A May 24, 2011 report, entitled, “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants,” published by the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE), addressed the question: What would the education policies and practices of the United State be if they were based on the policies and practices of the countries that now lead the world in student performance? The report compares the U.S. education system to those of five countries with academically higher performing students - Canada (Ontario), China (Shanghai), Finland, Japan and Singapore. The report concluded that “the strategies driving the best performing systems are rarely found in the United States, and, conversely, the education strategies now the most popular in the United States are conspicuous by their absence in the countries with the most successful education systems.”
The report praised U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan for requesting the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to research the education systems of the five better performing countries in order to help the U.S. get back into the top ranks. The U.S. education system, once consistently ranked as No. 1 in the world, is now ranked as average. Decades ago, other countries used the education systems in the U.S. and other high performing countries as benchmarks to improve their education systems. The NCEE report noted that times have dramatically changed and suggested that the U.S. must now start using other countries as its benchmarks for education reform.
The NCEE report stated that the five higher performing countries designed their respective education systems with quality in mind. For one thing, they worked toward having the best teachers by implementing rigorous measures to determine entrance into teacher preparation programs. For example, Singapore limits teacher-training intake to candidates in the top 30 percent of its high school graduates, and Finland limits its intake to the top 20 percent. By contrast, U.S. high school graduates deciding to enter the teaching profession, on average, score in the bottom third on their SATs and their combined scores in mathematics and reading are 57 points below the national average, according to a 2008 College Board report. The NCEE report also pointed out that the more successful countries place teachers’ civil servant compensation at ranges comparable to private sector professionals such as engineers, enhancing the status of teachers in those countries as compared to the U.S.
According to NCEE, the report’s agenda is “consistent at many points with the markers that the Congress and the Obama Administration have already put down” for U.S education reform. The report praises the Race to the Top program and the move toward Common Core State Standards.
A full copy of the NCEE report is available at the following link.
http://www.ncee.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Standing-on-the-Shoulders-of-Giants-An-American-Agenda-for-Education-Reform.pdf
PCG Education continues to support education reform, including providing education agencies with professional consulting services to enhance professional development for teachers.
