Posted on 10/08/2013 6:32:12 AM PDT by Kip Russell
The United States is at the bottom of the heap in numeracy skills of youths among all countries of the 22-nation OECD grouping, while Britain is among the bottom three in literacy skills among 16-24 year-olds, a survey has found. In a survey on adult skills, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development evaluated skills in 22 OECD member states as well as Russia and Cyprus. The study involved tests on 166,000 people aged between 16 and 65 years.
In literacy skills of 55-65 year-olds, Britain ranks among the three highest-performing countries. In numeracy, the US is about average when comparing the proficiency of 55-65 year-olds. The OECD defined literacy “as the ability to understand, evaluate, use and engage with written texts to participate in society, achieve one’s goals, and develop one’s knowledge and potential.
Literacy encompasses a range of skills from the decoding of written words and sentences to the comprehension, interpretation, and evaluation of complex texts.’’ It defined numeracy “as the ability to access, use, interpret and communicate mathematical information and ideas in order to engage in and manage the mathematical demands of a range of situations in adult life. Numeracy involves managing a situation or solving a problem in a real context, by responding to mathematical content and concepts represented in multiple ways.’’ Japanese adults topped the ranks in numeracy and literacy skills.
The report said Japanese aged between 25 and 34 who had only finished secondary education were better in writing skills than university graduates in the same age bracket in Spain and in Italy. The results were similar for numeracy.
Sad that the birthplace of our language can no longer impart it to their young.
my apology ... don’t believe this article. Too much known to believe.
Huh, after reading the headline, one would think something is severely wrong with the way we teach. I know, let’s spend 70,000 per student, teach more postmodernist humanism, and we’ll turn this thing around.
Smelling Ruse ... so I’ll be quiet.
USA people become dumber and dumber, a decades long trend.
which he said would fix the education system already fixed by the 2001 GW Bush and Ted Kennedy legislation called “No Child Left Behind,”
which was supposed to fix a system supposedly already fixed by a 1994 piece of federal legislation called “Goals 2000,”
which was supposed to fix a system already fixed by “America 2000,”
which was a 1991 response during the Bush administration to a 1983 federal report on education called “A Nation at Risk,
which was published a full four years after Jimmy Carter first fixed the nation’s public school system by establishing a cabinet-level Department of Education in 1979.
But American kids have very high self-esteem about their mathematics skills, and that’s what is really important.
Who really needs to know how to solve a quadratic equation anyway? Or, even make change, since the cash registers do that automatically?
“Britain is among the bottom three in literacy skills”
John Milton
TS Elliot
Lewis Carrol
Charles Dickens
JRR Tolkien
CS Lewis
William Shakespeare
Oscar Wilde
George Orwell
Jane Austen
Agatha Christie
Rudyard Kipling
William Blake
Virginia Wolfe
The list in infinite. Civilization is fragile.
He meant a particular Race, meaning skin color, would be at the top.
Do I need a '/s' here?
A news article of the time that I REALLY wish I had saved was the comment from that creation. The Education Department came from the separation of the old Eisenhower 1953 Department of Health, Education and Welfare, yet, at the time of the separation, the Secretary of the surviving portion, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proudly announced that the overall budget would remain the same.
Of course right now, I'd like them to only be spending what they were spending then. FAT CHANCE!
The tremendously serious value expression by today's youth continues: Batman, computer games, "Spidey," eating, drinking, drugging, copulating, evacuating the bowels and snoring. The life of a beast.
The Third World is coming to transfer the father's wealth to them and enslave today's little music makers and cartoon watchers..
And now, finally, after three decades of federal involvement in education, Americans are so dumb that they believe that ObamaCare will improve the health care of Americans.
Not only are they ranking at the bottom in mathematics, they are so historically and civically illiterate and unthinking that they not only elected, but re-elected Barack Obama, a Fabian-style socialist with strong influences from Marx and the Frankfurt School, as president.
Mission Accomplished!
But they have good self-esteem, and know everything about Martin Luther King, Jr.
I don’t know how well literacy scores can be compared between languages, but it doesn’t surprise my that the US is down there in numeracy.
More $$$ to Teachers (Unions)!!! NOW!!!!
Both dumber and less competently taught—not a good combination.
Britain has always had a significant intellectual divide between its top and its sizable bottom.
What don’t you believe about the article?
1. Teaching Math In 1950s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?
2. Teaching Math In 1960s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?
3. Teaching Math In 1970s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?
4. Teaching Math In 1980s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.
5. Teaching Math In 1990s
A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20. What do you think of this way of making a living?
Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers, and if you feel like crying, it’s ok. )
6. Teaching Math In 2009
Un hachero vende una carretada de maderapara $100. El costo de la producciones es $80. Cuanto dinero ha hecho?
7. Teaching Math In 2013
Who cares, just steal the lumber from your rich neighbor’s property. He won’t have a gun to stop you, and the President says it’s OK anyway cuz it’s redistributing the wealth.
Mathematics ... will give them an ‘E’ for effort on the article though.
Maybe David Allen Coe said it best in The Ride.
I think most people only know snippets from the life of MLK. A real poser for most would be to ask who MLK was named after and what was his significance in history.
Garn!
Not based on the homework my kids had when they were in Elementary School, it seemed like every week they had some assignment related to MLK.
or to be better in tune ... will give Mr. Daniels credit ... This Ain’t No Rag, It’s A Flag!
Yes, taught from Affirmative Action promoted staff, who are dumber and dumber themselves. Culminating in the govt. we now have, led by a AAA non-achiever who was given a pass at every step due to EEO. Many Americans deserve every bit of misery coming their way.
Cursive killed the Youtube star.
No goobermint program is ever a failure-it’s just “underfunded”.
Note that the Latin and Mediterranean nations surveyed were near or at the bottom in both literacy and numeracy skills. Polish, British, and Irish performance is also mostly below average, though not as low as the Latin/Med countries. (Poland is somewhat surprising, as it is in the midst of higher performing Northern and Central European countries.) The impact of nonwhite immigrants or natives is uncertain, although Sweden and Germany, two countries with large immigrant populations, perform well, while Britain, France, and the U.S., in simiar situations, do not.
If I were to guess, the main deviation between countries is the absence of internalized self-control and self-discipline. Americans and Britons have more succumbed to hedonism than other countries, turning against a long history of the Protestant ethic (though Catholics and Jews practiced this ethic as well). The Latin and Med nations have historically had something of a "manana" attitude toward life.
LMAO!!
Which OECD countries do you expect the US to score higher than, and why do you expect that?
So you’re a nurture versus nature guy?
One reason I tend to think this study is somewhat bogus.
will simply say, please come back and talk to me when you find one Nation better adapted and more advanced than ours, in all arenas, please. Last word is yours. Am proud of our Nation and this Nation’s People. We are not perfect but I’ll take our perfection, anytime, over any other nation.
In 1955, Rudolf Flesch published “Why Johnny Can’t Read,” followed in 1980 by “Why Johnny Still Can’t Read.” Both books were accurate pictures of the dumbing down phenomena, - - hotly denied by an embarrassed educational system. Now the question isn’t whether our population is illiterate, but how long can our civilization survive.
When our leaders don't understand that 1 tax dollar + 1 tax dollar doesn't = a zillion dollars sent to our enemies, then how can we expect our children to know more.
How I long for the days of the ‘Three R’s’.
I’d say the US leadership is based, intellectually, on an unfortunately small share of our population. We’ve been growing the lower-IQ and lower-attainment segments of our population faster than those toward the top, so it would be reasonable IMO that we’d be sliding down the scales compared to other developed countries.
Opinion are always Great (imho).
btw ... found that nation ahead of U.S. yet?
Well at least they know a lot of “facts”, of course whether they are true or not is a whole other question.
Again, your question does not address what this study measures. Apparently you dismiss data in studies and presented as a basis for my opinion—so I guess it is no surprise that a lack of data doesn’t impact your opinions.
Generally, yes, though I don’t entirely rule out the effect of genetics.
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