Shocker - Common Core not giving good outcomes

[PrettyFlyforaChiGuy]

Reading through the few actual studies on learning outcomes, a common refrain seems to be teachers feeling unprepared to teach due to substandard training. I'd suspect that would lead to some trouble down the line.

There is also another factor here... Chinese parents have a different way with their children and they don't let up until the learning is learned. American kids are very soft (I'm sorry but it what I've observed). 

American kids have many things to distract them, video games, television, Netflix, and other non sense. This is why GM and Ford have stopped making sedans in this country, and why Honda and Toyota have crushed the United States... CEOs are having to get kids from India and China and Japan. It's not just because their labor is cheaper, ITS BECAUSE THEY PASS CALCULUS IN THE 10TH GRADE WHILE OUR KIDS ARE ON THE XBOX... We yell at our kids for results, but we don't sit with them and tutor them. I wrote another post somewhere on this forum about seeing the CULTURE of education when I walk into the home of one of my Japanese, Chinese or indian friends' home.

I very strongly agree with your "culture of education" idea, but I am a college admissions counselor in China now, working directly with the tip of the top students in Beijing; the ones who get admitted to Ivies and regard Top 30 schools as safeties. While I've helped many Ivy-bound students express themselves and find their unique voices, even within this sample, if you were to walk around group workshops designed to show them how to format their independent research projects for publication, you would also find some students secreting away their cell phones under their desk to play games on the down-low.

Basically, children will find distractions to vent the stresses of their education, no matter who they are or where they are. Anecdotally, I remember long hours playing PlayStation games as a child, and turned into a decent enough first-gen college grad who churned out research. I don't see this as a convenient scapegoat you can really wag a finger at. Also, it's certainly true that some of my Chinese clients have independently passed AP Calculus AB in the 10th grade, but many have not. In the USA, many such courses and opportunities simply aren't made available in every district--like they weren't in my own--due to uniquely ignorant ideas like tying funding to testing outcomes and property taxes. 

It's also true that 800s on the SAT Math section are the norm for STEM-oriented students here in Beijing. However, these results are likely biased in favor of self-selection, similar to how Middle American states tend to have the highest SAT scores--the test isn't common in these places, so the most motivated students sit for them. My clients generally have little idea how to express themselves, their dreams, or their research in a way that could allow them to fit into any team, much less demonstrate deep reflection into their proposed field of study. They simply lack some of the self-expression and teamwork skills that Americans may take for granted, because their system isn't necessarily geared toward these outcomes.

Aside from counseling, I've also been the head of teaching departments in international schools around Asia; I did teach critical literary analysis to the age group you referenced, but it was using American textbooks that resembled those from my own childhood. The skills of identifying themes, pinning down an author's tone, and exploring implicit ideas aren't removed from those I learned at a similar age, half a world away.

I think you are very right to identify a community of education in many families in these cultures. It's absolutely not the case that all Chinese parents know how to best support their child's education, or even become directly involved at all. However, the culture of education is strong, likely because the students are surrounded by resources like college counselors and respected teachers who can help know them individually and respect their unique needs. Then again, I've worked with many hands-off parents, who I simply shepherd through the international admissions process and consult for input.

Most importantly, though, these families also have the funds to pursue higher education, which is often considered beyond the reach of many Americans. I've found that even on this forum, one that intends to democratize access to higher education, posting opinions about universal education or student loan forgiveness is met with refrains similar to "I've already got mine." It presents a really remarkable dichotomy for me, but that's politicizing a topic, too... but allowing children to know that they can identify their dreams, rise up toward them, and then make them secure in the knowledge that they'll have financial and emotional access to them when they're ready seems to be a pretty consistent thread in all the swath of Asian cultures I've directly served in.