Educational world abuzz about PISA tests: US students remain stagnant

Educators and pundits all over the United States are abuzz about the latest results of the Program for International Student Assessment (cuddly known as PISA) which scores 15-year-old students in 65 countries in math, reading, science and other topics. The students are chosen at random, and the tests are unique because they're not tied to any curriculum. In other words, it's what children really know and how they can apply their knowledge to the real world.

For more information about the test, click here.

The United States ranked 26th in math, 21st in science and 17th in reading. The rankings have not budged much in a decade. 

Students in Shanghai-China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and South Korea scored the highest in all three subjects. Switzerland and the Netherland also ranked near the top.

The results have already prompted a wave of commentaries from education analysts and lobbyists. We must spend more in early childhood education if the United States is going to move forward, some say. Others praise the advent of the Common Core Standards as a possible way for the United States to break out of the pack and move up in the educational ladder.

I'd like to point to a nifty graph I found from Rutgers Professor Bruce Baker, who concludes that, given the level of poverty in the United States, we're actually not doing that badly. You can find the graph here. 

But Baker's graph also reminded me of a recent column by Castroville teacher and Herald Columnist Paul Karrer. In his column, Karrer takes issue with a New York Times writer Frank Bruni, who says students in the United States are coddled and that's the reason why they perform poorly compared to other countries. Bruni says the Common Core Standards will mean nothing if students are not challenged to do more.

Karrer responds with the realities of being in a classroom and teaching children with a myriad of problems that affect their learning: broken homes, medical conditions, you name it. Education happens best when children live in environments conductive to learning. And if they come to school with a hungry stomach or worried about whether their families will have a place to live next month, chances are their minds will not be ready to do math.

About one fifth of children in the United States live below 50 percent of median income. Only Turkey, Chile and Mexico have higher share of children living in poverty among ranked countries. Ironically, the United States is the sixth largest economy in the world, based on per capita income. But that income is not being used to reach everyone -- didn't lawmakers just last week cut foodstamps program? Half of the people who receive foodstamps are children, by the way.

People in positions of power refuse to invest in human capital, and as long as investment remains stagnant, education pundits should not expect U.S. students to improve achievement in international rankings, no matter how many educational reforms we undergo. 

Of API, school rankings, and minor annoyances

Everyone has complaints about test scores, so I'm going to jump on the bandwagon.

The state released school ranks today -- Thursday (my head is spinning from all those numbers)

They also release the number on the academic performance index -- the blessed API -- schools must reach in order to be considered to be making progress.

I know this is a number the schools can calculate themselves, so why bother? Plus, the test results are going to be announced in a few weeks -- nobody is getting any time to know what to reach for. The students already took the tests in April.

Why bother?

Carmel High ranked among the best highs schools in the U.S.

Carmel High School was listed among this year’s top public high schools in the United States in separate reports by Newsweek and US News & World Report magazines.

Carmel High ranks 256 by Newsweek and 288 by US News, placing it in the top one percent of all high schools in the country.

“We are proud to be recognized in these two reports," said Superintendent Marvin Biasotti in a statement. "They are a validation of the school’s work in recent years to broaden the college-going culture of Carmel High School, which is driven by our belief that all students deserve the option of a college or university education."

To evaluate the top high schools, Newsweek used the following criteria, according to their web site:

· Four-year, on-time graduation rate (25 percent)

· Percent of 2011 graduates accepted to college (25 percent)

· AB/IB/AICE tests per student (25percent)

· Average SAT and/or ACT score (10 percent)

· Average AP/IB/ AICE exam score (10 percent)

· AP/IB/AICE courses offered per student (5 percent)

US News & World Report used a three-step process to determine the best schools. According to their web site, “The first two steps ensured that the schools serve all of their students well, using performance on state proficiency tests as the benchmarks. For those schools that made it past the first two steps, a third step assessed the degree to which schools prepare students for college-level work.”

To access the Newsweek list, click here. To access the U.S. News & World Report list, click here.