Here's another IQ by nation map: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7e/IQ_by_Country.png . This one seems a bit more visually credible to me just because the color distribution is much less perfect than the map posted before.
considering the vast difference in findings, i think its fair to say, Americans iq's are higher than martians and Mexicans. (no offense to ET)
Despite what the rest of the world thinks, the US isn't set up in a way so that it can be so easily controlled from the top down. Our educational system may suck compared to other developed countries but it's not because of a grand conspiracy.
Take note of this my European friends! Fight like heck when the EU tries to centralize education & create federal "academic standards." Part of the problem I see with America's education system is the way the pre-college academic course is universal. We had a German exchange student visiting my private high school in 10th grade, he said the standards & quality were comparable to his German public school, but he also noted that not everyone would get into a German public high school - more students our age would be working on technical training or apprenticeships in vocational fields. Got a similar story with more extremes from a visiting Chinese professor. Said he always wanted to teach literature but he needed to pass a certain algebra exam before he turned 9 or 10 to be eligible to continue his education. In America there is some idea that everyone can go to college and succeed in a very academic environment, so a lot of our pre-college education is dedicated to teaching to the slowest and least willing to learn. Anyway, the centralized & one-size fits all attitude toward school doesn't work very well, no matter how much money you throw at it. And we throw plenty of money at it.
The US education system is poor only to a certain point. I say that because the US education system also happens to produce most of the world's greatest intellectuals. If you want to be lazy, the system allows you to be lazy; it you want to excel, the system gives you a boost. It's really up to the individual.
And i agree with this post 100% Our educations system CAN be just as powerful as any other. But we have the freedom, to be stupid if we so chose it
Our K-12 blows ("The US education system is poor") ; our universities are among the elite of the world ("US education system also happens to produce most of the world's greatest intellectuals"). I don't think it is as much a question of central v. state/province or local control, as much as what is expected of students, regardless of the structure of the system. France, for instance, is one of the most highly centralized systems in the world, with central control over all education in the nation - and it ranks higher than the U.S., at least in terms of science and math standards - see, for instance, http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/42/8/39700724.pdf - WARNING: PDF). From personal experience, French education just demands more - kids going from the U.S. to France generally get their asses kicked at the work and diligence required of them. As I understand it, the Netherlands, too, has a highly centralized system, and the nation ranks well above the U.S. in math and science standards. Many others - Czech Republic (see http://www.eurydice.org/ressources/eurydice/pdf/047DN/047_CZ_EN.pdf. (another PDF), etc. It does seem to have less to do with educational system structure and more to do with methods and standards employed. By the way, I am also not in favor of measuring "education" in math and science standards alone. I think a rigorous, humanist education is what is needed. Both "rigorous," and "humanist."
Does it really surprise anyone that as education has become centralized, first under the Democrats, then the Republicans, that the quality has fallen off? American colleges benefit from funding that is enormous compared to other institutions around the world. What If Public Schools Were Abolished? http://mises.org/story/2937 I believe I linked this recently, I think the OP and perhaps some other, liberty minded conservative, or classic liberals might enjoy it.
Quite a number of the private American universities are still top in the world according to rankings. But it is another matter to get into them as the cost is prohibitive. I can't comment on the statement that American education is declining as at university level, I still find that a lot of public universities are still producing great students and great researchers.
What's important is population density, distance, and cultural & economic homogeny. France's population & size makes it comparable to California, while the Netherlands has a population like Florida in a quarter of Florida's land area. Czech Republic was the smallest population of all, but one of the lower population densities too. The American economy is still very regional & probably always will be. While agriculture amounts for less than 1% of all jobs, there are definitely states and communities where farming is a lot more than 1%. Ahh see this is where you're going to have a problem convincing about 30-40% of the American population go along. In these cases I think competition is more effective than compromise.
Universities are decidedly not declining, at least from what I can tell, with both public and private universities doing quite well (my alma mater, UC Berkeley, for example, still ranks quite well - by one standard, third globally, with many state universities - UC, U of M, U Penn, U Ill., etc., in the top 100 globally: World University Rankings. It's also interesting to note that U.S. universities generally do quite well, holding an absolute majority among these "Top 100" (52 out of the 100 in the study are from the U.S.) - a majority, not plurality. K-12 has been in trouble for a long time, and as much of the world shows, it isn't central v. local that has caused this (Korr's good points notwithstanding - see below). Something on the lines of my grandfather-in-law's experience, I would say - this guy is 90, and attended school in Estonia. History is horizontal - obviously, the world knows more now than Europe did 80 years ago. But of what the world knows, my grandad in law was required to know so much more of it than I ever did of my world, growing up. I honestly think school was, and is, just too damn easy. Sad thing about the costs, and it isn't just private schools - just looked up my alma mater, which wasn't private, and was shocked to see what students now pay. When I went to Berkeley, as an in-state student, it was $650 per semester. Now, it's $2900.
These are some good points, but I don't think it ends there. Besides the things you mention - and you are quite right about the differences in national structure - it is the standards themselves that have made public education in the European countries I mentioned stand out. Again, kids are just required to work harder, as I know from personal experience, on both shores - kids going to France after starting their school life in the states have a really tough time, starting with the relative esteem the public school teacher is held in there, v. here (a long tradition of the teacher as professional civil servant, an honorable thing in France; and this is a huge cultural difference). On the other hand, French kids (and others I have known, from many different European nations) come here and are utterly bored by the low level of what they are held to in American public schools.
America the stupid: http://video.google.nl/videoplay?do...05&start=10&num=10&so=4&type=search&plindex=6 http://www.informatics-review.com/FAQ/reading.html http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=618 http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007-03-07-teaching-religion-cover_N.htm http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/11/1120_021120_GeoRoperSurvey.html http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/3/4/82551/91265 http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/30/s...86400&en=ac605c09b2495cc2&ei=5070&oref=slogin http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4761294.stm
Please, my intelligent friend, show me where you found these enlightening statistics - I don't think it's a conspiracy to keep people uneducated I just think not enough importance is placed on education and money is spent elsewhere. I think anyone who makes a blanket statement like this is showing their lack of intelligence. I would never think to name a country and say the people were stupid because I saw a few of them acting stupid. I think it is so funny how people from countries outside the US jump on things like this. They must be jealous Here is a great website everyone should look at especially, those Europeans who take such delight in pointing out Americas stupidity - Make sure you read the WHOLE page. http://www.watchingyou.com/stupidamericans.html
Stupid website. I think most of the world questions 9/11 given all of the inconsistencies and bogus government theories, as well as the lack of hard evidence. Just more excuses for what is a slipping standard. Keep thinking it's jealousy. It's that hubris which has people voting for candidates who want to make war on countries they know nothing about.
I think it contributes, first by taking resources from the better schools , better states to "average things out." Some schools here in the south spent much of the federal K-12 funding period improving, but even that now it seems to be reversing in an anarchy of bureaucracy. But fundamentally at the micro level, it is the discipline & standards. The stated standards sound good on paper, but it never gets accomplished in the classroom. There's no real consequence for students who refuse to learn and insist on disrupting things. They just get recycled through the system and the teachers realize they are better off passing off a problem rather than confronting it... We say we're a secular nation, but good luck teaching elementary schoolers in the Bible Belt without a bunch of those 5-8 year old kids constantly asking questions about Jesus & predisposed to disagree with evolution long before you're even teaching the biological kingdoms. Again, the stated national standards are nice, but if they don't match the culture & local standards and its not going to happen. I mean, Bush ran around in 2001 - 2003 leading the charge for more k-12 education funding & higher legislated standards, but I don't think things got any better.