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Why America Ranks 26th In The Developed World For Math (In 1 Common Core Question)
Among the 34 OECD countries, the US performed below average in mathematics and is ranked 27th, according to The Program For International Student Assessment (PISA).
While the U.S. spends more per student than most countries, this does not translate into better performance (e.g. the Slovak Republic, which spends around $53k per student, performs at the same level as the US, which spends over $115k per student).
PISA adds that students in the US have particular weaknesses in performing mathematics tasks with higher cognitive demands, such as taking real-world situations, translating them into mathematical terms, and interpreting mathematical aspects in real-world problems. But there is good news - a silver lining they offer - "a successful implementation of the Common Core Standards would yield significant performance gains."
However, they may have to rethink that after looking at the following...
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OK.............. I ADMIT I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING!
OR CAPITALIZING.......
[edit; so there was an issue with CAPS LOCK. i blame bush]
Jeeze, stop blaming the teachers. I'm married to one. She works 12 hours a day M-F and then spends a couple hours in her classroom on Saturday. She makes 55k after 24 years of teaching and pays for half her medical coverage.
BTW, Many if not most of those countries do not test ALL their students. They test the ones who are on an academic track. We, on the other hand, expect ALL our kids ("Don't leave a single child behind!") to pass exit exams based on three years of algebra.
So if you wonder why our math scores aren't higher, it may have something to do with the fact that we're testing how well our future auto mechanics and actors and farmers and steelworkers and musicians can work out precalculus problems.
Oh, wait. It's easier to blame the "bad teachers."
Never mind.
My mother has been a teacher all her life.
Yes. This is about bad teachers.
Good teachers just refuse to admit that they're carrying the water for the bad ones. You could fire half the teachers across most school districts and you wouldn't see a change in academic performance.
There are a lot of reasons, but education degrees are a complete joke. They're certification mills. There is no discipline to education that need be studied. Education majors don't take other classes or get other degrees in math, science or liberal arts. They major in getting a government job and learning how to be compliant. The only thing worse is Criminal Justice. Which I'm not sure exactly what the difference is between an Education and CJ degree.
And the praxis? Check out the fail rate of it. It's basically a test that confirms you're as smart as the 15 year olds you're teaching.
Ask a good teacher this: if I could double your pay tomorrow by firing half the teachers in the school district, would you take it?
Uh, actually it's about a rotten system. Who the fuck cares who are good and bad teachers when they all are part of of a broken, on purpose mind you, education system?
The education system was designed to produce factory workers and canon fodder. Why would they need maths?
You need to get your kids out of the public school system if you want them to be educated rather than indoctrinated. The problem is any alternatives are very expensive, and many of them also have agendas.
Uni-
Not a teacher, not married to one, only teacher in the family is a nephew and that is out west. I will say that starting pay in some local school districts is pretty shitty today. Around $30K. Benefits USED to be good, but now are nearly the same you would get anywhere else. Only major benefits now I see are a pension (which you now pay in to--this is Wisconsin) and summer's off (which is mid June through mid Aug). Older teachers may have had it good, but new teachers have it pretty shitty. I know a TON of college grads that went into teaching that have had to move west (Arizona/etc) to find work. Not a lot of openings locally it would seem.
@unireast
The fact that you think we are going to have future jobs in manufacturing and farming jobs shows how out of touch you are with reality. Most teachers I know don't work nearly those hours a day and have all federal/state and some made up holidays off to boot. Not to mention only working nine months a year.
That's how they calculate CPI, unemployment figure, GDP, profit model of shorting gold/silver, .... countless.
Not to mention whoever drew that piechart was clearly smoking something.
3 out of 2 people have trouble with fractions
Well so what....compared to what? The part of it that says is "applicable in the real world" is the only part of this "equation" of statistics that I would take seriously. What it says is perhaps their engineers, physicists and math majors are performing a little better than North Americans. I am in the Asian area and I will tell you what is far more applicable than this crap. Sales are important in life too, ask Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs about that one. Oh ya Steve's no longer with us however if he were he'd tell you. Creative thinking is another "REAL" important area.
What they do a little better at the moment is have "less" government interference. They do more "Free Enterprise" deals and "captialism is working well. In most Aian countries they can't depend on the government because well, there is NO government that they can depend on. They don't yet have all the additives and poisons in their food either, so they are a little healthier.
All these stats do is promote more government regulations and interference to try to make it right. Except we all know how well they do at "making things right". I rest my case.
"Sales" are important? Please tell me about "sales" in the mouse trap business.... tell me about "marketing" in the same...
As far as the importance of "creative thinking", why hasn't anyone built a "better" mousetrap?
Common Core is ZOG infiltrated into the school system.
Remove the blacks and Mexicans from the numbers and then tell me the stats.
I don't think they have too many in the Czech Republic.
Hey Moe, they got no particle accelerators there either. Does that mean physics don't work in Czechoslovakia? *nyuk nyuk nyuk*
Here you go:http://isteve.blogspot.com/2013/12/overall-pisa-rankings-include-america....
For math only: http://isteve.blogspot.com/2013/12/overall-pisa-rankings-include-america...
Name the politcal party that fights against school vouchers.
Name the party and the region that started up academies to continue old practices.
I've taught university level math since 2001, and there are two problems with Freshmen students:
1. The Freshman is allowed to enrol in my course based on some multiple choice entrance test score, even though he/she does not have the prerequisite knowledge.
2. The Freshman has the prerequisite knowledge, attends class regularly and pays attention, but just won't devote any hours outside of class to do homework.
College Algebra, Trigonometry, and Calculus are not difficult subjects, as long as you have it explained to you in terms you can understand and you put in the effort to work through the practice problems in the textbook.
Practical examples of what you are teaching might help.
Explain in a short powerpointed Al Gore glurge why the quadratic equation might help them better calculate "the angle of the dangle," and you've got a winning formula.
It took almost two decades to be exposed to the practical aspects of trigonometry. I only wish I'd asked my dad earlier. As such I appreciate all my maths teachers immensely.
I think you could get a TA with a talent for "maths, day in the life of" to create a set of videos to help inspire. Just a suggestion. The best teachers I ever had at university were maths profs. Thanks for what you do.
Homework?
Why can't they learn iin the time they are in school.
Homework is a tool to further separate children from their famly soe they can be better indoctrinated with less interference
Is it any wonder why the US, my prison -- I mean hoam -- nation is so bad at logic?
Have you ever tried to rationalize with a modern teenager? Sweet googly moogly.
It would appear this thread has been taken over by a bunch if blowhard engineers. Haven't ever met many that weren't arrogant and self absorbed with themselves and their profession, as if the world could not survive without them.
In regards to mathematics, I am pretty sure nothing new has been discovered in the last 100 years and most of today's work is based on what some Greek guys came up with about 1200 years ago. Pretty soon you will be able to google an engineering question and get the answer.
All this hubub about math and science. Again I get visions of the Walle society. What do u think u r going to accomplish world peace, solve world hunger, remove the entire need for work, personal hover crafts for everyone, or maybe a way we can all just think each others thoughts like one huge organism.
Engineers sit around and try to figure a " better" way of doing something which usually leads to jobs being lost, costing the company less, the consumer being charged more, and quality going down the drain. You guys work others and then eventually yourselves out of a job so u can get a plack on the wall saying "attaboy". Has life really gotten " better" in the last 75 years or just more complicated and corrupt?
Bottom line for me is you can have your math and science, I am looking for some character, integrity, honor, principle, morals, decency, and a society with a conscience. Can u engineer that with your gods if math and science? Didn't think so. But u can continue to destroy it with things like common-core. All in the name of math and science. My final proof of all this math and science bs as being just that.....bs....is when I see that big eared idiot living in the white house use that pitch over and over in his speeches. When that happens, it is pure, stamped USDA bs!
I have no problem with math or science. Use them every day, but they are not the solution to the worlds problems.
bshirley: This post should be nominated for "worst of 2014" based on its combination of ad hominem abuse, general ignorance, and multiple incorrect facts.
"mathematics... nothing new has been discovered in the last 100 years"
On what do you base this opinion? 100 years ago the radio was cutting edge technology, the vacuum tube had yet to be invented, and semi-conductor electronics was not even imagined.
"usually leads to jobs being lost, costing the company less, the consumer being charged more, and quality going down the drain"
Profoundly ignorant statements. It is true that obsolete jobs have been lost, perhaps you would like to be employed collecting horse droppings from delivery wagons??? In electronics and communications, quality has gone up by orders of magnitude, which allows you to make an overseas telephone call for only a slightly greater cost than calling your next-door neighbor.
Your objections to common-core education and the current POTUS may have merit, but that's politics, not science or technology. Etc.
You missed my point. Peak "practical" science and math r what I am talking about. Everybody can't be an engineer or rocket scientist. I am sick of hearing about these math rankings. The US is dominant still in world technology and innovation. What world problems have been solved by math and science lately? What meaningful accomplishment have we seen that isn't just an add-on to an older already existing technology? I can imagine all the math and science that went into Candy Crush but who gives a rats ass?
Again, I have no problem with math and science but I do not worship them as the solution of all problems. My post was in line with the theme of the article. You comment was from an engineers perspective. Easy, convenience, and technology don't guarantee a better life or society.
Final example: imagine all the math and science it took to accomplish the lunar landing (for all the good it did us) and here we are some 50 years later and people all around the world are starving to death. Why don't u engineers fix that problem with your science and math? Its old world tech.
Most math and science today is just like me replying to your dumbass.....a waste of time.
Engineers already have solved that problem....by inventing contraceptive pills and devices. If the starving poor in the world's poorest countries kept their populations down there wouldn't be a food problem. Ask me another.
@bshirley1968: Then they should stop having babies that they can't feed, idiot.
"as if the world could not survive without them (engineers)."
Actually the world would not survive without them. Ever hear of bridges that don't fall down? Now back to your desk in HR and discuss Affirmative Action with the rest of the parasites there..
I did mention arrogance and self centered, didn't I? Obviously you fit that description. Design all u want, arrogant prick. Without the funding and workers where would your little designs be? I can only imagine what meaningful things u design that make the world so much better. Take your hr comment and shove it. I am one of the guys that puts out the money so you can find some meaning in your life to justify all the time and money you spent studying. Most of your colleagues are a bunch of hacks living off of repackaging what real entrepreneurs built long ago.
Here it is a Sunday and I am letting another engineer waste my time. What a self absorbed prick u r. At least you got that design correct.
I did mention arrogance and self centered, didn't I? Obviously you fit that description. Design all u want, arrogant prick. Without the funding and workers where would your little designs be? I can only imagine what meaningful things u design that make the world so much better. Take your hr comment and shove it. I am one of the guys that puts out the money so you can find some meaning in your life to justify all the time and money you spent studying. Most of your colleagues are a bunch of hacks living off of repackaging what real entrepreneurs built long ago.
Here it is a Sunday and I am letting another engineer waste my time. What a self absorbed prick u r. At least you got that design correct.
your math must be perfect
.
there are no opinions
Common Core math is enough to push most math haters right over the edge. Math skills in Common Core states will plummet further. Our state revised grad requirements on top of that - no longer need second language or Alg 2 to graduate -- modified for those students not intending on going to college.
Amazing how the sum is bigger than the whole of its parts. Also amazing how a pie equally divided in percentage terms, is so unequally divided in portions of the chart. Every student should answer Junior, so they can have that slice of the pie.
Also the question is what grade. When i was in school, grade was by number, not by class.
The junior class is in the 11th grade, so the correct answer is none of the above.
I pulled my youngest out of school when he came home and told me, with his sweet little lisp, that his teacher said "Africa was in Asia."
He was in first grade.
Pull your kids OUT! If you think you're in a "good" school district, think again. Similarly, if you think you're in a good private school, think again. Please! Both parents don't need to work -- if necessary, downscale. One parent, usually the mother, can easily handle the education of the kids.
Fathers, please heed: As a woman, I destroyed my career for my kids. Any woman who has kids and takes the time to educate them -- even if she hires tutors and spends her time driving the little cretins around to various "learning" activities -- will sacrifice her future in ways you will never understand. As your career takes off, her career is plummeting. And its not as if she'll be able to start again where she left off many years ago. It's over for her. So, please, remember that when your harried wife plunges into despair as she spends her best years (40/50s) trying to rekindle her mind and work-life.
The US Gov is getting exactly the educational system that they are paying for. If America had an educated, intellectually diverse population of citizens, the people would be able to see through the Gov's tyrannical bullshit. They need a population of reality TV watching morons that are easily controlled, confused and manipulated. Nothing is an accident or coincidence. Everything is going exactly as planned.
If you think that PISA has horrifying ramifications for the US, think of what PIAAC shows for the entire OECD: PISA measures kids, PIAAC measures adults, and the results are horrifying (but not surprising for anyone who meets more than a few people a day).
The median adult does not have the literacy, numeracy or problem-solving skills that meet the "minimum required for the problems of everyday life"... but they can vote in a system where policies have huge uncertainties and timelines measured in decades (esp., when the debt-repayment schedule is considered).
Frankly, anybody who cannot score in Level V (the top level in the PIAAC examination) should not be permitted to influence public policy - as a voter, a bureaucrat or a politician. The US median is below the cutoff for Level III (i.e., below the minimum required to cope with everyday life), and the median for US adults aged 16-24 is below the US median as a whole. OECD-wide, less than 0.7% of adults score at Level V in any of the tested competencies (literacy, numeracy and problem-solving).
In the US public system, less time making promises to a piece of cloth might help: it's only minute or so a day, but acculumate it over 12 years and you'll save enough time to be able to learn basic algebra before you enter university.
The problem is two-edged:
It's not a terribly recent thing: when I was a grad student late last millennium, I augmented my scholarship by being employed as a tutor (in econometrics) by my university. There were kids in first year classes who had to ask "What does that 'e to the x' mean?", and "What does "log() mean?", and "What does ln() mean?" and "What does 'dy/dx' mean". Fourth year (Honours) students agitated (unsuccessfully) to have 'essay' questions in the final for Macro (text was Blanchard & Fisher) and Micro ('hard' Varian)... because they could not 'do' calculus (differential or integral) and they claimed that people who understood calculus and algebra had an 'unfair advantage'.
As always the elephant in the room is ignored. The rankings of several other countries, most notably those of Sweden and Ireland, have collapsed over the last decade or so. This is directly attributable to the level of demographic 'enrichment' by low IQ Africans and Muslims (plus Latinos for the USA) that has transformed those countries. In a general sense 'White' countries have plummetted down the rankings with those of East Asia - who jealously guard their own borders - taking their place.
So you're citing a similarly flawed test? Let me know when PISA/PIAAC/etc. actually control for educational access and don't act as a statistical cudgel for the US.
Good thing that you do not have any pull in public policy, especially when you would cut off people from participating in their government.
Flawed sampling, which does not control for (but only notes) overall educational access. It's easy to make the US look bad when you're front-loading a ton of people on a sample that are not typically present anywhere else in the world.
If you want to make your complaints about public education (or show support of private "van der Snoot Academies"), first calculate any rankings by factoring out effects from all-access(US System) versus compulsory streaming(EU, Asia, most of the world).