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Math Skills Survey Shows U.S. Lags Behind
3l1za writes "The New York Times reports that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has released its results (pdf) for a test of mathematical skills given to 15 year olds in 40 different countries. A few apparent anomalies: The US kids rated 28th of 40 (so in the bottom third) while the Czech Republic, which spends in education 1/3 of what the US spends, ranked in the top 10. Further, only about 1/3 of US kids reported that they did not feel as though they were good at math, whereas about 2/3 of Koreans reported this--and the Koreans ranked in the top three. 'Mr. Schleicher said that students in countries that emphasized theorems and rote learning tended not to do as well as those that emphasized the more practical aspects of mathematics.'"
A yank kid would now say
"Yea! 1rd post!"
Not all occupations demand good mathematical skills. Secretaries, truck drivers, construction workers, basketball players, etc. do not need advanced math. It so happens that America is a nation where a large number of our occupations are not highly intellectually demanding. Apples and Oranges here.
How many careers actually use higher-end math at work? Even in programming for biz apps, one does not use much algebra, and zero Calculus. I agree that it is a nice skill to have, but it may be costing tens of thousands of dollars per student to force them into something not used that often.
It may make sense for other countries because they are getting all our offshored brain-work, while we do only the marketing and shmoozing and all the other fluff stuff that our unemployed geeks are not good at.
Face it, math is old-school.
Table-ized A.I.
just goes to show you liberal ideology is wrong. throwing more money at something doesn't fix the problem.
Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
No, but I will say something about your typing/spelling skills :)
And some bozoes (always filthy-rich bourgeois) are trumpeting the virtues of homeschooling!!! Ha!
Yes, but did you get laid?
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
You'll notice that the decline in our schools has exactly matched the rise of conservatives to power. Coincidence?
It's simple: I demand prosecution for torture.
Do you seriously think your average barely literate migrant from Mexico that is pouring the concrete for your next tollway or nailing in boards for the next housing project, who needs to support their family who lives in the barrio has a working knowledge of those subjects?
Wow, that was startlingly offensive and controversial for an offhand statement. Do you believe that the USA is the only country that has immigrants or something along those lines?
Random is the New Order.
The US School system needs a f'en major overhaul. The money is there (we're #2 in the world in public funding per student behind Sweden).
That sounds good, but who is going to do all of the blue collar work once nobody is blue collar or what about those low paying service jobs like food servers and whatnot?
Is there some lack of qualified educated people in this country? I havn't noticed any. There appears to be more jobs open for jobs that require little to no education vs ones that do.
Although the government pays lipservice to education, do they really want to be ruling over people that actually think? It would severly make thier job much more difficult, or even out of a job.
The system is just horseshit. No responsibility, teachers can't teach, kids are a bunch of bastards, and the parents are taking absolutely no responsibility for the kids.
Unfortunately, that is simply how it is in the USA, and we are damn proud of it, thankyouverymuch. I ask myself, is this really the best country in the world as advertised? Way, off topic, but anyway...
I have a very different view of education than many people. I personally consider education at least though high school just to be babysitters. Bright kids with interest seem to find thier way into top notch colleges every year. Again, like the jobs, I have not heard of colleges that are lacking in qualified students.
Plus, what has math gotten anybody that people respect in this country? Wanna do some derivatives with Paris Hilton? How about George W? Arnold Schwarzenegger? Any actors or football players or basketball players? Jerry Garcia? (Miss you buddy)
Although I value education very highly. I'm in the minority, and probably for a reason. My other values don't appear to be very universal either. Things like honesty, integrity, manors, and basically trying to be nice to people. But I'm obviously wrong since I'm in the minority.
Most Americans for some unknown reason just want to be rich. They don't want to work. Every summer my area and the beaches are flooded with Europeans because college kids don't want to work anymore. Outsourcing and importing workers is common.
I guess what I am getting at is that there is no desire or need for math skills in this country. I liked math. Took many more hours in college than was required for my degree, but I don't see any problems in this country due to a lack of math skills.
Boy I just love the word "Um". I can see you do too!
It always proceed soemthing when people think they are super-intelligent, and figure you are not.
Or pointing out a blindingly obvious error like you have made.
I know you said you were wrong, but, just for posterity:
Let's do a few calculations. What is 40/3?
Why it is ~13.3!!
So how is 28 13.3?
Um (there's your favorite word again), 13.3 is the number of things in each third, not the dividing line. The line for the bottom third would be 40 - 13.3 = 26.7 ie. anything 27 or higher is in the bottom third. Or maybe you're having trouble with the concept of ranking where 1 = "the best" and 40 = "the worst" where 1 did better than 2 and 27 did better than 28.
think of it this way if you are still having issues, how can you be in the bottom third of ANYTHING when your rank sits above the halfway mark?
Even you should understand that to be ABOVE the halfway mark they would have to be less than 20 ( 40 / 2) which 28 is clearly more than.
My guess is that you are a math major, they always did have problems with things like this.
You might want to take a class in math before making smug claims like this. And, no, admitting you were wrong does not get you off the hook for being an asshole. Think, then type. This order shall not be reversed.
People's desire to believe they are right is much stronger than their desire to be right.