From the BBC. It ranks US states against OECD nations.
US 'in denial' over poor maths standards Among children of parents with a low level of education, only 17% were proficient in maths, compared with 43% of children from well-educated families. But this standard of maths among well-educated families in US is well below their counterparts in other countries.
In Poland, 71% of children from well-educated families were likely to be proficient in maths. In Germany, 64% of better-off children were proficient at maths and 55% in France.
Even such a poor performance was unlikely to set off alarm bells, said Paul Peterson, report co-author and professor of government at Harvard University and director of the Program on Education Policy and Governance at the Harvard Kennedy School.
"There is a denial phenomenon," says Prof Peterson.
I think alot of this stems from parents and society saying that "I'm no good at math, I can't help my kid do their math and they're only in 3rd grade" and other such things while their kid is sitting there listening. I think that while there are obvious problems in the way our education system works, the larger problem is that there are so many adults who seem to be proud of the fact that they can't do math well. Being a math/science teacher I hear it all the time from parents and random adults I meet when they find out what I teach.
It is annoying and I always say that they should change their attitude or their child will form preconceived notions at their ability to perform well at math.
Agree!! The attitude that is passed on from parents/teachers to students is very important!
Another big problem is the practice of breaking down math into a large set of a few dozens of elements that a teacher can check off on a list. The math work that my kids do in elementary and in middle school is so mechanical and procedural, that it misses the whole point of math as an organic system of thinking and problem solving. I have heard so many parents and educators say (in the media and in daily life) that the US education focuses on creativity and not rote memory. Yet when I look at how math is taught in our supposedly really good district, and when I recall how I learned math in a country that is regarded by the US educators as focusing on rote memory, and my reaction is "you've got to be kidding me!"
Completely agree, Kerry. I am neither a math teacher nor am I in a STEM field, but I feel so irritated to hear "I am not good at math" from so many adults. Would they be willing to say "You know what? I am almost completely illiterate! I can only read at a third grade level!"
Somehow, math idiocy is socially accepted and even seen to be endearing-??
There is also an attitude from people I talk to that the U.S. is behind, but their school isn't. I hear it from friends in many states and many districts. Everyone thinks their school is the exception so they don't need to worry about it.
I think this attitude also keeps change from happening.
Edited to add: When people see a hard 3rd grade problem that they can't figure out; it must mean the school is good in math. I don't get the logic, but it makes sense to them.
I'm going the other direction personally, I think it's a result of U.S. families and parents simply not being "hungry" enough. We assume we're always going to be taken care of. When you get "hungry", that is, when you understand that your achievement is directly related to a reasonable quality of life, suddenly it becomes a lot more important and you MAKE such things a priority.
That's a disturbing article. At a certain point most of the talent for math/science is probably going to have to be imported from other countries (which is already happening to a large degree). I think it's interesting how sports always seems to win over academics. Even among the middle class or more affluent families, they are willing to spend hour upon hour each week shuttling their kids from practice to practice, but how many hours do they have their child do math? Or read? It is culturally acceptable to "push" your kid with sports, and sign the kid up for every sport possible, but god forbid encouraging a child to spend more time with academics.
There is a family in our school from India and they do place a lot of importance on academics. I don't see them as being particularly pushy, just very involved compared to "American" parents. Teachers in the school have made the nastiest comments to them about how they should back off and let their DD play with Barbie dolls and take her to gymnastics. Ironically, their DD does do those things. Their kids are very bright and excel naturally with academics, but all the teachers can see is that the parents must be pushy and demanding since the kids are so advanced. They probably think of me the same way, but I haven't had any comments yet. Half the time my kids didn't/don't even do their homework so I'm not sure how they could call me "pushy".
There is a family in our school from India and they do place a lot of importance on academics. I don't see them as being particularly pushy, just very involved compared to "American" parents. Teachers in the school have made the nastiest comments to them about how they should back off and let their DD play with Barbie dolls and take her to gymnastics. Ironically, their DD does do those things. Their kids are very bright and excel naturally with academics, but all the teachers can see is that the parents must be pushy and demanding since the kids are so advanced. They probably think of me the same way, but I haven't had any comments yet. Half the time my kids didn't/don't even do their homework so I'm not sure how they could call me "pushy".
This attitude is very common in our district, too, even though it is a very good district. Plenty of parents and teachers point fingers at kids who excel (and their parents) without knowing anything about whether these kids excel: whether it's because they have pushy parents, or because they just care about academics and work hard, or because the *average level* academics is just too easy. But no one has any problem if a family pushes the kids in sports. It's OK if kids are tired out after sports practices, but it's an outrage if a kid gets mentally challenged or even tired once in a while doing academic work. I've had very unpleasant exchanges with school teachers and private teachers about this, and I've seen the same conflict of attitude whenever a group of parents and teachers sit down to talk about instructional standards.
To push this point even further, is it right to advocate college education, or education in general, just as a way to potentially boost income and to get more "stuff"? What happened to learning for the sake of learning, learning as a way to better oneself and to know the world and our cultural heritage? If the goal of education is income, then of course people don't have motivation once the society reaches a reasonable level of wealth and prosperity.
In some cultures, if you excel in academics, it moves you along the SES chain, gives you opportunities you otherwise might not have. Education is the key to success. That sort of thinking. In the US, there are statistics that show college grads make more money, but then we say anyone can go to college. That's our national goal. If anyone can do it and you don't see other people working hard, why should you?
This blog post discusses an article finding that the U.S. labor market rewards skills more than in most other countries.
http://www.aei-ideas.org/2013/12/st...mart-skilled-workers-more-than-americas/Study: No economy in the world rewards smart, skilled workers more than America’s
James Pethokoukis
American Enterprise
December 27, 2013
I have seen something fascinating. DH and I were strong high school atheletes and mediocre college atheletes. Still, people excepted us to have athletic children. DS6 is obviously not going to be atheletic. He has a genetic disorder and has been in PT and/or OT off and on since he was an infant. As soon as "people" realize this, it is socially acceptable for us to push him in academics and the arts.
I think it's interesting how sports always seems to win over academics. Even among the middle class or more affluent families, they are willing to spend hour upon hour each week shuttling their kids from practice to practice, but how many hours do they have their child do math? Or read? It is culturally acceptable to "push" your kid with sports, and sign the kid up for every sport possible, but god forbid encouraging a child to spend more time with academics.
It's culturally UNacceptable to not have your kid involved in sports of some type. I cannot tell you how many times someone has asked me if DS8 is on a soccer team. No, he isn't but he takes soccer and gymnastics at his Chinese aftercare. As soon as they hear that he has some sports involvement, it's okay; he won't grow up to be a crazy, anti-social recluse.
Our neighbor's teenager is obsessed with baseball and has natural talent; he probably will get a college scholarship. They sign him up for traveling teams and spend weekends at tournaments; he has tons of practices and games they attend. Yet they looked askance at me when I mentioned DS8 (at the time DS5) was reading Harry Potter; it was all "Let him be a kid!" Umm...he's pulling me along; I just support his habit. 
I guess I don't see sports as always "winning" over academics around here. Sure, athletic achievements are reported and celebrated, but I don't see anyone hiding the kids who qualified for MathCounts Nationals or USAMO. Those achievements are celebrated as well.
While your neighbor's teen might be obsessed with baseball, perhaps it is just a matter of perspective. Just as they give weird looks to your Harry Potter reading little kid, you may think they are wacky for letting their kid play travel ball. (By the way, you need to try out for travel ball teams - there are always cuts - you can't just sign up.) My older two play/played travel softball but they are not obsessed. They play 4 or 5 fall tournaments, then 8-10 tournaments in the spring/summer. Practice twice a week, 1.5-2 hours each, throughout the year. (We are in a cold weather state, so winter practices are indoors.) Add in two 1.5 hour high school "optional" practices during the winter as well. And sometimes speed and agility class. And weekly batting lessons. If this is what you see your neighbor doing, that is not really that much, but to an outsider, it could look obsessive.
Consider that playing ball may help him get into college. I'm not talking athletic scholarships, but a "slot" or a "tip" from a coach at a top academic DIII school. My eldest had interest from coaches at two top LACs, though she ultimately decided to go to a DI school (which doesn't even have softball, except for a club team, which she plays on). Middle kid is going through the recruiting process right now.
Sorry, got a little off track, but didn't want to see sports get trashed. Kids can fit in both academics and sports. Mine aren't motivated to do "extra" academics, but they do read quite a bit. They fit in a rigorous course schedule and their sports, and they just don't feel like doing extra academics. If a kid chooses extra academics, that's fine, and if a kid chooses sports, that's fine too.
Just because it might be interesting, take a look at neighbor kid's travel ball website. Team sites often list GPA and SAT scores (that is if he is playing 16U or 18U). Maybe you'll be surprised - sometimes you don't realize who the smart kids are until you look at those sites.
I guess I don't see sports as always "winning" over academics around here. Sure, athletic achievements are reported and celebrated, but I don't see anyone hiding the kids who qualified for MathCounts Nationals or USAMO. Those achievements are celebrated as well.
Every week our local newspaper has a sports section with reports on the games of the boys' and girls' high school teams, with the names of top scorers highlighted. I don't see stories writing up the results of say math competitions. (Which could be interesting, at least to some. You could print an interesting problem and describe how someone solved it.) In the high school there is a large trophy case for past athletic titles. I don't see the equivalent for academic competitions. Our town has a sports hall of fame where players and teams from decades ago are inducted.
Sports are honored. Academics are not. And this is in an affluent Boston suburb where high percentages of parents have college and graduate degrees. My gripe is not that sporting achievement is honored but that academic achievement is not, at least not much.
Every week our local newspaper has a sport section with reports on the games of the boys' and girls' high school teams, with the names of top scorers highlighted.
People still read newspapers?
Every week our local newspaper has a sport section with reports on the games of the boys' and girls' high school teams, with the names of top scorers highlighted. I don't see stories writing up the results of say math competitions. (Which could be interesting, at least to some. You could print an interesting problem and describe how someone solved it.) In the high school there is a large trophy case for past athletic titles. I don't see the equivalent for academic competitions. Our town has a sports hall of fame where players and teams from decades ago are inducted.
Sports are honored. Academics are not. And this is in an affluent Boston suburb where high percentages of parents have college and graduate degrees. My gripe is not that sporting achievement is honored but that academic achievement is not, at least not much.
Exactly the same phenomenon that we see in our district, which is one of the best in our state and has a very high percentage of well-educated parents. Sports achievements are visible everywhere on weekly basis if not more frequent. Academic achievements are mentioned in online and print newspapers a few times a year: at graduation time or when national merit scholars are announced, etc.
The kid I mentioned in an earlier post won some sort of district or state math competition in second grade. The school does not promote these competitions, the parents signed her up independently. The kid wanted to bring in her trophy for show-and-tell and the teacher refused to allow her to do that or talk about it. She said that would be bragging. This teacher also told the parents "There's nothing I can do for your DD" when they asked about getting her higher level math.
If the kid had won a swim competition would there have been the same response? No sports trophies brought in for show-and-tell? Somehow I don't think so.
But culture can be changed. I remember a few years ago one parent wanted to submit a blurb to the school PTO newsletter about our chess team winning the state championship, and was told by the PTO that no specific names could appear in the blurb--can you imagine something like this if a sports team won a state title? I also remember that my DS (he was probably 8 or 9 at the time) talked with the principal about the chess team's victory, and the principal let him write down the names of the kids in the team and made an announcement to the whole school during daily announcement time. These days the PTO newsletter and the school newsletter routinely publish blurbs written by parents celebrating academic wins with participants' names spelled out. At show-and-tell time, some kids bring in sports trophies, my DD brings her violin and performs for the class. I'm fully supportive of this and am ready to talk with the teacher if it's a problem. But so far the teacher welcomed it very much. So I think things do change, if enough people push for change.