Comments on: U. S. Students Lagging in Math and Science: O.E.C.D. PISA Tests (2000-2003)

By: zoticus1

zoticus1 — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 10:36:25 +0000

A lack of competition in public schools is the sole reason for this figure. Teachers unions where you can basically run amok with no recourse is the outcome.
It seems the lack of accountability is the way our government has been running lately. Right?
Whereas you, the individual, will be punished for mistakes and failures. These “betters” in government constantly fail us, and nobody cares or asks for heads to roll!
Why?
Dumb people make excellent consumers and sheeple.

By: superlead200

superlead200 — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 02:35:18 +0000

I have taught for 25 years as well and I understand exactly what you are talking about. Jaime Escalante is a calculus teacher who is an exceptional example of what a teacher can accomplish through dicipline, respect and hard work. These fundamentals are essential in providing the building blocks necessary for a solid foundation. Today, these basics are missing and it’s easy to see why they are failing. They lack work ethic and dicipline. These kids think they are it! They think they are so cool! The truth is that they need to have their asses kicked back down to size and wake up to the fact that they are getting their butts kicked by just about every other civilized nation in every area. Everything about our education system stinks from one end to the other starting with limiting a teachers ability to actually teach. What about the gross lack of dicipline in todays schools? How are these kids supposed to learn if the teacher can’t control the class room? I was taught by catholic nuns who were strict diciplinarians, and you learned fast or else! These kids aren’t challenged which is why you see them failing in every area. At this point, the entire sysyem needs a desperate overhaul starting from the top on down. Next it would be wise to have six day school weeks. I refuse to beleive that we can’t pay teachers respectable salaries, after all they have a large hand in the education of our future generations. Quality teachers have to be a top priority in order for us to get caught up to where we should be, even then it will take years before we actually see results. It’s simple, theres no substitute for quality! If we expect excellence from our youth, we have to insure a solid foundation for them to draw from. America better wake up to the fact that we are in serious trouble on all fronts and it’s worse than any of us realize. Look into a book titled “the conspiracy of ignorance” it will open your eyes to the sobering task we face with our most prescious resource. I would like to think we can reverse direction and fix this problem, theres no time to waste.

By: superlead200

superlead200 — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 01:05:43 +0000

It’s pure and simple, “The Conspiracy of Ignorance” The fact that american test scores are among the lowest in the civilized world is no accident. Any moron can see why just by listening to a kid today trying to make a simple point “it’s like, like, yo ya know what i’m sayin, like ya know?????” as if stupidity were a virtue! If there were a plan to take down the united states, NO WAY could anyone match americas military might. It would have to be a long term domestic plan designed to erode our strengths from the inside out starting with education. First there would have to be a plan to indoctrinate mediocrity laziness and failure into future generations by infiltrating the education system at all levels hamstringing our ability to advance in an expanding global market. Basic arithmetic, math and science would be the first areas of interest as they are the building blocks required to keep america leading in technology and innovation. Once the system is compromised, it’s only a matter of time until that uneducated ripple matures into what will represent americas future. This is already so advanced i wonder if we can ever reverse the damage already inflicted by our disgraceful educational system. It’s true, most american kids are more interested in their video games than their education. They have become complacent, gluttonous and painfully ignorant. The sad thing is that it isn’t their fault that they haven’t received the education they should have, they’ve been stuck with a broken system that has failed them. When I was a kid it was rare to see a fat kid because we were always physically active unlike kids today. Kids today have it easy which is why they don’t understand what it means to have to work and fight for what they have. This is dangerous! There is a book titled “The Conspiracy of Ignorance” that is right on the money with respect to why our kids are performing so poorly. I highly recommend it and hopefully it will enlighten anyone who reads it.

By: govteach51

govteach51 — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:57:24 +0000

I have been teaching for 25 years, and I am known as a “hard” teacher. Because I am “hard” I am hated by the community because it is difficult to receive an ‘A’ in my class. No one wants to work to earn a good grade. They all want to be just given A’s.
I had a parent conference last week with a mom who was outraged that I “took-off” for spelling and grammar on her child’s government essay. Never mind the kid is in the 12th grade and wants to attend college. It was the kid’s “right” according to Mom to make an A in my course.
I have two years to retirement and it can’t come soon enough.
If anyone is considering teaching, let me suggest, find another field.
And those of you who think vouchers are the way, think again. Most parents who have children in private schools want their kids to have an “A” because as a friend of mine told me ( She teaches at the local Catholic High School) ” they are not paying for B’s”

By: amyc

amyc — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 04:21:18 +0000

I send my children to a private christian school. I want my kids to talk about GOD. And I still don’t understand why if a child can do 7th grade level work in the 5th grade why the school systems don’t encourage children to excel if they have that knowledge gift. Why do you have to fight tooth and nail to allow children to learn at the pace they can and not what the “Class” is ready for as a whole. We should embrace bright children and use our resources wisely. Not stifle them, we as a nation are going downhill with that education attitude!

By: Maria Garcia

Maria Garcia — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 22:50:55 +0000

It is an oversimplification to say that foreign students do not do well in school and bring down the school grades. I have been a teacher in the public school system for over 11 years and I do agree that foreign students from third world nations do slow down the class; mostly because their parents are not educated and do not raise their children to value education. Prior to teaching, I was an engineer for about the same amount of time (11 years). The majority of students in the engineering classes were foreign students and they were very intelligent. Most were from the Middle-East or Asia. Many were also from India. Very few of the engineering students were born in the United States.

Hunger is a good motivator. Most American-born children with educated parents are not deprived and therefore have little incentive to work hard in school. To make things worse, the media plays up the social aspect of school and put down parents, teachers, and any other authority figures.

I finally left the teaching profession last year. After many years of frustration with a system that does everything possible to make it difficult for me to teach my students, I had had enough. Our system is broken and just uses teachers as a scape-goat instead of demanding accountability from parents and students. I am also not a fan of the teacher’s union since it spends most of its resources to keep the unqualified teachers employed. Some times (when I get frustrated) I wonder if there is not a bigger plan to keep the United States youth uneducated because nothing is being done to alleviate problems that seem to have such an easy solution.

By: rroman

rroman — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:39:49 +0000

I have some thoughts on some very meaningful data that might shed some light on education:

1) What does US spend on education vs other countries on a per pupil basis? This could then be compared to the relative test scores that you already provide.

2) Is there a way to show productivity in education?? Our country as a whole has undergone tremendous productivity gains because of computers, the internet, etc and I am wondering if our eduction system is keeping pace. My gut says that education has NOT and there is no reason they shouldn’t.

Thanks

By: rangegate

rangegate — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 02:52:42 +0000

Thanks, Ross, for making this information available. The charts are very informative and easily understood. I hope enough of our next generations will have a basic understanding of graphical presentation. I was not aware of the Canadian dominance in our oil import mix. Since I saw that chart I have been asking people if they know who our major oil suppliers are.

The most frightening statistic was the 2% figure for PhD graduates from our major universities coming from the U.S. citizenry. My, how times have changed! Our popular consumer-obsessed culture puts no value on advanced education. The lowest common denominator seems to rule. The bright and motivated young people who devoured knowledge and lived to solve problems are now rare. I helped take us to the moon, make space rendevous look easy and lay the groundwork for GPS. Who will do the next wave of exploration? Where will the U.S. be?

By: segraves68

segraves68 — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 20:56:41 +0000

Our education woes are almost all tied to our immigration policies or lack thereof. Without these drains on our schools and their depressed test scores dragging down the average, there would be a much smaller problem to deal with.

By: Paul Wittkamm

Paul Wittkamm — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 07:24:47 +0000

Vouchers!