Thursday, October 16, 2014
http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa/
http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-2012-results.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/03/20/so-how-overblown-were-no-1-shanghais-pisa-results/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/12/03/are-finlands-vaunted-schools-slipping/
http://simplystatistics.org/2013/08/23/stratifying-pisa-scores-by-poverty-rates-suggests-imitating-finland-is-not-necessarily-the-way-to-go-for-us-schools/
For this post I am going to explore the idea that Mr. Fischer introduced to me: that the US lags in educational performance because it educates its most disadvantaged citizens whom many other countries fail to educate at all. To investigate this I am going to compare the US to China and Finland, two nations whose educational systems are often touted as being superior to ours
First the US: Poverty rate: 14.3% Literacy rate: 99% PISA Score: 481
China: Poverty Rate: 33.1% Literacy Rate: 95% PISA Score: 613
Finland: Poverty Rate: 3% Literacy Rate: 100% PISA Score: 536
On the surface these numbers suggest that China fails to adequately educate 5% of its poorer students even to the extent of literacy. The fact that their scores are still so high high would imply that the scores of the other 95% are astronomical. However, it turns out that only 73% of Chinese student body was adequately represented (mostly poorer, rural schools were missed). It seems likely that the illiterate 5% are simply not being tested. Furthermore while I had previously trusted China's results I recently read that higher-performing students were often bused in to take the test and poorer performing children thrown out of school. While it still seems likely China's school system is better than ours (it certainly is on a per dollar basis) their attempt at removing poorer students from the testing pool imply that a significant % of its students are "left behind" academically. Finland on the other hand has a 100% literacy rate but only a 3% poverty rate. In conclusion, my cursory analysis of the problem would suggest that the US does do a good job of educating all its poorest citizens to a minimum level, essentially literacy and that China's test scores are inflated by the exclusion of its poorer students. However, nations such as Finland seem to be even more inclusive but has such a low poverty rate that it does not make that much difference.
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Dan: There's a ton of interesting work being done on this question. There's little doubt that Chinese educational methods of better preparing their students (and, as you found out, not all Chinese kids are considered "student" material) for all kinds of standarized testing. The jury is still out on whether this is the best way to produce (for example) doctors and engineers, but their methods certainly better prepare their students to meet the entrance requirements for US colleges and graduate programs. Again, the jury is still out on whether this is a good thing or not. Some say that the Chinese methods produce very narrow students who, in an age when broad, creative, daring thinking is more and more required, can't hack it. For many middle class jobs--jobs that are rapidly disappearing in the US these days--however, this method does seem to being doing well.
ReplyDeleteGreat topic. I'm eager to read about what you come across.