WHY CHINA IS BOUND TO SURPASS US

Our student test scores are lower than those of students from other countries because our average score is dragged down by the poor performance of our minority students and because we have dumbed down our public education system in the cause of politically correct cultural diversity.

While our public education system has been dumbed down, China and other Asian countries have been smartening up their students in math, science and literacy. Out of 65 countries, the U.S. ranked 25th in math, 17th in science and 14th in reading. That’s why China is bound to surpass us and become the most powerful and most influential nation in the world.

This was the first time students in Shanghai have ever taken the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) test which is given every three years. But what really surprised me was that Israel ranked no higher than 41st in both math and science and 36th in reading.

Haaretz.com reports that since the previous ranking, Israel climbed four places in reading, and jumped 16 places in the sciences, from 57th to 41st. Education minister Gideon Saar said in response to the survey results that Israel has made a huge leap in its accomplishments, but the gaps between the Jewish and Arab demographics cannot be ignored.

The gap between the scores of Israel’s Jewish and Arab students was about 100 points. Apparently, Israel’s minority (Arab) students are doing even worse than our minority (black and Latino) students.

SHANGHAI TEENS WORLD’S SMARTEST

The Straits Times
December 7, 2010

PARIS - TEENAGERS from the Chinese city of Shanghai have the best education in the world, according to a major international study of standards in math, science and literacy released on Tuesday.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's PISA report, released every three years, studied 470,000 15-year-old pupils in 65 countries around the more developed parts of the world.

South Korea and Finland topped the country rankings in the survey but, taken separately from China, the huge city of Shanghai - taking part in the survey for the first time - came top in all three of the disciplines.

'More than one-quarter of Shanghai's 15-year-olds demonstrated advanced mathematical thinking skills to solve complex problems, compared to an OECD average of just three percent,' the OECD said.

Other Asian countries and regions also scored particularly well, and OECD education expert Eric Charbonnier said the continent's success was a result of educational values that favor equality as well as quality.

'In Shanghai, a city of 20 million, they followed policies to fight against social inequality, to target the schools that were in most difficulty and send them the best performing heads and most experienced teachers,' he said. -- AFP