American Education By Amanda Ripley Summary
REFLECTIONS ON AMERICAN EDUCATION
Amanda Ripley's book THE SMARTEST KIDS IN THE WORLD is an elaborate study of the system in two education powerhouses: Finland and South Korea. Through exchange students, time spent abroad, and interviews with teachers and administrators in both countries, Ripley presents a detailed picture of the dynamics governing education, learning, and the dominant culture.
Eric, the exchange student to Korea, had a change of heart about the education system in the United States after going through the rigors of Korean education.
“We had thought that American schools did too much standardized testing and put too much pressure on kids and teachers ... Now, thinking back on the rhetoric about high-stakes testing and stressed-out kids, Eric almost laughed.”
Had …show more content…
It is up to the parents, and the community at large, whether to allow for excuses, or to play the blame game. Some teenagers have enough maturity to realize on their own the significance of education. Role models surely help. But for most kids, the brain reaches full development around the age of 18—before that, judgment may or may not be correct.
“Math eluded American teenagers more than any other subject ... [they] scored twelfth in reading on PISA, which was ... above average for the developed world ... In math, the average score placed the United States twenty-sixth in the world, below Finland (third), Korea (second), and Poland (nineteenth). American teenagers did poorly in science, too, but their math results were ... the most ominous,” idem, ibid, p. 70.
Math is the only discipline that stands on its own; it does not depend on any other discipline. Physics depends on math. Chemistry depends on physics and math. Biology depends on chemistry, physics, and math.
Mathematicians could predict the existence of some chemical elements before they were actually proven in the laboratory. Ripley describes math
Amanda Ripley's book THE SMARTEST KIDS IN THE WORLD is an elaborate study of the system in two education powerhouses: Finland and South Korea. Through exchange students, time spent abroad, and interviews with teachers and administrators in both countries, Ripley presents a detailed picture of the dynamics governing education, learning, and the dominant culture.
Eric, the exchange student to Korea, had a change of heart about the education system in the United States after going through the rigors of Korean education.
“We had thought that American schools did too much standardized testing and put too much pressure on kids and teachers ... Now, thinking back on the rhetoric about high-stakes testing and stressed-out kids, Eric almost laughed.”
Had …show more content…
It is up to the parents, and the community at large, whether to allow for excuses, or to play the blame game. Some teenagers have enough maturity to realize on their own the significance of education. Role models surely help. But for most kids, the brain reaches full development around the age of 18—before that, judgment may or may not be correct.
“Math eluded American teenagers more than any other subject ... [they] scored twelfth in reading on PISA, which was ... above average for the developed world ... In math, the average score placed the United States twenty-sixth in the world, below Finland (third), Korea (second), and Poland (nineteenth). American teenagers did poorly in science, too, but their math results were ... the most ominous,” idem, ibid, p. 70.
Math is the only discipline that stands on its own; it does not depend on any other discipline. Physics depends on math. Chemistry depends on physics and math. Biology depends on chemistry, physics, and math.
Mathematicians could predict the existence of some chemical elements before they were actually proven in the laboratory. Ripley describes math