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By Dr. Harry Tennant
Tuesday, December 7, 2010 In The News: Ranking American Schools Internationally This is a re-post from November 11, 2010 to accompany the post directly below it here. I am re-posting it to revisit my comments and invitation for your comments regarding international assessment rankings. How serious are we about this competition? A recent editorial in the NY Times begins as follows: 48th Is Not a Good PlaceEditorial Published: October 26, 2010"The National Academies, the country’s leading advisory group on science and technology, warned in 2005 that unless the United States improved the quality of math and science education, at all levels, it would continue to lose economic ground to foreign competitors. The situation remains grim. According to a follow-up report published last month, the academies found that the United States ranks 27th out of 29 wealthy countries in the proportion of college students with degrees in science or engineering, while the World Economic Forum ranked this country 48th out of 133 developed and developing nations in quality of math and science instruction."Read the entire editorial here. My Comments: Young people in America go to school fewer hours than students in many countries. Their schooling is based on a calendar adopted during agrarian times to allow young people time to contribute on the family farm and other such economic endeavors. Beyond these and many other structural impediments to maximizing student success, young people in America hear many mixed messages about the value of education and school. It is important, but... This is especially true when it comes to assessments, particularly standardized assessments. My question is this: Is there a disconnect between what our expectations for student success are as a nation versus the price Americans are prepared to pay to achieve those academic goals? Are we as a country prepared to introduce young people to the rigor necessary to be a front runner, rather than 48th? Will American culture in the twenty-first century allow us to reach this end? Are adults prepared to make the conditions right for this competition? What do adults really want from education in America? Should we push students as hard as we need to in order to compete with the top ranking countries, or do we "just give them a break...they are only kids?" We'd like to think there is a middle ground, but then are we competing with the highest ranked countries? If it "takes a village", some higher degree of consensus on the village goals may be a necessary precondition to achieving the desired end. What is our true measure for school success in America? Are we prepared to ask of students (and adults) what is expected for this country to rise to the top academically? Is this the true measure of our schools' success? What do you think? Posted at 1:58 PM Keywords: Accountability , International Education , National Rankings , Student Expectations 0 Comments |