Asian nations dominate OECD education rankings

This is the link that Japan Today should have mentioned: http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-2012-results.htm instead of one that links to a US government website!

The result of "leave no child behind". The US can say that all they want about education; But when you leave no child behind, you sacrifice the ones that can lead. They are the ones who have to stay behind so that the ones who should take that extra year don't feel bad about their grades. If the US wants to start doing well again, the gov't will have to acknowledge that yes, some kids are just naturally smarter than others., which in turn, according to the law of averages, means there are children who are naturally.. not. They need the help, but forcing the other kids to slow down to go at their pace won't work. Instead, let those children fail. That may seem cruel, but we learn more from our mistakes than we do from our success. The ones who "fail" at first, can then be given the proper extra help & support they need to catch up. This way, you still don't leave any child behind, but your also not holding others back as well.

It's a cultural thing.

Measuring the ability to remember mathematical formulas, make calculations etc. is all very well but what about an aptitude test for creative and critical thinking, and the ability to express original thought and argue a point of view?

"PISA is unique because it develops tests which are not directly linked to the school curriculum. The tests are designed to assess to what extent students at the end of compulsory education, can apply their knowledge to real-life situations and be equipped for full participation in society."

Its mostly because children in the mentioned Asian nations are taught more how to get the answer right rather than focusing on critical thinking. Getting an answer right is only good on a systematic only one answer right test. Real life on the other hand requires the ability to figure out how to respond to ever changing. In the US we have the "nerds" or smart folks that buckle down and study in schools because they're good and smart children that actually make use of the education offered. Then we have the slackers (which I was one of to a degree) that just wanna do the fun stuff and not really think about the future until its too late or there is no other choice but to get educated enough to get a decent job.

How many teens in these other nations become wealthy because they've invented a software program that a multi-million/billion dollar industry wants to buy? There are a lot more teens that have become instant millionares in the US because of their innovation and use of technological skills that even I as an adult have to go to school just to learn what they do as a hobby.

I find it kind of strange that some people would put down the countries that did well on this test. The reason they did so well is that the kids in those particular countries go to school more often, and yes, they study more, and they take pride in their achievements and are taught by their parents that education is more important than almost anything else for their future. It's not about getting rich and having loads of cash but rather being able to function in their country's own society. They are better at reading, they are better at math and they are better at science... they have great economies as well and they still don't have the sense of entitlement to work and life balance, hobbies and sports and other such things that countries lower down the list seem to find most important.

They do more, they get better results. That's all there is to it.

This is why they dominate the bottom of the world birthrate charts.

@letsberealistic,

From your previous posts, you seem to equate western nations with the UK and the US but there are other 'Western nations' that did well on this test. This test measures the core skills, not thinking. The US for example, your example, not mine, has gone down in all three categories and ranks below the OECD average in all three categories. Why do you think that is? If improvement, as you say, needs to be made, then do it and see how you do the next time CORE skills are tested. Until then, can we just stop with the original thoughts, critical thinking and arguing a point of view, please? It's getting really old, it has nothing to do with this particular test and in my opinion is clearly off topic.

In USA. Asian students in schools are often labeled as genious. If this test exclude Asian students in USA. what will be USA scores? Many Asian students in USA have parents whose prime language is not English but still do excellent in school.

@letsberealistic,

Your link is not showing up so I decided to provide one to kind of lightened the mood a little while demonstrating that all the other skills you've mentioned are not all that important when people can't read or count properly. This was on NBC nightly news!

http://imgur.com/gallery/VOlo7Sh

There's a problem in some poorly performing countries that needs fixing and it is not the "Asian" participation rate...

Why is China's only in select regions? So they can pour all the money on those regions and forget about everybody else in the country?

A problem in the U.S. is that school budgets come from local property tax, meaning the rich neighborhoods get the most money for schools, while the least money goes to schools in the poor neighborhoods exactly where it's needed the most.

A good thing about small places like Singapore is that they could pay their teachers competitive wages so that their best people consider the teaching profession as a career worth competing for.

@letsberealistic

Give it a try if you want to know what the test is like instead of guessing about it. Here's a link to some sample questions and an actual tally by country on the right side as well as an explanation of the actual questions and what they test.

http://www.oecd.org/pisa/test/form/