International Evidence shows the Socialization of Education has failed

Recently I reviewed a number of articles on education in different national newspapers. The last was “ California should end social promotion” which appeared recently in the San Diego Union/Tribune. It did not contain one international comparison. If we are to obtain a proper perspective on what is happening in education in the USA, it is crucial we examine what is happening in other countries. We can then research what teaching practices and policies are successful and what are failing.

This article examines recent research carried out by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The first study, published April 2004, measured mainly reading literacy but also included science and math tests. The second study, published December 2004, measured the ability of 15-year-olds to solve real-life math problems. Both studies provide information regarding student achievement in countries around the world. Two countries whose students outperform US students and which spend far less per capita on education are Finland and New Zealand. We shall examine education in these countries to see if such an examination can provide valuable indicators as far as student achievement and success are concerned.

It is important that we learn and learn quickly and change policies so that our children can eventually compete successfully in the global economy. We find that the USA spends more per student than any other country yet is now in the bottom third as far as student achievement is concerned in the crucial area of mathematics problem solving. The United States has the highest number of teaching hours per school year in the primary and high school grades, and the second highest for middle-school students. The curriculum is also test driven more than any other country in the developed world and it follows that it also tests children more than the countries that outperform the USA.

Finland whose students come out top as far as performance in problem solving and near the top in nearly every category has rejected the whole idea of standardized testing for all ages except school leavers. New Zealand students who also out-perform those of the USA also does not test pre-high school children at all.

Imagine a country where:
1. expenditure per student is well under half of the USA
2. schools are community based and run as a cooperative venture between teachers and parents
3. the vast bulk of education expenditure goes directly to schools
4. school districts do not exist
5. schools hire consultants and advisers directly on a needs-to basis
6. no testing occurs for pre-high school students
7. teachers are free to teach what and how they want. The Ministry of Education issues guidelines but schools are free and independent
8. arts and music are regarded as crucial for the neurological development of children
9. students out-perform those of the USA
10. students move, according to age, from one grade to another
11. generally, there are many applicants for each teaching post as teaching is a popular profession and attracts good or excellent graduates
This is not Utopia but New Zealand, a country where children enjoy their childhood and perform well in international tests outperforming US students. Education has been freed from the shackles of central and local bureaucracy.

Imagine a country where:
1. children do not start school until the are seven
2. expenditure per student is under two thirds of the USA
3. your teenagers are the best readers in the world
4. your teenagers excel in science and mathematics
5. although a core national curriculum exists teachers are free to teach what and how they want
6. teachers choose their textbooks or can ditch them altogether; they can teach indoors or outdoors, cluster children in small or large groups
7. no testing occurs for pre-sixteen school students
8. the only national exams are the school-leaving ones at eighteen
9. all students are required to take seven years of music coursework
10. music is regarded as essential for the neurological development of children
11. its capital, a city well under half the size of San Diego, is the home of five symphony orchestras. Nationwide (and this is in a country only a third bigger than San Diego County) there exist twenty-six symphony orchestras and twelve opera companies
12. students move, according to age, from one grade to another
13. outperforms the USA economically
This is not Utopia but Finland, a country where children enjoy their childhood and perform well in international tests outperforming US students. Education has been freed from the shackles of central and local bureaucracy.

Will education policy-makers examine such data? If my experience in San Diego is anything to go by they will not. Such or similar data has been provided three times since 1998 to the Superintendent and School Board Members of the San Diego City Schools with only one response. They continue to implement policies that fail our children. They continue to implement policies that are, in essence, the greatest socialization of education that has ever occurred in the developed world. These policies have been supported continually by the San Diego Union/Tribune. In a country that prides itself on freedom it is an illusion to believe that freedom exists in education or in the local press because it does not.

The USA, and certainly California, is obsessed with testing students of all ages. Finland and New Zealand have quite a different approach to monitoring students’ progress. For example the New Zealand Ministry of Education fully appreciates that learning patterns can be different, "Successful outcomes for all students require a range of learning pathways. One size does not fit all. Children arrive at school with different early childhood experiences and different levels of development. How students learn, the pace at which they learn and their interests vary between individuals. These differences are recognized, to an extent, through the current system. This gives teachers and schools responsibility for organizational and teaching decisions and through provision for immersion learning and designated character schools. However, the current system needs to continually look for ways to provide flexible pathways, especially for learners with diverse needs." Sadly, I have never seen a similar statement by an education policy maker in San Diego, California or the USA.

The OECD April 2004 report makes interesting reading. Over 250,000 15-year-olds in 41 countries were tested. Finland ranked number one in science and reading and second only to Hong Kong in maths. New Zealand ranked joint second in the reading literacy rankings. The OECD December 2004 report measured the ability of 15-year-olds to solve real-life math problems. The survey was conducted in 2003 among a nationally representative sample of more than 5,456 students in 262 U.S. schools, and more than 250,000 students worldwide. The results suggest that, at the secondary-school level, the learning gap between the United States and its competitors in Europe and Asia is widening and that U.S. students continue to lag behind students elsewhere in basic math skills.

High school students in Hong Kong, Finland and South Korea do best in mathematics among those in 40 surveyed countries while students in the United States finished in the bottom half. It ranked 28th of 40 countries in math and 18th in reading. Even Czech Republic students, with one third per capita expenditure of US students, outperform US students.

Where United States does come top is in per capita education expenditure. The United States was also cited as having the poorest outcomes per dollar spent on education. As (former) Education Secretary Rod Paige said on seeing the latest report, “If we are less competitive educationally, we will soon become less competitive economically. That's just a cruel fact." The results from these studies indicate that, at the secondary-school level, the learning gap between the United States and its competitors in Europe and Asia is widening. As countries as diverse as Finland and New Zealand show what happens in the education of elementary school children will determine how such students perform at high school level and in adult life.

Desperate measures are needed if our students are to achieve at the same level as Finland, Hong Kong, South Korea, Czech Republic and New Zealand. Sadly it would appear that policy makers are obsessed with their present socialist policies even though international research provides evidence that very different policies are needed. Tragically, it is our children who suffer most from this mismanagement in education.