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you say i am making "the homogenous argument" , when i actually said, "homogenous, educated, and white."
i am not saying any homogenous group performs better. no. i think east asian and northern/western european cultures are superior when it comes to producing educational outcomes. Racial homogeneity just serves as a proxy for cultural homogeneity, since we can't measure culture.
Well it stands to reason that an educated populace is going to do better in education measures- are you saying the US does not have an educated populace? My point was anyway, that other homogeneous, educated and white groups do not perform as well like Norway for instance.
no, i'm saying that the U.S. has a large number of poorly-educated people.
it also has a large number of very-well-educated people.
the result being a very stratified society.
Norway performed pretty well.. better than the United States.
Yeah well that's not saying much is it...?
But in a more serious note, I think thats the problem - there is too much inequality in education in the US. I think one of the best things about the Finnish education system is the focus on equality - not having "bad" schools and "good" schools - and to achieve that there needs to be a focus on cooperation rather than competition which unfortunately is what the US seems to want in everything.
And yet for all that, they don't seem to be able to create/invent and are constantly stealing technology and duplicating already existing systems. Having said that, it is very appalling that our students don't do well. Several factors at work (in my opinion): 1) A culture that doesnot hold education as it once did. 2) Too much distractions in our society. 3) Too much help in making education easier. My first two are self-explanatory, but the third one needs further clarification. Basically, when you have too much time on your hands - you get nothing done. If you have too much money - you have nothing to show for it. If you have too much educational tools - you get dumber. It makes no sense, but it seems to very true. We can't figure out how people who were little smarter than neanderthals built the pyramids without much technology - yet they did (and probably better than we could). People with less seem to be able to do more (with reason).
As it once did?
The portion of the Vietnamese population aged 25 to 55 without any schooling fell from about 25% of that population to less than 1 % in the past 20 years. That's darn remarkable. What the stats don't show is that a majority of children from ethnic minority groups do not complete the equivalent of middle school, in the U.S.
SAT scores have been declining in the U.S. since at least the 70's while more kids remain in school and take the tests.
We love to blame the schools and teachers and government. The white suburban moms have pushed back hard on the Common Core thing because maybe, just maybe, their little darlings are not up to snuff. The Gates Foundation is learning that despite throwing $ billions at education, nothing has changed. Maybe it's time to place responsibility where it belongs -with the students and their families.
The real difference is time and effort put forth by the students.
But in a more serious note, I think thats the problem - there is too much inequality in education in the US. I think one of the best things about the Finnish education system is the focus on equality - not having "bad" schools and "good" schools - and to achieve that there needs to be a focus on cooperation rather than competition which unfortunately is what the US seems to want in everything.
It is not uncommon for a well performing student in one state to find themselves over whelmed in another state or vice versa. These differences occur within state, district to district.
Common Core was intended to address regional differences.
But in a more serious note, I think thats the problem - there is too much inequality in education in the US. I think one of the best things about the Finnish education system is the focus on equality - not having "bad" schools and "good" schools - and to achieve that there needs to be a focus on cooperation rather than competition which unfortunately is what the US seems to want in everything.
Not only that, but teachers are revered in Finland. It's a great honour to be a teacher, and they're very well-respected.
It is not uncommon for a well performing student in one state to find themselves over whelmed in another state or vice versa. These differences occur within state, district to district.
Common Core was intended to address regional differences.
Because the curriculum's are different? So a well performing student in one state won't have learnt the things required in another state? Well a national curriculum is wise as long as its a decent curriculum.
But in a more serious note, I think thats the problem - there is too much inequality in education in the US. I think one of the best things about the Finnish education system is the focus on equality - not having "bad" schools and "good" schools - and to achieve that there needs to be a focus on cooperation rather than competition which unfortunately is what the US seems to want in everything.
There is a lot of talk about income inequality in US, and IMO the ONLY way to resolve that issue is by investing more in education. Education gives people the opportunity to succeed.
Not only that, but teachers are revered in Finland. It's a great honour to be a teacher, and they're very well-respected.
They take the top 10% of undergrads. All teachers are required to have a Masters.
In America that wouldn't fly - "that's racist".
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