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Who Cares?
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I HAVE JUST finished trying to help Phi Delta Kappa prepare a "reasoned and rational" response to the TIMSS (Third International Mathematics and Science Study) report purporting to show that American 12th-graders, when compared to students from other countries, perform poorly in physics and advanced math. In framing that response, we were aware that political considerations dictated that we not sound too defensive, too unwilling to admit our own faults as educators, or too resistant to change.
Having finished that task, I now feel the need, for myself, to answer the question, "So, how do you really feel?" To be honest, my initial answer regarding the TIMSS results is, "Who cares?" Should you respond that I ought to care about the fact that students in Cyprus, Greece, and the Czech Republic outperformed those in the United States, you might push me to the more substantive response, "So what?"
Perhaps my lack of concern is triggered by a sense of déjà vu. Fifteen years ago I listened to Secretary of Education Terrel Bell, in releasing A Nation at Risk, predict that failure to address the terrible school conditions described therein would make it impossible for the U.S. to remain competitive in a global economy. A few weeks ago, I heard Secretary of Education Richard Riley predict the same disaster based on the TIMSS data. All the while, the American economy rolls merrily along as the most productive and competitive in the world. Is reality beyond our grasp, simply irrelevant, or am I missing something?
Perhaps my ennui comes from having to engage in the debate over the obvious inadequacies of international test comparisons. Do we not understand that the United States is unlike any other nation in its long-standing commitment to mass education, in the easy access it provides to higher education, in the way the curriculum is organized, and in the belief that art, music, and extracurricular activities are important parts of growing up? If we do understand these things, is it not obvious that trying to control for these factors in international test comparisons would be a nightmare for those making the effort?
Comparing education systems that are not comparable requires the kind of mental gymnastics that delights researchers. No harm in that. Let them have fun! But we are surely too smart to try to use the data produced for making serious policy decisions regarding how best to structure our own system of education to fit our unique national needs. Or are we?
I suspect, however, that my lack of interest in the education system on Cyprus springs from irritation at the issues we choose to discuss. There are serious problems bedeviling our schools that our leaders should be addressing. The inner-city poor and the rural poor are being inadequately served. Many children attend crumbling schools and are taught by inadequately trained teachers teaching without benefit of up-to-date textbooks, supplementary materials, and supplies. These are problems we can handle if we have the will to do so. That we choose, instead, to spend our time debating how our students compare with those around the world suggests that we prefer fantasy to reality.
I realize, of course, that my lack of interest in how American students compare with those in other countries may label me as lacking in vision and as failing to understand what is really important. So, let's cut to the chase. If being number one, or two, or even 10 in international comparisons in math and physics is your priority, proceed as follows:
1. Forget local control of education, and establish a national curriculum so that the federal government can control what students study and when they study it.
2. Require that all students study algebra, starting no later than the middle grades.
3. Require that every student study calculus before the end of high school.
4. Increase the time students spend in school, and use the added time for more instruction in math and physics.
5. Decrease the time students spend on art, music, and vocational subjects, and devote the time saved to more instruction in math and physics.
6. Decrease the time students spend on extracurricular activities, including sports, and use the time saved for increased instruction in math and physics.
I will stop here, forgoing the temptation to suggest that we ban students from holding part-time jobs and driving cars. The changes I have listed above will bring our schools much more in line with the other countries in the TIMSS study. Then, bring on those tests!
Having offered the solution, I do feel an obligation to mention the risk. At the present time, the United States has the number-one economy in the world and, according to the TIMSS report, the worst education system. If this inverse relationship is valid, improving the performance of our students in the TIMSS comparisons could send our economy into a tailspin. That might be too great a risk to run!
-- Lowell C. Rose, executive director emeritus of Phi Delta Kappa International.
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Last updated 27 May 1998
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