excel<\/a> (click on the link following \u201cchapter 1\u201d to download the file). \u00a0These countries are still among the top \u2014 Ripley excludes China (which only tests kids from Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Macau, so not representative of the country) and Singapore and non-democratic countries in general \u2014 though now Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Estonia have moved ahead of Finland in math. \u00a0In any case, the United States is decidedly at the middle of the pack: \u00a033rd out of 61 for math, somewhat better in reading at 21st.)<\/p>\nAnyway, here\u2019s what I flagged from the book:<\/p>\n
p. 64. \u00a0U.S. spends considerably more on technology than these \u201chigh performing\u201d schools. \u00a0\u201cHowever, there was little evidence that these purchases had paid off for anyone other than the technology vendors themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
p. 86. \u00a0On Finland: \u00a0teaching requires a rigorous master\u2019s degree in the subject, not just in \u201ceducation,\u201d and a full year of student teaching. \u00a0The math teacher the Finland-bound exchange student, Kim, had at home? \u00a0He mostly wanted to be a football coach, and \u201cfigured the best way to become a coach was to become a math teacher.\u201d \u00a0\u201cInstead of taking the more rigorous mathematics classes offered to other students, for example, education majors tended to take special math classes for students who did not like math.\u201d<\/p>\n
p. 90 \u2013 91. \u00a0Attempts to improve rigor of U.S. education for future teachers. \u00a0In Rhode Island, plans to strengthen test-score requirements for teachers produced a hue-and-cry, but \u201cRhode Island\u2019s teacher colleges already churned out 1,000 teachers a year, about 800 more than the school system needed to hire.\u201d<\/p>\n
p. 100. \u00a0\u201cIn my own survey of 202 foreign-exchange students, an overwhelming majority said their U.S. classes were easier than their classes abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n
P. 130 ff. \u00a0Poland \u2014 major reform in the system in 1998. \u00a0For components: \u00a01. \u00a0new curriculum, with fundamental, rigorous goals, but local autonomy in implementation. \u00a02. \u00a0Standardized testing at the end of elementary, jr high and high school \u2014 at elementary, for diagnostic reasons, but at older ages, for tracking students and determining university admission. \u00a03. \u00a0delay tracking; high schools were tracked, but kids would basically stay in junior high, with an untracked curriculum, a further year. \u00a04. \u00a0Teacher autonomy. \u00a0These reforms were controversial, but Poland zoomed up the PISA ranks.<\/p>\n
p. 138 ff. \u00a0Tracking: \u00a0despite Germany\u2019s famous early tracking system, \u201cby the early 21st century, many countries were slowly, haltingly, delaying tracking. \u00a0When they did so, all kids tended to do better.\u201d \u00a0Finland doesn\u2019t track until age 16.<\/p>\n
p. 144. \u00a0key differences between U.S. and elsewhere: \u00a01. \u00a0heavy role of sports in American schools. \u00a02. \u00a0more autonomy during and outside of school.<\/p>\n
p. 162. \u00a0What about minorities? \u00a0In Finland, even immigrant kids do well in school.<\/p>\n
Her bottom line: \u00a0American schools just aren\u2019t as rigorous and demanding as in other developed nations \u2014 and American students aren\u2019t as motivated \u2014 and this impacts their success substantially.<\/p>\n
Now, to be sure, if you look around, you can manipulate the data to tell either story: \u00a0that it\u2019s the nonwhites who drag the United States down, or that, apples to apples, even the white middle class kids do poorly.<\/p>\n
But I find it telling that the US math score was decidedly worse than the reading score \u2014 and that in the U.S., it\u2019s perfectly acceptable for college-bound kids to simply decide, \u201cI don\u2019t need math\u201d and that\u2019s that, whereas in countries with a rigorous test required for admission to universities, math is certainly not optional, even for kids who want to study the humanities.<\/p>\n
Can you even imagine a rigorous test required for admission to American universities? \u00a0Yes, of course, there\u2019s the SAT and the ACT, but each university decides on a different admission standard, and many don\u2019t require anything. \u00a0I\u2019m talking about a test without which you may not enroll at any university or college \u2014 though, with our decentralized system \u2014 it\u2019d probably have to be a test that the federal government would require for financial aid, or perhaps for accreditation.\u00a0\u00a0Can you imagine the uproar it would cause for students to know math? \u00a0They\u2019d probably demand that their poor math scores were disability-related and therefore the requirement was discrimination.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, Canada\u2019s test scores are quite respectable \u2014 7th or so, and, so far as I can tell, the general structure of their system is pretty similar to ours. \u00a0Is their greater success due to lack of poor-performing minority populations, or something else?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Yeah, I\u2019d been meaning to read this one for a while, and now I\u2019ve got to get this summary written before returning the book to the library.\u00a0 (New readers:\u00a0 this is one of the nerdier things I do, as I figure that if I write up little summaries of books I\u2019ve read, I won\u2019t forget […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":1386,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[94],"class_list":["post-1233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-education"],"yoast_head":"\n
From the library: The Smartest Kids in the World, and how they got that way, by Amanda Ripley<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Yeah, I\u2019d been meaning to read this one for a while, and now I\u2019ve got to get this summary written before returning the book to the library.\u00a0 (New\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/03\/from-the-library-the-smartest-kids-in-the-world-and-how-they-got-that-way-by-amanda-ripley.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From the library: The Smartest Kids in the World, and how they got that way, by Amanda Ripley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yeah, I\u2019d been meaning to read this one for a while, and now I\u2019ve got to get this summary written before returning the book to the library.\u00a0 (New\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/03\/from-the-library-the-smartest-kids-in-the-world-and-how-they-got-that-way-by-amanda-ripley.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-03-10T13:15:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-03-10T13:54:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/533\/2015\/02\/library.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jane the Actuary\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/03\/from-the-library-the-smartest-kids-in-the-world-and-how-they-got-that-way-by-amanda-ripley.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/03\/from-the-library-the-smartest-kids-in-the-world-and-how-they-got-that-way-by-amanda-ripley.html\",\"name\":\"From the library: The Smartest Kids in the World, and how they got that way, by Amanda Ripley\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-03-10T13:15:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-10T13:54:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\"},\"description\":\"Yeah, I\u2019d been meaning to read this one for a while, and now I\u2019ve got to get this summary written before returning the book to the library.\u00a0 (New\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/03\/from-the-library-the-smartest-kids-in-the-world-and-how-they-got-that-way-by-amanda-ripley.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/03\/from-the-library-the-smartest-kids-in-the-world-and-how-they-got-that-way-by-amanda-ripley.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/03\/from-the-library-the-smartest-kids-in-the-world-and-how-they-got-that-way-by-amanda-ripley.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"From the library: The Smartest Kids in the World, and how they got that way, by Amanda Ripley\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a\",\"name\":\"Jane the Actuary\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jane the Actuary\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"From the library: The Smartest Kids in the World, and how they got that way, by Amanda Ripley","description":"Yeah, I\u2019d been meaning to read this one for a while, and now I\u2019ve got to get this summary written before returning the book to the library.\u00a0 (New","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/03\/from-the-library-the-smartest-kids-in-the-world-and-how-they-got-that-way-by-amanda-ripley.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"From the library: The Smartest Kids in the World, and how they got that way, by Amanda Ripley","og_description":"Yeah, I\u2019d been meaning to read this one for a while, and now I\u2019ve got to get this summary written before returning the book to the library.\u00a0 (New","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/03\/from-the-library-the-smartest-kids-in-the-world-and-how-they-got-that-way-by-amanda-ripley.html","og_site_name":"Jane the Actuary","article_published_time":"2015-03-10T13:15:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-03-10T13:54:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/533\/2015\/02\/library.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jane the Actuary","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jane the Actuary","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/03\/from-the-library-the-smartest-kids-in-the-world-and-how-they-got-that-way-by-amanda-ripley.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/03\/from-the-library-the-smartest-kids-in-the-world-and-how-they-got-that-way-by-amanda-ripley.html","name":"From the library: The Smartest Kids in the World, and how they got that way, by Amanda Ripley","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-03-10T13:15:07+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-10T13:54:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a"},"description":"Yeah, I\u2019d been meaning to read this one for a while, and now I\u2019ve got to get this summary written before returning the book to the library.\u00a0 (New","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/03\/from-the-library-the-smartest-kids-in-the-world-and-how-they-got-that-way-by-amanda-ripley.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/03\/from-the-library-the-smartest-kids-in-the-world-and-how-they-got-that-way-by-amanda-ripley.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/03\/from-the-library-the-smartest-kids-in-the-world-and-how-they-got-that-way-by-amanda-ripley.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"From the library: The Smartest Kids in the World, and how they got that way, by Amanda Ripley"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/","name":"Jane the Actuary","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/ed9b99e0bd58c5eeeebae6b82fa5a77a","name":"Jane the Actuary","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d6a493d380e87d49599d5487691c9fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jane the Actuary"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/author\/actuaryjane"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"By](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/533\/2015\/02\/library.jpg\")
<\/a>