Re: USA Today Story on OECD Report

["Roberts, John - Vanguard High School" <robertsj1@marion.k12.fl.us>]

George: Once the author begain attributing the thoughts of Paige, the issue
of relevancy went-out-the window. Cross-cultural comparisons such as the
allusion, herein, is much like comparing apples and oranges. The mere fact
the our public schools are "open" and "required" of everyone (compulsory
attendance statutes) makes acceptable intransitivity unlikely with our
European brethren.Mike Roberts

-----Original Message-----
From: George Sheridan [mailto:learn@jps.net]
Sent: Friday, September 19, 2003 2:04 AM
To: arn-l@interversity.org
Subject: [arn-l] USA Today Story on OECD Report


http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2003-09-16-education-comparison_x.htm
Posted 9/16/2003 7:45 AM     Updated 9/16/2003 11:56 AM
U.S. tops the world in school spending but not test scores

WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States spends more public and private money on 
education than other major countries, but its performance doesn't measure 
up in areas ranging from high-school graduation rates to test scores in 
math, reading and science, a new report shows.

"There are countries which don't get the bang for the bucks, and the U.S. 
is one of them," said Barry McGaw, education director for the Paris-based 
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which produced the 
annual review of industrialized nations.

The United States spent $10,240 per student from elementary school through 
college in 2000, according to the report. The average was $6,361 among more 
than 25 nations.

The range stretched from less than $3,000 per student in Turkey, Mexico, 
the Slovak Republic and Poland to more than $8,000 per student in Denmark, 
Norway, Austria and Switzerland.

The report cited Australia, Finland, Ireland, Korea and the United Kingdom 
as examples of OECD nations that have moderate spending on primary and 
lower secondary education but high levels of performance by 15-year-olds in 
key subject areas.

As for the United States, it finished in the middle of the pack in its 
15-year-olds' performance on math, reading and science in 2000, and its 
high-school graduation rate was below the international average in 2001 - 
figures highlighted by Education Secretary Rod Paige.

The country fared better in reading literacy among fourth-graders, where it 
finished among the top scorers in 2001. But the declining performance as 
students grow older served as a warning to the nation, Paige said.

"These results highlight an extremely important truth about our educational 
system: I think we have become complacent, self-satisfied and often lacking 
the will to do better," Paige said.

Appropriate spending has emerged as a key political issue this year as the 
nation's schools deal with federal reforms. The No Child Left Behind law 
demands better performance from students and teachers, particularly in 
low-income districts, but critics say Republican leaders in Congress have 
spent too little on the effort.

The report, released Tuesday, sets international benchmarks and identifies 
areas for improvement.

Based on educational level, the report says the United States spends the 
most on higher education for every student and is a leading spender on 
primary and secondary education.

Paige said the nation must fill the gap between it and other countries, and 
bridge another between students succeeding in American public schools and 
those falling behind. Within that promising fourth-grade reading showing in 
the United States, Paige said, is a revealing number: the higher the 
percentage of poor students, the lower the average score.

"There's no such thing as a 'typical' fourth-grader," Paige said. "We want 
to go to each fourth-grader. We need to see who needs the help."

The new federal law requires states to chart adequate yearly progress - not 
just for a school's overall population, but for groups such as minorities 
and students who speak little English. Sanctions grow by the year for 
schools receiving low-income aid that don't improve enough. Consequences 
range from letting students transfer to a better school within their 
districts to handing control of a poor-performing school to the state.

"No other country is imposing such a rigorous requirement on its schools," 
McGaw said.

But from school boards to Congress, growing numbers of leaders say the 
federal government isn't committing enough money to the task. States must, 
for example, expand their standardized testing and put a highly qualified 
teacher in every core class by 2005-06.

Federal education spending has grown by $11 billion since President Bush 
took office, Paige said, but that includes spending beyond the first 12 
grades. Even increased money for elementary and secondary education doesn't 
cover the law's sweeping expenses, said David Shreve of the National 
Conference of State Legislatures.

George Sheridan
Northside School
Cool, California 95614