tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072440028440011959.post3604409193991761625..comments2024-03-20T04:06:14.857-04:00Comments on Education Outrage: Chinese do better on tests than Americans! Oh my God, what will we do?Roger Schankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14567989582447087635noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072440028440011959.post-36019905297017701702011-02-09T02:47:42.175-05:002011-02-09T02:47:42.175-05:00Reading this post rang a bell from Feynman's e...Reading this post rang a bell from Feynman's experience with brazilian students. The story is told in "Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman". Worth reading. I guess you would agree.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18121891002517705196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072440028440011959.post-8669772674723028852010-12-13T18:57:33.278-05:002010-12-13T18:57:33.278-05:00I went to the OECD PISA presentation at the Dirkse...I went to the OECD PISA presentation at the Dirksen Building earlier last week and was very impressed with the presentation. (And I may be the "man who should know better" referred to in Roger's remarks.) As I listened to the presentation, I was particularly impressed with the comprehensive analysis of the data. The presentation went far beyond simply comparing scores between participating countries and ranking them. The outcomes fit into four major areas for me.<br /> <br />1. The first view was the typical competitive comparison of the US students to the rest of the world. We are not at the top, and that is clearly a problem economically.<br />2. The second was the information about the results showing a significant population of the US testing below baseline level 2 “Level 2 is considered a baseline level of proficiency, at which students begin to demonstrate the reading skills that will enable them to participate effectively and productively in life”. Andreas Schleicher from OECD, who gave the presentation, pointed out that moving those low achieving US students above the baseline level would mean trillions of dollars improvement in the USA GDP. <br />3. The third view was looking at the size of the range from the lowest to highest scores within the US. (The narrower the range from lowest to highest score, the more educational equity in the country.) This range from lowest to highest was relatively high in the US. Countries that were ahead of us on the raw scores also tended to have a lower disparity (or more equity) across their populations. Related to this was my fourth observation.<br />4. The fourth was the priority of spending. In nearly all of the other “developed” countries, they spend more money attempting to raise the performance of low performing schools than they do on those schools that are already doing well. The US was practically the only country where the reverse is true. <br /> <br />Since reading this post, I have searched the OECD/PISA website and all I can find are multiple choice type recall or problem-solving questions. However, during his presentation, Mr. Schleicher gave a couple examples of higher intellectual level problems that were not based upon a person's ability to recall facts or use formulas to come up with a solution. More directly, he made disparaging remarks about tests that only tested recall of facts and turn-the-crank formula problems. He made a point of saying that the PISA exams test higher-order analytical and problem-solving skills. I have his business card and will follow up directly with him to get a clarification. All that being said, I agree with Roger's point that we are not competing with them for the best test scores. However, if you set aside the test scores and look ar the analysis of the background data, the analyses provide some valuable food for thought.<br /> <br />As he was doing his presentation, Andreas also described which particular educational strategies appeared to have the most/best impact on improving student performance. It was reassuring to observe that every one of the practices the data showed contributed to improved student performance was a part of our Discovery and Innovation model.Allan Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16424393745449212496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7072440028440011959.post-40034173482466020212010-12-13T18:56:49.194-05:002010-12-13T18:56:49.194-05:00I went to the OECD PISA presentation at the Dirkse...I went to the OECD PISA presentation at the Dirksen Building earlier last week and was very impressed with the presentation. (And I may be the "man who should know better" referred to in Roger's remarks.) As I listened to the presentation, I was particularly impressed with the comprehensive analysis of the data. The presentation went far beyond simply comparing scores between participating countries and ranking them. The outcomes fit into four major areas for me.<br /> <br />1. The first view was the typical competitive comparison of the US students to the rest of the world. We are not at the top, and that is clearly a problem economically.<br />2. The second was the information about the results showing a significant population of the US testing below baseline level 2 “Level 2 is considered a baseline level of proficiency, at which students begin to demonstrate the reading skills that will enable them to participate effectively and productively in life”. Andreas Schleicher from OECD, who gave the presentation, pointed out that moving those low achieving US students above the baseline level would mean trillions of dollars improvement in the USA GDP. <br />3. The third view was looking at the size of the range from the lowest to highest scores within the US. (The narrower the range from lowest to highest score, the more educational equity in the country.) This range from lowest to highest was relatively high in the US. Countries that were ahead of us on the raw scores also tended to have a lower disparity (or more equity) across their populations. Related to this was my fourth observation.<br />4. The fourth was the priority of spending. In nearly all of the other “developed” countries, they spend more money attempting to raise the performance of low performing schools than they do on those schools that are already doing well. The US was practically the only country where the reverse is true. <br /> <br />Since reading this post, I have searched the OECD/PISA website and all I can find are multiple choice type recall or problem-solving questions. However, during his presentation, Mr. Schleicher gave a couple examples of higher intellectual level problems that were not based upon a person's ability to recall facts or use formulas to come up with a solution. More directly, he made disparaging remarks about tests that only tested recall of facts and turn-the-crank formula problems. He made a point of saying that the PISA exams test higher-order analytical and problem-solving skills. I have his business card and will follow up directly with him to get a clarification. All that being said, I agree with Roger's point that we are not competing with them for the best test scores. However, if you set aside the test scores and look ar the analysis of the background data, the analyses provide some valuable food for thought.<br /> <br />As he was doing his presentation, Andreas also described which particular educational strategies appeared to have the most/best impact on improving student performance. It was reassuring to observe that every one of the practices the data showed contributed to improved student performance was a part of our Discovery and Innovation model.Allan Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16424393745449212496noreply@blogger.com