"U.S. millennials post ‘abysmal’ scores in tech skills test, lag behind foreign peers

[ShotoJuku]

しかし、あなたは日本のように簡単ではありませんしないとき

はい - 合意された！

[lavagirl]

あなたも日本人であるときに簡単に変換する。

私は私が日本語を学びたいと思うように興味をそそら午前 (Sorry for Google Translate )

[merolpn]

So the whole socialism/capitalism, poverty debate aside, I would like to point something out that I do not recall being mentioned.

The U.S. has a population of about 318 Million people. The 18-34 age group in the U.S. makes up roughly 23% of the 318 Million for 73.14 Million. Japan has the next highest population at 127.3 Million people. I was able to find the 2010 Japanese census and the 18-34 Age group make up roughly 18% of their population for an estimated 22.9 Million people.

*******I realize that the article gives the 16-34 statistics NOT 18-34, however I already did my calculations and it is all relative anyway*******

I used 21% to calculate how many people from each country were in that age range. Basically, the average of the U.S. and Japanese number rounded up.

So, basically the U.S. placed within 21 points of the highest scoring Japan on literacy while educating the same number of people as, Japan, Finland, Netherlands, South Korea, Flanders, Sweden, Estonia, Australia, Czech Republic, Norway, Canada and Germany.

Finland scored at the top of the "Numeracy" test. They have a whopping 5.5 Million people with just 1.15 Million people in the 18-34 age group. The U.S. had to educate 63 TIMES the amount of people than Finland.

I think it speaks volumes about the U.S. to be able to educate so many people and be within reach of the top. What I find astounding is that given the fact that a country like Finland is educating basically 1/60th the number of people their scores aren't 60 times better. They are not even 2 times better.

The same goes for Japan, they have less than 1/3rd the number of people in that age group but their scores aren't 3 times better.

These kinds of "tests" are basically useless, UNLESS you are comparing countries with very similar populations like Norway to Finland.

[lavagirl]

Maybe it has something to do with teaching method and educational philosophy?

[AkaiOkami]

Maybe it has something to do with teaching method and educational philosophy?

Yes. Those two play big big roles. Example of education philosophy: The pass of the No Child Left Behind Act which reflects the world view of all of congress and the president because it passed all three branches. States had to abide by the fed's requirements to obtain federal money for education. Therefore, states lowered test scores to get free federal money. The world view is money>education. And, those that sit on the Board of Education, they select books for schools in their district that reflect the board's world view.

For the teaching method, an example of this is the multiple choice test. President Wilson had teachers give these out during WWI. The downside of the test method they found out is the harm they do to critical thinking. To develop/strengthen critical thinking skills, short/long essay form is used.

[merolpn]

Yes. Those two play big big roles. Example of education philosophy: The pass of the No Child Left Behind Act which reflects the world view of all of congress and the president because it passed all three branches. States had to abide by the fed's requirements to obtain federal money for education. Therefore, states lowered test scores to get free federal money. The world view is money>education. And, those that sit on the Board of Education, they select books for schools in their district that reflect the board's world view.

I will ask this: Why on earth do we even need a Federal Department of Education? Perhaps at one time it was a good idea. We have 50 states that all have their own Department of Education. This is an example where government grows and grows and the people lose. So now we have lowered our standards just to get federal money which really should have never left the states in the first place.

[UptonSinclair]

I will ask this: Why on earth do we even need a Federal Department of Education? Perhaps at one time it was a good idea. We have 50 states that all have their own Department of Education. This is an example where government grows and grows and the people lose. So now we have lowered our standards just to get federal money which really should have never left the states in the first place.

Alabama
Mississippi

[defscarlett]

DOE needs to exist to standardize education. The same learning objectives for course material should apply no matter where you are.

[jmeitrem]

DOE needs to exist to standardize education. The same learning objectives for course material should apply no matter where you are.

Why? How did our country ever survive before our massive federal government...

This reminds me of some of the notes I took when taking the Foundations of Education DSST.

"How education is funded - mostly local property taxes, sales tax, and state income tax
Federal funding is a small percentage of overall funding, but the influence is LARGE"

Fun fact: The Dept of Ed's official abbreviation is "ED", not "DOE" which refers to the Dept of Energy

[UptonSinclair]

The original Department of Education was created in 1867 to collect information on schools and teaching that would help the States establish effective school systems. While the agency's name and location within the Executive Branch have changed over the past 130 years, this early emphasis on getting information on what works in education to teachers and education policymakers continues down to the present day.

http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/role.html

It appears the federal government has been involved in education far longer than many would like to admit.