to show evidence of learning forced teaching back into rule and drill, leaving no time to foster interest in mathematics or time for students to achieve understanding and mastery through practical experiences. Application was reduced to a few word problems after practicing a method, a design used in the early .

http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/EMT668/EM...rs/HISTORY.HTM

[Ambereyes]

What this test says to me is unless the US gets it's act together we are on the road to becoming a third rate country. School systems need to be revamped and not by the federal gov, states and locals have a much better understanding of what is needed in the area. The one size fits all system that is being used now is not working.

I have 6 grandkids ranging in are from 7 to 16, if it weren't for private schools and their parents they would not be learning what is needed to have a meaningful career.