**
Dr. Eowyn posted: "For some time now and especially the last couple of
days, FOTM has sounded the alarm on the abysmal ignorance and stupidity of
Americans. See: "Frightening: There are Americans who don’t know Obama is
a Democrat," Oct. 7, 2013. “America’s future: Co" Respond to this post
by replying above this line
New post on *Fellowship of the Minds*
<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/eowyn2/> Study finds Americans
really are more stupid than the average
human<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2013/10/08/study-finds-americans-really-are-more-stupid-than-the-average-human/>
by
Dr. Eowyn <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/eowyn2/>
For some time now and especially the last couple of days, FOTM has sounded
the alarm on the abysmal ignorance and stupidity of Americans. See:
- "Frightening: There are Americans who don’t know Obama is a
Democrat<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2013/10/07/frightening-there-are-americans-who-dont-know-obama-is-a-democrat/>,"
Oct. 7, 2013.
- “America’s future: College students know all about twerking, but
clueless about world
leaders<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2013/10/07/americas-future-college-students-know-all-about-twerking-but-clueless-about-world-leaders/>,”
Oct. 7, 2013.
- “More evidence that Americans are scary
stupid<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2013/10/06/more-evidence-that-americans-are-scary-stupid/>,”
Oct. 6, 2013.
- “More evidence that Americans are
stupid<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2013/04/15/more-evidence-that-americans-are-stupid/>,”
April 15, 2013.
- “Never underestimate the stupidity of the American
people<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2013/03/05/never-underestimate-the-stupidity-of-the-american-people/>,”
March 5, 2013.
- “Proof that the problem with America is
STUPIDITY<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2013/02/01/proof-that-the-problem-with-america-is-stupidity/>,”
Feb. 1, 2013.
Now there's a study showing American adults are dumber than the
international average.
*~Eowyn*
[image:
Dumb_And_Dumber]<http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/dumb_and_dumber.jpg>The
Associated
Press<http://nypost.com/2013/10/08/us-adults-are-dumber-than-the-average-human/>reports,
Oct. 8, 2013, that although it's long been known that
*America’s school kids haven’t measured well compared with international
peers*, a new study shows that American *adults don’t either. *
*In math, reading and problem-solving using technology – all skills
considered critical for global competitiveness and economic strength –
American adults scored below the international average on a global test*,
according to results released Tuesday.
*Adults in Japan, Canada, Australia, Finland and multiple other countries
scored significantly higher than the United States in all three areas on
the test. *Beyond basic reading and math, respondents were tested on
activities such as calculating mileage reimbursement due to a salesman,
sorting email and comparing food expiration dates on grocery store tags.
Not only did Americans score poorly compared to many international
competitors, the findings reinforced just how large the gap is between the
nation’s high- and low-skilled workers and how hard it is to move ahead
when your parents haven’t.
In both reading and math, for example, those with college-educated parents
did better than those whose parents did not complete high school.
*The study, called the Program for the International Assessment of Adult
Competencies*, found that it was easier on average to overcome this and
other barriers to literacy overseas than in the United States. Respondents
in the study were selected as part of a nationally represented sample.
Researchers tested about 166,000 people ages 16 to 65 in more than 20
countries and subnational regions. The test was developed and released by
the *Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development*, which is made
up of mostly industrialized member countries. The Education Department’s
Center for Education Statistics participated. (*Note**:* The website of CES
is closed due to the supposed government shutdown, but not the website of
Michelle Obama's pet project, Let's
Move<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2013/10/07/the-hypocricy-of-pres-lucifers-government-shutdown/>
.)
The findings were equally grim for many European countries – Italy and
Spain, among the hardest hit by the recession and debt crisis, ranked at
the bottom across generations. Unemployment is well over 25% in Spain and
over 12% in Italy. Spain has drastically cut education spending, drawing
student street protests.
But in the northern European countries that have fared better, the picture
was brighter – and the study credits continuing education. In Finland,
Denmark, and the Netherlands, more than 60% of adults took part in either
job training or continuing education. In Italy, by contrast, the rate was
half that.
As the American economy sputters along and many people live
paycheck-to-paycheck, economists say a highly-skilled workforce is key to
economic recovery. *The median hourly wage of workers scoring on the
highest level in literacy on the test is more than 60% higher than for
workers scoring at the lowest level, and those with low literacy skills
were more than twice as likely to be unemployed.*
“It’s not just the kids who require more and more preparation to get access
to the economy, it’s more and more the adults don’t have the skills to stay
in it,” said Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University
Center on Education and the Workforce.
Students leaving high school without certain basic skills aren’t obtaining
them later on the job or in an education program. Education Secretary Arne
Duncan said in a statement America needs to find ways to reach more adults
to upgrade their skills. Otherwise, he said, “no matter how hard they work,
these adults will be stuck, unable to support their families and contribute
fully to our country.”
Among the other findings:
- Japan, Finland, Canada, Netherlands, Australia, Sweden, Norway,
Flanders-Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, and Korea all scored
significantly higher than the United States in all three areas on the test.
- The average scores *in literacy *range from 250 in Italy to 296 in
Japan. The US average score was 270. (500 was the highest score in all
three areas.) *Average scores in 12 countries were higher than the
average US score.*
- The average scores* in math *range from 246 in Spain to 288 in Japan. *The
US average score was 253, below 18 other countries.*
- The average *scores on problem solving in technology-rich
environments*ranged from 275 in Poland to 294 in Japan.
*The US average score was 277, below 14 other countries.* The top five
scores in the areas were from Japan, Finland, Australia, Sweden and Norway,
while the US score was on par with England, Estonia, Ireland and Poland. In
nearly all countries, at least 10% of adults lacked the most basic of
computer skills such as using a mouse.
- Japanese and Dutch adults who were ages 25 to 34 and only completed
high school easily outperformed Italian or Spanish university graduates of
the same age.
- In England, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the United States, social
background has a big impact on literacy skills, meaning the children of
parents with low levels of education have lower reading skills.
- *America’s school kids have historically scored low on international
assessment tests compared to other countries, which is often blamed on the
diversity of the population and the high number of immigrants. *Also,
achievement tests have long shown that *a large chunk of the US student
population lacks basic reading and math skills – most pronounced among
low-income and minority students.*
The United States will have a tough time catching up because money at the
state and local level, a major source of education funding, has been
slashed in recent years, said *Jacob Kirkegaard, an economist with the
Peterson Institute for International Economics*. “There is a race between
man and machine here. The question here is always: Are you a worker for
whom technology makes it possible to do a better job or are you a worker
that the technology can replace?” For those without the most basic skills,
the answer will be merciless and has the potential to extend into future
generations. Learning is highly correlated with parents’ education level.
“If you want to avoid having an underclass – a large group of people who
are basically unemployable – this educational system is absolutely key,”
Kirkegaard said.
*Dolores Perin, professor of psychology and education at Teachers College,
Columbia University*, said the report provides a “good basis for an
argument there should be more resources to support adults with low
literacy.” Adults can learn new skills at any age and there are
adult-geared programs around the country. But the challenge is ensuring the
programs have quality teaching and that adults regularly attend classes.
“If you find reading and writing hard, you’ve been working hard all day at
two jobs, you’ve got a young child, are you actually going to go to class?
It’s challenging,” Perin said.
*Some economists say that large skills gap in the United States could
matter even more in the future. *America’s economic competitors like China
and India are simply larger than competitors of the past like Japan.
*Dr. Eowyn <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/eowyn2/>* | October 8,
2013 at 2:19 pm | Tags: Arne
Duncan<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=arne-duncan>,
Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=organization-for-economic-cooperation-and-development>,
Program for the International Assessment of Adult
Competencies<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=program-for-the-international-assessment-of-adult-competencies>,
U.S. student achievement
scores<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=u-s-student-achievement-scores>|
Categories:
Economy <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=17656840>,
Education<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=15005908>,
EU/Eurozone <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=161639159>,
Idiots<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=2909>,
illegal immigration <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=34958091>, Obama's
America <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=12285619> | URL:
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