OT: State of Education in the USA (Sorta Longish)

[Guest guest]

Yo Graham, other good folks ..

 

> Read carefully the paragraph that I copied to the list.

> Contained therein is the point that I was making, not the main

> story itself. :-) Graham

 

Odds are good that the principle was just talking faster than he was

thinking, and that he knows how many pounds are in a gallon and can

calculate the ounces in a half gallon. ;-)

 

A major consideration when we report statistics and isolated facts about

systems is .. what is the impact? What does it all mean? If we look at

the total picture we can begin to pull together the realities. Having

spent a lotta years as a political/military analyst, I learned just how

much I (and most of the news media) could NOT learn from isolated facts.

 

When we are evaluating education .. we must link it to economy and

quality of life. Of course .. these are but two variables in a laundry

list of considerations .. folks can look at many of these variables at

the CIA Fact Book link below .. just pick the country you want to

examine. http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html

 

Below are four examples of what I consider to be pertinent data when

evaluating education .. I use these four examples because I am somewhat

familiar with these four countries .. being an American .. knowing a

good bit about the UK .. having lived in Turkey for over 25 years and

having studied Russia and the USSR for over 20 years. The isolated

facts below do tell a tale .. and I am sure we could start a separate

Newsgroup just for discussion on WHY these stats are as they are ..

there is no question that there are variables amongst the variables ..

but the facts remain as they are regardless of how they got there.

 

Russia:

Literacy .. 99.6%

GDP - per capita: Purchasing power parity - $10,700 (2005 est.)

Unemployment rate ... 7.6% plus much underemployment (2005 est.)

Population below poverty line: ................17.8% (2004 est.)

Economy: Russia ended 2005 with its seventh straight year of growth,

averaging 6.4% annually since the financial crisis of 1998. Although

high oil prices and a relatively cheap ruble are important drivers of

this economic rebound, since 2000 investment and consumer-driven demand

have played a noticeably increasing role. Real fixed capital investments

have averaged gains greater than 10% over the last five years, and real

personal incomes have realized average increases over 12%. Russia has

also improved its international financial position since the 1998

financial crisis, with its foreign debt declining from 90% of GDP to

around 36%. Strong oil export earnings have allowed Russia to increase

its foreign reserves from only $12 billion to some $180 billion at

yearend 2005. These achievements, along with a renewed government effort

to advance structural reforms, have raised business and investor

confidence in Russia's economic prospects. Nevertheless, serious

problems persist. Economic growth slowed to 5.9% for 2005 while

unemployment and inflation remain high. Oil, natural gas, metals, and

timber account for more than 80% of exports, leaving the country

vulnerable to swings in world prices. Russia's manufacturing base is

dilapidated and must be replaced or modernized if the country is to

achieve broad-based economic growth. Other problems include a weak

banking system, a poor business climate that discourages both domestic

and foreign investors, corruption, and widespread lack of trust in

institutions. In addition, a string of investigations launched against a

major Russian oil company, culminating with the arrest of its CEO in the

fall of 2003, have raised concerns by some observers that President

PUTIN is granting more influence to forces within his government that

desire to reassert state control over the economy.

 

United States:

Literacy: .. 97.0%

GDP - per capita: Purchasing power parity - $41,800 (2005 est.)

Unemployment rate: ............................ 4.5% (2006 est.)

Population below poverty line: ............... 12.0% (2004 est.)

Economy: The economy is marked by steady growth, low unemployment and

inflation, and rapid advances in technology. The US has the largest and

most technologically powerful economy in the world, with a per capita

GDP of $41,800. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and

business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state

governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private

marketplace. US business firms enjoy considerably greater flexibility

than their counterparts in Western Europe and Japan in decisions to

expand capital plant, to lay off surplus workers, and to develop new

products.

 

United Kingdom:

Literacy: .. 99%

GDP - per capita: Purchasing power parity - $30,900 (2005 est.)

Unemployment rate ............................. 4.7% (2005 est.)

Population below poverty line: ............... 17.0% (2002 est.)

Economy: The UK, a leading trading power and financial center, is one

of the quintet of trillion dollar economies of Western Europe. Over the

past two decades the government has greatly reduced public ownership and

contained the growth of social welfare programs. The relatively good

economic performance has complicated the BLAIR government's efforts to

make a case for Britain to join the European Economic and Monetary Union

(EMU). Critics point out that the economy is doing well outside of EMU,

and they cite public opinion polls that continue to show a majority of

Britons opposed to the euro. Meantime, the government has been speeding

up the improvement of education, transport, and health services, at a

cost in higher taxes and a widening public deficit.

 

Turkey:

Total population: 86.5% (2003 est.)

Male: 94.3%

Female: 78.7%

GDP - per capita: Purchasing power parity - $7,900 (2005 est.)

Unemployment rate: 10% (plus underemployment of 4.0%) (2005 est.)

Population below poverty line: ................ 20.0% (2002 est.)

Economy: In 1964, Turkey became an associate member of the European

Community; over the past decade, it has undertaken many reforms to

strengthen its democracy and economy, enabling it to begin accession

membership talks with the European Union. Turkey's dynamic economy is a

complex mix of modern industry and commerce along with a traditional

agriculture sector that in 2004 still accounted for more than 34% of

employment. It has a strong and rapidly growing private sector, yet the

state still plays a major role in basic industry, banking, transport,

and communications. Despite these strong economic gains in 2002-05,

which were largely due to renewed investor interest in emerging markets,

IMF backing, and tighter fiscal policy, the economy is still burdened by

a high current account deficit and high debt. The public sector fiscal

deficit exceeds 6% of GDP - due in large part to high interest payments,

which accounted for about 37% of central government spending in 2004.

Prior to 2005, foreign direct investment (FDI) in Turkey averaged less

than $1 billion annually, but further economic and judicial reforms and

prospective EU membership are expected to boost FDI. Privatization sales

are currently approaching $21 billion.

 

I have read in another source that most 4 year college graduates in the

UK and USA could not pass high school tests in physical science and

mathematics in Russia and Russian 4 year college graduates could not

pass high school social science and world history tests in UK or US

high schools. This tells us where the governments place emphasis.

 

I have also read data that reflected the number of students over 15

years of age who lived in homes that had a calculator, a PC and at

least 10 books that would be considered classics. The USA was highest

in PCs .. UK was second .. but Russia was highest in calculators and

classics. This too tells us something about emphasis vs capability.

 

I have a Graduate degree in Education Administration (1975 - Pepperdine

University) .. and I'll never forget what one old professor (now a

Professor Emeritus) said about the subject .. he said, " Education is a

direct reflection of economy, ideology and culture. " He followed that

with in depth explanation but overall .. the point was .. water seeks

its own level and advanced societies teach what they need to get along

in that society.

 

There is another article below .. I'm not sure what it is really telling

us .. in fact, I'm not sure that its not more than just trivia. ;-)

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com

 

-----------------------

 

Study: Most College Students Lack Skills

 

By BEN FELLER

 

01/20/06 01:55

 

WASHINGTON (AP) - More than half of students at four-year colleges - and

at least 75 percent at two-year colleges - lack the literacy to handle

complex, real-life tasks such as understanding credit card offers, a

study found.

 

The literacy study funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the first to

target the skills of graduating students, finds that students fail to

lock in key skills - no matter their field of study.

 

The results cut across three types of literacy: analyzing news stories

and other prose, understanding documents and having math skills needed

for checkbooks or restaurant tips.

 

Without " proficient " skills, or those needed to perform more complex

tasks, students fall behind. They cannot interpret a table about

exercise and blood pressure, understand the arguments of newspaper

editorials, compare credit card offers with different interest rates and

annual fees or summarize results of a survey about parental involvement

in school.

 

" It is kind of disturbing that a lot of folks are graduating with a

degree and they're not going to be able to do those things, " said

Stephane Baldi, the study's director at the American Institutes for

Research, a behavioral and social science research organization.

 

Most students at community colleges and four-year schools showed

intermediate skills. That means they can do moderately challenging

tasks, such as identifying a location on a map.

 

There was brighter news.

 

Overall, the average literacy of college students is significantly

higher than that of adults across the nation. Study leaders said that

was encouraging but not surprising, given that the spectrum of adults

includes those with much less education.

 

Also, compared with all adults with similar levels of education, college

students had superior skills in searching and using information from

texts and documents.

 

" But do they do well enough for a highly educated population? For a

knowledge-based economy? The answer is no, " said Joni Finney, vice

president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education,

an independent and nonpartisan group.

 

" This sends a message that we should be monitoring this as a nation, and

we don't do it, " Finney said. " States have no idea about the knowledge

and skills of their college graduates. "

 

The survey examined college students nearing the end of their degree

programs.

 

The students did the worst on matters involving math, according to the

study.

 

Almost 20 percent of students pursuing four-year degrees had only basic

quantitative skills. For example, the students could not estimate if

their car had enough gas to get to the service station. About 30 percent

of two-year students had only basic math skills.

 

Baldi and Finney said the survey should be used as a tool. They hope

state leaders, educators and university trustees will examine the rigor

of courses required of all students.

 

The college survey used the same test as the National Assessment of

Adult Literacy, the government's examination of English literacy among

adults. The results of that study were released in December, showing

about one in 20 adults is not literate in English.

 

On campus, the tests were given in 2003 to a representative sample of

1,827 students at public and private schools.

 

It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

 

On The Net:

 

American Institutes for Research: http://www.air.org/

 

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