AMERICAN SCHOOLS VERSUS CHINA

American Schools Lag Behind In Math And Science Compared To China

American Schools Lag Behind In Math And Science Compared To China

American students are lagging in math and science and trailing countries like Canada, Czech Republic and China, the National Center for Education Statistics concluded in a 2009 report.

The study compared the ability of 15-year-old students with other students from countries that are part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in solving real-life mathematical problems. It found that students in the US are below average in math and placed in the bottom quarter of countries that participated and trail nations such as Estonia, China and Finland. More than half of the participating countries outscored U.S. kids.

And it's not just the young ones—American high school students aren't grasping basic math concepts as well as their counterparts in leading industrialized nations, according to the Program for International Student Assessment.

There are many theories on why U.S. students lag behind their peers abroad in math, but most critics agree that the education system, their teachers, and their parents can have a profound impact on how well our students do in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).

The U.S.'s education system has long been criticized for relying on standardized testing, which can teach children how to take a test rather than what is on the test. Coupled with the fact that the U.S. is a more diverse country than most of the nations that participated in the study, and has a large portion of minorities who traditionally score lower on standardized tests, the U.S. was sure not to come out on top.

The country that did come out on top in the study is a nation that has rejected the idea of standardized testing altogether. Teachers in Finland focus on students grasping the concepts in lessons and not simply regurgitating them for tests.

That's why it's so important for kids to be encouraged by their teachers in STEM subjects. Seventy-two percent of students in 3rd to 12th grade think a person needs to do well in science and math to get a good paying job in the future, but as they enter high school, they are less likely to believe that science and math are necessary for workplace success, according to an American Society for Quality survey. The report found that the drop was related to the scores that teachers received for connecting subject material to careers in science and math, and students' ability to pursue them.

Because of a shortage of math and science teachers, some critics of the education system suggest paying teachers in areas of critical need (math, science, foreign language and special education) more money. The National Education Association, which represents teachers, argues against such a proposal. “Simply being a teacher of a hard-to-staff subject does not equate with effective instruction,” the organization said in a position statement in 2009.

The U.S. education system (school and high school) is extremely liberal. American students decide to put only small efforts in studying science ...