Mean Performance on Mathematics Scale
| Range of ranks1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Country | Upper rank2 |
Lower rank3 |
| Hong Kong (China) | 1 | 3 |
| Finland | 1 | 4 |
| South Korea | 1 | 5 |
| Netherlands | 2 | 7 |
| Liechtenstein | 2 | 9 |
| Japan | 3 | 10 |
| Canada | 5 | 9 |
| Belgium | 5 | 10 |
| Macao (China) | 6 | 12 |
| Switzerland | 6 | 12 |
| Australia | 9 | 12 |
| New Zealand | 9 | 13 |
| Czech Republic | 12 | 17 |
| Iceland | 13 | 16 |
| Denmark | 13 | 17 |
| France | 14 | 18 |
| Sweden | 15 | 19 |
| Austria | 16 | 20 |
| Germany | 17 | 21 |
| Ireland | 17 | 21 |
| Slovak Republic | 19 | 24 |
| Norway | 21 | 24 |
| Luxembourg | 22 | 24 |
| Poland | 22 | 26 |
| Hungary | 22 | 27 |
| Spain | 25 | 28 |
| Latvia | 25 | 28 |
| United States | 25 | 28 |
| Russian Federation | 29 | 31 |
| Portugal | 29 | 31 |
| Italy | 29 | 31 |
| Greece | 32 | 33 |
| Serbia | 32 | 34 |
| Turkey | 33 | 36 |
| Uruguay | 34 | 36 |
| Thailand | 34 | 36 |
| Mexico | 37 | 37 |
| Indonesia | 38 | 40 |
| Tunisia | 38 | 40 |
| Brazil | 38 | 40 |
First of all, take a careful look at those countries that are ranked higher than the U.S. They are among the most racially homogeneous societies in the world. Many of them plan on staying that way, with little immigration, the imposition of bars against acquiring citizenship, and, in some cases, outright xenophobia. Going down the list, we find a predominance of nations like Finland, the Netherlands, Liechtenstein, Belgium, Switzerland, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Germany, Ireland, the Slovak Republic, Norway, Luxembourg. Most of these are nations that are small in population as well as tending to be homogeneous in nature, and, dare we say it, extremely white. So white, in fact, that for this observer at least, they elicit thoughts of claims of Nordic and Teutonic superiority which, since the Nazis gave eugenics a bad name a little while back, are no longer uttered in polite company.
Outside of Northern Europe (with the exception of those darned socialist French), other locations given high rankings tend to be either in Asia or such outposts of the old British Empire as Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Note, too, that with regard to Asia, such island provinces as Hong Kong and Macao appear. Since 2003, of course, as the "economic tigers" have allocated more and more of their resources to improving education, other Asian locales have joined the higher rankings.
Have standards declined in U.S. public schools? Well, that depends a great deal on which public schools we are looking at, doesn't it? If we are looking at the public schools in Scarsdale, let's say, we will get a very different picture than we will if we look at public schools in Harlem, Bedford-Stuyvesant or East New York. Has anyone thought to, just out of curiosity, compare the results of kids in Scarsdale or Chevy Chase or Ann Arbor with those of kids in Finland? There are no doubt many who look at the rankings and mindlessly conclude that what we are seeing is clear evidence of the racial superiority of whites and Asians. If school performance were just about race, however, we might expect that whites performed uniformly well on standardized tests. What one actually finds is that there is a wide spread between the performance of white students that is largely dependent on income. In other words, some are more equal than others. To cite just one example from a voluminous literature on this subject, take a look at the observations of one school administrator in Westchester:
The three top-spending districts (on a gross basis)—Briarcliff ($24,738), North Salem ($24,486), and Bronxville ($24,068)—each spend approximately $10,000 more per pupil than Yonkers ($14,170), Port Chester ($14,461), and Mount Vernon ($14,955). The disparity between instructional expenditures is even more profound. Although they serve roughly the same size student populations,Rye ($12,531) spends about 50 percent more on per-pupil instruction than Port Chester ($8,299). “I can’t compete on a per-capita spending level,” says Charles Coletti, school superintendent of Port Chester. “Financial comparisons don’t work for my district. They never have, and they never will.**
**http://www.westchestermagazine.com/Westchester-Magazine/March-2006/Our-Smartest-Public-High-School-Report-Card/
None of us is immune to the tsk-tsking about declining standards. There was never a time in history when the observation was not made that the world is going to hell in a handbasket, to coin a phrase. There are probably very few of us who have not drawn dark conclusions from charts such as the one presented here. On the other hand, while it is certainly fair to conclude that certain standards (my favorite is handwriting) have declined, if we don't keep in mind that statistics often lie and deceive, we will become party to a campaign that, rather than being motivated by a desire to improve American education is actually motivated to dismantle our public school system. If anything, what the charts have to teach us is that funding for American schools should be standardized. That is the real way to ensure that no child is left behind.
Outside of Northern Europe (with the exception of those darned socialist French), other locations given high rankings tend to be either in Asia or such outposts of the old British Empire as Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Note, too, that with regard to Asia, such island provinces as Hong Kong and Macao appear. Since 2003, of course, as the "economic tigers" have allocated more and more of their resources to improving education, other Asian locales have joined the higher rankings.
Have standards declined in U.S. public schools? Well, that depends a great deal on which public schools we are looking at, doesn't it? If we are looking at the public schools in Scarsdale, let's say, we will get a very different picture than we will if we look at public schools in Harlem, Bedford-Stuyvesant or East New York. Has anyone thought to, just out of curiosity, compare the results of kids in Scarsdale or Chevy Chase or Ann Arbor with those of kids in Finland? There are no doubt many who look at the rankings and mindlessly conclude that what we are seeing is clear evidence of the racial superiority of whites and Asians. If school performance were just about race, however, we might expect that whites performed uniformly well on standardized tests. What one actually finds is that there is a wide spread between the performance of white students that is largely dependent on income. In other words, some are more equal than others. To cite just one example from a voluminous literature on this subject, take a look at the observations of one school administrator in Westchester:
The three top-spending districts (on a gross basis)—Briarcliff ($24,738), North Salem ($24,486), and Bronxville ($24,068)—each spend approximately $10,000 more per pupil than Yonkers ($14,170), Port Chester ($14,461), and Mount Vernon ($14,955). The disparity between instructional expenditures is even more profound. Although they serve roughly the same size student populations,
**http://www.westchestermagazine.com/Westchester-Magazine/March-2006/Our-Smartest-Public-High-School-Report-Card/
None of us is immune to the tsk-tsking about declining standards. There was never a time in history when the observation was not made that the world is going to hell in a handbasket, to coin a phrase. There are probably very few of us who have not drawn dark conclusions from charts such as the one presented here. On the other hand, while it is certainly fair to conclude that certain standards (my favorite is handwriting) have declined, if we don't keep in mind that statistics often lie and deceive, we will become party to a campaign that, rather than being motivated by a desire to improve American education is actually motivated to dismantle our public school system. If anything, what the charts have to teach us is that funding for American schools should be standardized. That is the real way to ensure that no child is left behind.
No comments:
Post a Comment