The respected periodical, Foreign Policy, in its March/April 2011 issue carries a thought provoking article entitled 'Think Again: Education. The central theme of the article deals with the idea that American kids aren't falling behind the Chinese, Indians, Japanese and South Koreans in terms of test scores.
Truth be known, Americans have lagged behind ever since the soviets launched Sputnik in 1957. In fact, by the early 1970's, students in the United States ranked dead last in 7 out of 19 tests administered to their counterparts in all of the industrialized countries of the world.
The point I'm making is that the current panic and perception that U.S. students don't measure up is nothing new. I would also contend that, over the past nearly 50 years, despite our low standing in test scores, America has done pretty well for itself wouldn't you agree?
What many people may find hard to believe is the fact that the performance of American students in math and science has actually improved modestly since the last round of the Program for International Student Assessment test in 2006.
I believe that we ought to heed the words of the author of the article, Ben Wildavsky of the Kauffman Foundation. He states that we should not look at scholastic achievement as 'a zero-sum competition or an intellectual arms race.' I couldn't agree with him more. Education can't be a winner take all endeavor. As long as improvement occurs in teaching and learning we need to forgo analyzing where we stand relative to other nations.
Many thanks,
Dick
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