Letters to the Editor

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• international context

  Sorry, Neptuneflame, but I don't think that "holistic" education and acceptance of liberal arts programs are an excuse for poor US scores in math and sciences.

  I went to high school in the Canadian province of Alberta - ranked third in the world for math behind Singpore and Japan (Canadian proinces all run their own separate education systems, so the national ranking for "Canada" that combines them all doesn't mean much). We were also sixth when it came to literature. Alberta wasn't just training "number-crunchers."

  I don't think that the Finnish education system, mentioned by the poster above, is doing that either.

  A few years back the city of New York began to remodel their high school system, based on the one in my hometown of Edmonton. We'll see where that gets them.

  -- - jenny canuck
  Permalink Thursday, April 13, 2006 04:21 AM

• RE: Finland v. Alberta

  jenny,

  If I was a proud Albertan or Quebecquois, I'd be saying, "Damn New Brunswick, always bringing down the national PISA score!" Thank you for noting the good performance of the Alberta school system.

  Math scores of 15-year-olds (international, all-Canada): http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0923110.html

  Canada PISA 2000 with provinical breakdowns: http://www.pisa.gc.ca/pisa/brochure_e.shtml

  Reading literacy -- Alberta noses out Finland for top spot; Math -- Japan wins, both Alberta and Quebec beat out Finland; Science -- Korea wins, Alberta and Quebec beat out Finland

  Canada PISA 2003 (preliminary): http://www.pisa.gc.ca/brochur_e.pdf (see p. 5)

  From the Canadian PISA 2003 Highlights publication:

  "Among the 41 participating countries, students from only two countries (Hong Kong-China and Finland), outperformed Canadian 15-year-olds in mathematics...Only Finland outperformed Canada in reading, while four countries had higher average scores in science and problem solving (Finland, Japan, Hong Kong-China, and Korea)."

  For Finnish readers, see Finland PISA 2003 (final): http://ktl.jyu.fi/pisa/PISA_2003_-RAPORTTI.pdf

  -- kostya
  [Read kostya's other letters]
  Permalink Thursday, April 13, 2006 05:54 AM

• It Really Is That Bad, If Not Worse

  I didn't see the entire Ophrah feature on our public schools, so I don't know if it got any deeper than the excerpt clipped on Video Dog, and although I tend to turn away from the shock-and-awe tactics of television infotainment, I agree that something very scary is happening in our schools -- or not happening, since the thesis in the clip is about the failure of our educational system.

  I teach developmental writing at a community college and am constantly amazed at the total lack of social/cultural/historical context that my students bring with them and I am quite dismayed at their seeming inability to think abstractly. Granted, this group is selected out of the general community college population (which itself may also be a subgrouping of the larger college population), but I think that the lack of education in a real sense -- that is, of getting through life aware of those contexts I mentioned above -- begins in the classroom but extends way beyond any group of students. And that worries me.

  I've not studied the sociological literature, but I think that the problem may be a lot broader, a lot older, and a lot more dangerous than concerned celebrities are willing to admit. Still, something must be done, so I can't really fault Ophrah or Bill Gates in at least addressing the problem. Certainly our federal Department of Education won't or can't do anything about it.

  -- Ray Orkwis
  [Read Ray Orkwis's other letters]
  Permalink Thursday, April 13, 2006 06:32 AM

• thanks

  Thanks for the figures, Kostya. I was relying on data from my own high school days. Those weren't as recent as they sometimes seem!

  It's interesting how often math/science education is seen as somehow antithetical to liberal arts education. As though talent in the one precludes talent in the other. Whither the renaissance man?

  For that reason, while I think Bill Gates' heart is in the right place, the "high tech" high schools he promoted on Oprah may not be the best solution to anything. While some specialization in high school is inevitable, I think that too narrow an education at that age can lock kids into particular career/life paths before they're really ready to make that decision.

  -- - jenny canuck
  Permalink Thursday, April 13, 2006 06:42 AM