Re: Math and Competitiveness

[Horace B Lucido <hbl04@csufresno.edu>]

These two sources may help some come to a more informed conclussion about this issue:
What’s in a Score?
American students don’t score at the top of the class in math and science compared with students from other industrialized countries. They’re average, and sometimes below average.
Does that matter? Not a bit, says Keith Baker, a former U.S. Education Department analyst, and he says he can prove it.
In an article due to be published later this year, Baker looks at how well math scores predict the performance of a nation’s economy. The answer: They don’t.
Baker’s analysis begins with the scores of the 12-year-olds from 11 industrialized nations who took part in the First International Math Study (FIMS) in 1964. American students came in second to last, ahead of only Sweden. Baker looked at what happened decades later when those 12-year-olds were running the U.S. economy. America’s economy grew at a rate of 3.3 percent per year from 1992 to 2002. The countries that scored higher than the U.S. grew at a slower rate—2.5 percent—during the same period. All in all, countries that did better in the test competition did worse in the economic competition.
Did the higher scores result in more innovation—which might show up in the number of patents? No again. The United States “clobbered the world on creativity, with 326 patents per million people,” compared with 127 per million in the countries whose kids scored higher, Baker reports.
Why? Baker has a theory, although he can’t prove it. “It turns out the elementary school teachers who have been saying all along that there is more to education than what is reflected in test scores were right and the ‘experts’ were wrong,” he says. That doesn’t mean the scores are meaningless, he explains, but once a country achieves a certain level of academic achievement, focusing more effort and money on the skills measured by tests doesn’t pay off.  http://www.nea.org/neatoday/0701/score.html
another....
RANKINGS OF INTERNATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT TEST PERFORMANCE AND ECONOMIC STRENGTH: CORRELATION OR CONJECTURE?
CHRISTOPHER H. TIENKEN, Rutgers University, International Journal of Education Policy & Leadership, April 25, 2008. Volume 3, Number 4 
 
( I would be glad to e-mail this study to anyone off-list)
 
Conclusions
The relationship between ranks on international tests of education achievement and future economic strength is stronger in nations that have economies grouped in the bottom 50% of the GCI rankings. In countries with economies grouped in bottom 50% of the GCI ranks it takes less of an increase in the population’s average level of education completed (e.g., the average level of education increase from 9 years of formal schooling to 11
years) to improve the economy (Krueger, 1999). For example, if everyone in Chad attained an 8th
grade education, there would be a direct positive impact on the economy because the nation would have a larger collective set of more competitive skills (human capital).
Nations with strong economies (e.g., the top 22 nations on the GCI) demonstrate a weak, non-significant relationship between ranks on international tests of mathematics and science achievement and economic strength as measured by GCI ranks. This conclusion is congruent with the economics literature base findings that countries with already high levels of education attainment see no effect on GDP by incremental increases in the populations’
levels of education (Bils & Klenow, 1998;Krueger & Lindhal, 2001).
The relationship between education and a country’s future economic growth is stronger in nations with lower-performing economies. In high-performing nations, the education system needs the economy more than the economy needs the education system (Bils & Klenow, 1998)..........
 
 
Commentary
A cynic may believe that policymakers ignore the data knowingly. The Latin prefixes dis and mis are used to convey not/to deprive and less/wrong respectively. The words disinformation and misinformation convey the meanings of depriving one (the public) of the truth and providing wrong information, purposely. In national politics, critics use education disinformation and misinformation sometimes to perpetuate the merry-go-round approach to school reform in order to further political agendas.
A less cynical person may side with Socrates when evaluating the arguments regarding the alleged connection between international test-score rankings and economic growth. Socrates articulated the difference between fact and opinion by explaining that opinion resides somewhere between what is (knowledge) and what is not (ignorance). He stated, “many conventional views held by most people . . . hover somewhere between what is not and what fully is” (Plato, trans.2003, 203d). Socrates described that those who have the eyes to seek the facts but are unable (or unwilling), even with the help of a guide, give opinions. However, it “cannot be said that they know any of the things they hold opinions about” (Plato, trans. 2003, 203e). It may be that those charged with creating and managing education policies have the capability to see and interpret the data but choose not to do so. Therefore, they give opinions (i.e., high ranks on international tests of mathematics and science bring about future economic strength) aboutwhich they know nothing.
 
 

Rog ( Horace ) Lucido, Physics Instructor, Ret. 
Program Evaluator 
Adjunct Faculty, Fresno Pacific University 
Educational Consultant 
Educators and Parents Against Testing Abuse ( EPATA ) 
Assessment Reform Network Central Valley Coordinator 
Phone: 559-277-1312 
Cell: 559-355-4215 
email: lucid4@cvip.net 


----- Original Message ----- 
From: monicalucido@comcast.net 
Date: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 9:02 am 
Subject: [ca-resisters] Math and Competitiveness 
To: arn-l@interversity.org 
Cc: ca-resisters@interversity.org 

> Well, from the looks of it, some of the focus of yesterday's 
> testimony on math 
> and science in education seems pretty good. Anyone want to take a 
> shot at 
> stating whether or not the message being sent to congress is 
> quality? It SEEMS 
> right on, but I could be missing something... 
> 
> Joe Lucido 
> EPATA 
> Fresno (see below...) 
> 
> Stronger Math and Science Education Key to Boosting U.S. 
> Competitiveness, 
> Witnesses Tell House Education Committee 
> Congress should build on its commitment to improving math and 
> science by fully 
> funding America COMPETES Act 
> Tuesday, July 22, 2008 
> 
> 
> WASHINGTON, DC -- Improving the teaching and learning of 
> mathematics and science 
> in U.S. schools is vital to maintaining America’s global 
> leadership, witnesses 
> told the House Education and Labor Committee today. 
> 
> “America won’t be able to maintain our great legacy of innovation 
> and discovery, 
> let alone compete in today’s global economy, unless we make 
> investing in math 
> and science education a top priority,” said U.S. Rep. George 
> Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the committee. “Last year, Congress 
> took a critical first 
> step by enacting legislation to provide workers with the training 
> and skills 
> needed to compete in 21st century jobs. Now we must build on that 
> down payment 
> by working with business leaders and key stakeholders to help arm 
> students with 
> an excellent foundation in math, science, and other cutting-edge 
> fields.” 
> 
> A report released in March by the National Mathematics Advisory 
> Panel found that 
> the nation’s system teaching math is “broken and must be fixed” if 
> the U.S. 
> wants to maintain its competitive edge. Among other things, the 
> panel called for 
> a comprehensive, systemic effort to strengthen math education, 
> including 
> improving teacher training and professional development. 
> 
> “This truly is a “Paul Revere Moment” for our country – we must 
> spread the alarm 
> that our country is falling behind in math and science achievement 
> and we must 
> get moving with all possible speed to shore up our system,” said 
> Tom Luce, the 
> Chief Executive Officer of the National Math and Science 
> Initiative, which partners with businesses 
> to bring math and science education programs to a national level. 
> “Math and 
> science are the new foundational literacy for everyone.” 
> 
> The panel of experts, which included business leaders, a teacher, 
> and the first 
> American woman to travel in space, recommended expanding 
> partnerships between 
> the business and education communities that focus on bolstering 
> STEM education, 
> and increasing training and support programs for teachers. 
> 
> The witnesses also urged lawmakers to fully fund the America 
> COMPETES Act, a law 
> enacted by the Democratic Congress last year to provide education 
> and job 
> training for students and workers in math, science, technology, 
> and engineering 
> fields. Last year, Congress approved $193 million in funding for 
> math and 
> science education in the COMPETES Act, but President Bush vetoed 
> that 
> legislation. 
> 
> Phil Mickelson, a professional golfer and the co-founder of the 
> Mickelson 
> ExxonMobil Teachers Academy, explained how he uses math every day, 
> and discussed how the academy he and his wife Amy 
> launched helps teachers find creative ways to teach math and 
> science: “Hands-on 
> demonstrations and exercises not only help to bring math and 
> science concepts to 
> life, but also work to pique the teachers’ natural curiosity and 
> awaken their 
> sense of inquiry and problem-solving, also helping them to see 
> these concepts 
> through their students’ perspective.” 
> 
> “We believe it essential to secure the technical talent pipeline 
> for the 
> future,” explained Brian H. Wells, the Chief Systems Engineer of 
> Raytheon, which 
> established a program to peak students’ interest in math through 
> the internet. 
> “MathMovesU is designed to engage middle school students on their 
> own terms and 
> make the connection between math, their interests, and ‘cool’ 
> careers. The 
> website is “immersive,” designed to create “aha” moments by 
> presenting math in 
> its relation to some of the topics middle school students care 
> most about -- 
> music, sports and fashion. It uses a variety of puzzles and games 
> to encourage the development of math skill in fun and 
> creative ways.” 
> 
> “If our students are to become our future engineers, computer 
> scientists, 
> mathematicians, and environmentalists, we need to change the way 
> we approach the 
> teaching of math and science,” said Dr. Ramona Chang, the Director 
> of Curriculum 
> for the Torrance Unified School District in California, where 
> teachers have 
> participated in the Mickelson Teachers Academy. “Academy teachers 
> have been 
> taught how to plan creatively, teach constructively, and reflect 
> objectively. 
> These skills rank in the proverbial “priceless” category for 
> educators.” 
> “While both girls and boys have natural interests and abilities in 
> science, math 
> and technology, society does not yet have equal expectations for — 
> or offer 
> equal support to — girls interested in these fields,” said Dr. 
> Sally Ride, a 
> former NASA astronaut, and the first American woman in space, who 
> runs Sally 
> Ride Science, an organization that focuses on helping students 
> pursue opportunities in STEM fields. “When both girls and boys are 
> encouraged to pursue 
> their interests, they are inspired to think about their futures 
> and are better 
> prepared to pursue a wide range of exciting opportunities in high 
> school, 
> college and beyond.” 
>