Friday, February 29, 2008
Education in America
Ok, so I'm on an education kick. First I had a discussion at the pub with an old high school buddy about how we really didn't learn much in high school, and we both agreed we could have had a much better high school learning experience.
We both agreed that our children need a better education than we received.
It seems I hear a lot about how America is ranking lower in education but didn't really understand where we rank until I picked up the Wall Street Journal (yes I read the Wall Street Journal are you impressed?) today and read how the United States ranked somewhere in the middle of the road.
According to the WSJ article the top countries where the following:
1) Finland
2) Hong Kong
3) Canada
4) Taiwan
5) Estonia
6) Japan
7) New Zealand
United States wasn't in the top ten :-(
The article noted that the United States spent more per student $8700 than the top ranked country Finland, which spent only $7,500
What's going on? Shouldn't more money spent translate into better education?
I'm no expert, but if I was to take my best guess I would pin it down to the following.
1) Parents are not taking a big enough interest in their children's education.
2) Children are not being motivated enough in school and at home.
3) Not enough time is being spent on the core basics of education. Reading, Writing, Science, Math.
Did I miss anything?
We both agreed that our children need a better education than we received.
It seems I hear a lot about how America is ranking lower in education but didn't really understand where we rank until I picked up the Wall Street Journal (yes I read the Wall Street Journal are you impressed?) today and read how the United States ranked somewhere in the middle of the road.
According to the WSJ article the top countries where the following:
1) Finland
2) Hong Kong
3) Canada
4) Taiwan
5) Estonia
6) Japan
7) New Zealand
United States wasn't in the top ten :-(
The article noted that the United States spent more per student $8700 than the top ranked country Finland, which spent only $7,500
What's going on? Shouldn't more money spent translate into better education?
I'm no expert, but if I was to take my best guess I would pin it down to the following.
1) Parents are not taking a big enough interest in their children's education.
2) Children are not being motivated enough in school and at home.
3) Not enough time is being spent on the core basics of education. Reading, Writing, Science, Math.
Did I miss anything?
# posted by Allen @ 1:50 PM 
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