Bob, Very interesting.
Thanks! Harry ---------------------------------------------------- -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Robert E. Bowd Sent: Saturday, November 08, 2003 5:54 AM To: Harry Pollard; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Futurework] American schooling... was 'Clarification'... Harry, Assuming that you are thinking in terms of instrumental knowledge, I suppose I can use the recent TIMMS (1999) (Third International Mathematics and Science Study of 8th graders) to suggest an answer to your question. TIMMS measures the kind of technical knowledge (mathematics and science) so valued by contemporatry capitalists in the new economy and the OECD. On those tests Canada outperforms the United States in both math and science. I will not get into the validity of this kind of measurement madness as an indicator of education versus schooling - a vital difference. I would also argue that Canada outperforms the United States on a number of alternative measures of the social quality of life, such as access to health care. Recently I looked at an international scale ranking countries on the prevalence of instutional corrpution and fraud. Canada ranked 11th in the world. The Unitied States ranked in the 50th per centiles. For your interest, I will post the TIMMS results below your post. Enjoy your day. Bob ----- Original Message ----- From: "Harry Pollard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'Robert E. Bowd'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2003 9:23 PM Subject: RE: [Futurework] American schooling... was 'Clarification'... > Bob, > > I shall await your thoughts on libertarianism. > > When my kids arrived in La Jolla (San Diego) from Ontario and entered > high school, they were a full year ahead of the local kids. I > understand the 13th grade has gone in Canada. I wonder how Canadian > grade school education stacks up now? > > Harry > TIMSS 1999 included a mathematics and science assessment as well as a video study. Highlights of the study are available as well as video clips. Results from the mathematics and science assessment are summarized below. TIMSS 1999 Assessment Results TIMSS assessed the mathematics and science performance of U.S. students in comparison to their peers in other nations at three different grade levels in 1995 and at one grade level in 1999. TIMSS also collected information on schools, curricula, instruction, lessons, and the lives of teachers and students to understand the educational context in which mathematics and science learning takes place. The TIMSS results provide participating countries with valuable information about the achievement of their students and mathematics and science instruction. Highlights of the TIMSS results are presented here on: a.. Mathematics and Science Achievement of 8th-Graders in 1999 b.. Teaching and Curriculum in 1999 c.. Mathematics and Science Achievement in 1995 and 1999 The complete United States TIMSS reports from 1995 and 1999, along with other results and brochures, are also available under Reports/Products. Mathematics and Science Achievement of Eighth-Graders in 1999 a.. In 1999, U.S. eighth-graders exceeded the international average of 38 nations in mathematics and science. b.. In 1999, the United States was one of 34 participating nations in which eighth-grade boys and girls performed similarly in mathematics. The United States was one of 16 participating nations in which eighth-grade boys outperformed eighth-grade girls in science. Mathematics Science Nation Average Nation Average Singapore 604 Chinese Taipei 569 Korea, Republic of 587 Singapore 568 Chinese Taipei 585 Hungary 552 Hong Kong SAR 582 Japan 550 Japan 579 Korea, Republic of 549 Belgium-Flemish 558 Netherlands 545 Netherlands 540 Australia 540 Slovak Republic 534 Czech Republic 539 Hungary 532 England 538 Canada 531 Finland 535 Slovenia 530 Slovak Republic 535 Russian Federation 526 Belgium-Flemish 535 Australia 525 Slovenia 533 Finland 520 Canada 533 Czech Republic 520 Hong Kong SAR 530 Malaysia 519 Russian Federation 529 Bulgaria 511 Bulgaria 518 Latvia-LSS 505 United States 515 United States 502 New Zealand 510 England 496 Latvia-LSS 503 New Zealand 491 Italy 493 Lithuania 482 Malaysia 492 Italy 479 Lithuania 488 Cyprus 476 Thailand 482 Romania 472 Romania 472 Moldova 469 Israel 468 Thailand 467 Cyprus 460 Israel 466 Moldova 459 Tunisia 448 Macedonia, Republic of 458 Macedonia, Republic of 447 Jordan 450 Turkey 429 Iran, Islamic Republic of 448 Jordan 428 Indonesia 435 Iran, Islamic Republic of 422 Turkey 433 Indonesia 403 Tunisia 430 Chile 392 Chile 420 Philippines 345 Philippines 345 Morocco 337 Morocco 323 South Africa 275 South Africa 243 Average is significantly higher than the U.S. average Average does not differ significantly from the U.S. average Average is significantly lower than the U.S. average Top Teaching and Curriculum in 1999 a.. Eighty-six percent of U.S. eighth-grade students reported that they worked from worksheets or textbooks on their own almost always or pretty often during mathematics lessons in 1999, which was higher than the international average of 59 percent. b.. A higher percentage of U.S. eighth graders reported using computers almost always or pretty often in mathematics classes (12 percent) and science classes (21 percent) than their international peers in 1999 (5 and 8 percent, respectively). c.. U.S. students had a high level of access to computers and the Internet at home and at school relative to eighth-graders in other nation in 1999. Eighty percent of U.S. eighth-graders reported that they had a computer in their home, a higher percentage than the international average (45 percent). Fifty-nice percent of U.S. eighth-grade students reported having Internet access at home, 76 percent reported access at school, and 81 percent reported access elsewhere; all of these percentages were greater than the international average. Top Mathematics and Science Achievement Between 1995 and 1999 Comparisons between mathematics and science achievement of eighth-graders between 1995 and 1999 are made between the 23 nations that participated at the eighth-grade level in both TIMSS 1995 and TIMSS 1999. a.. Between 1995 and 1999, there was no change in eighth-grade mathematics and science achievement in the United States. b.. U.S. eighth-grade black students showed an increase in their achievement in mathematics over the four years. They showed no change in their achievement in science over the same period. U.S. eighth-grade white and Hispanic students showed no change in their mathematics or science achievement between 1995 and 1999. Because both TIMSS 1995 and TIMSS 1999 used nationally representative samples of students in a particular grade, the TIMSS 1995 fourth graders and the TIMSS 1999 eighth graders represent the same group (or "cohort") of students at two different points in time. Comparisons between TIMSS 1995 fourth graders and TIMSS 1999 eighth graders are based on their performance relative to the international average of the 17 nations that participated in both assessments. a.. The mathematics and science performance of the United States relative to the group of nations was lower for eighth graders in 1999 than it was for fourth graders 4 years earlier in 1995. Top The full version of "Highlights from TIMSS-R" is available for browsing. Additional reports and articles related to the results from the TIMSS studies are also available under Reports/Products. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.537 / Virus Database: 332 - Release Date: 11/6/2003 _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
