Hi Tom:
How about for Math (in order): Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Hungary, England, Czech Republic,
Russia, Slovenia, United States
and for 8 grade science (top ten in order):
1995: Singapore, Czech Republic, Japan, South Korea, Bulgaria, Netherlands, Slovenia, Australia, Hungary, England (and
Wales)
1999: Taiwan, Singapore, Hungary, Japan, South Korea, Netherlands, Australia,
Czech Republic, England, Finland
2003: Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Estonia, Japan, Hungary,
Netherlands, United States, Australia
2007: Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, England (and Wales), Hungary,
Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hong Kong, Russia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trends_in_International_Mathematics_and_Science_Study
===============
Once upon a time there was a major crime wave (late 1980s early 1990s) and many politicians ran on a tough on crime
platform. They caused many state laws to be enacted such as "3 strikes and you're out" as well as mandatory sentencing
laws. It turns out that the problem went away as if there was a miracle because of the Roe vs. Wade court decision
(book: Freekonomics). Now the unintended consequences start to act.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_consequences#Perverse_results
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobra_effect
Now the U.S. has more people in prison than any other country. What does this
have to do with education you may ask . . .
In California the Governor and chancellor of the U.C. system decided in 1960 that higher education would be free to
residents.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Master_Plan_for_Higher_Education
I was a product of that system. I paid for books and lab fees, but there was no tuition. Silicon Valley in the 1960 to
1990 time frame had more masters and doctorate degrees than anywhere else on the planet and that drew high tech start up
companies. They more than paid back California for the expenditure on higher education.
With the increased prison population California is now spending so much on prisons that they can not afford to supply
free higher education. This is the year when California contributes less than half to the U.C. system, so for most
families living here they need to send their children out of state for higher education.
This also impacts K-12 education in the state. I suspect a similar thing is
happening in outer states.
Add to that the states that are teaching intelligent design in their science curriculum and you can see there's a
problem and it's getting worse.
Have Fun,
Brooke Clarke
http://www.PRC68.com
http://www.end2partygovernment.com/Brooke4Congress.html
Tom Knox wrote:
Sadly I heard recently that the US is 27th in Math and 25th in Science. I
challenge the old DXers too name 25 countries smarter then we are. I cannot.
I guess that means we are not much better at geography.
Thomas Knox
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