With China’s debut in international standardized testing, students in Shanghai have surprised experts by outscoring their counterparts in dozens of other countries, in reading as well as in math and science, according to the results of a respected exam.
Go to any major US university. ~10% or more of the student population is Asian. The US population is less than 2% Asian. Some combination of a heavy over representation of American born students of Asian background and international students. Meanwhile education funding continues to shrink and college costs are increasing rapidly – far higher than inflation.
Experts noted the obvious difficulty of using a standardized test to compare countries and cities of vastly different sizes. Even so, they said the stellar academic performance of students in Shanghai was noteworthy, and another sign of China’s rapid modernization.
The results also appeared to reflect the culture of education there, including greater emphasis on teacher training and more time spent on studying rather than extracurricular activities like sports.
“Wow, I’m kind of stunned, I’m thinking Sputnik,” said Chester E. Finn Jr., who served in President Ronald Reagan’s Department of Education, referring to the groundbreaking Soviet satellite launching. Mr. Finn, who has visited schools all across China, said, “I’ve seen how relentless the Chinese are at accomplishing goals, and if they can do this in Shanghai in 2009, they can do it in 10 cities in 2019, and in 50 cities by 2029.”
Meanwhile : Chinese Commercial Train Breaks 300 MPH
http://gas2.org/2010/12/06/chinese-commercial-train-breaks-300-mph/
There are two unemployment rates in this country. 1) For the educated it is 5% – not terrific but not awful. 2) For the uneducated it is over 10%. DUH. And this uneducated group does not support education.
No wonder the Asians are clobbering us.
The Great Spot 