I will take the United States any time!

It was very difficult to hear the United States has test results so far below many other countries. Finland, Korea and Taiwan are just a few of the countries that score much better than we do on high stakes testing. However, this is not a true picture of who has the most proficient learners of the world. These charts are comparing apples to oranges. Obviously they are both round fruit, but for the most part any similarities end there.

First of all, the United States teaches every child that walks through the door. Most countries cannot even begin to say that. This fact alone should invalidate any comparison the world may have. In addition, as Jane told us about the schools in Taiwan, students give up their childhood to study. There is very little, if any down time where kids get to have unstructured play and just be kids. Those experiences are invaluable to the healthy physical, social and emotional development of children. They are taught to obey, study, learn facts, study some more, go to cram schools so you can really study hard to pass your ninth grade test to see if you will go on to college or vocational school. It doesn’t matter to the government if you are not a proficient test taker, have a disability or want a particular career you may not ever get the chance to pursue because you didn’t score high enough on a test. How do they value the happiness and personal fulfillment of their children if all choices have been taken from them by the time they are 14 years old? We value the opinions of young adults in America. They decide on a career path when they are 18 years old and able to make those important decisions.

I do agree with the countries that are laying a foundation for learning in a more humane fashion. Food, health care, transportation, counseling and learning materials are provided because they understand it is impossible to teach a hungry child. Schools are funded equally and educational opportunities begin with preschool. There is a huge movement to only admit the right people into teacher training programs. The teacher must have very high expectations for not only themselves, but their students also. Extremely high quality instruction for every child is the norm. I want that so very much for every child in our country. All teachers need to be able to present information in a way that children can understand it.  Most teachers are absolutely fantastic and will do anything for their students but it is time every teacher was held to a higher standard of performance.

There really is something to be said for the way children are treated in our schools. Children should be able to spend their day with people they believe like and care about them. These other countries can’t even compare themselves to us on the “love our kids” scale. Jane told us her own children were homeschooled in Taiwan and they preferred American teachers because they were kind. Our education system may need a lot of work and we know and understand that. However, this is so much better than other countries that don’t even understand or acknowledge they have a problem which means change will never happen.