Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 About Switzerland and reading. I noticed that every district I checked did better than Switzerland with reading scores. The district that was 58% compared to the rest of the world, was 60 % compared with Switzerland. So Switzerland would be slightly below average in reading. Just doing the math. Perhaps, but the Swiss kids are probably reading in three different languages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Most Singapore kids grow up bilingual, and some are trilingual. I wonder how that affects reading scores. Singapore, from what I remember working there, has a culture that promotes early learning. Most families feel that they need two paychecks so the majority of mothers work and younger children either go to grandparents/ relatives or daycare centers for a big chunk of the working day and from a young age (as babies/ toddlers). The daycare centers that I have seen/ heard about offered enrichment learning activities. When I was there, it wasn't uncommon for many school-aged children to spend afterschool hours in an enrichment center while waiting for parents to pick them up after work. The whole country is one city. Enrichment/ learning centers dot the map like mushrooms. Early learning is a thriving culture and although it may resemble what Americans think of as hothousing, it may not necessarily be viewed as hothousing there. The government supports teacher training wholeheartedly and I remember reading the news about elementary school teachers working on a second bachelors or even masters degrees for a better salary. If I had the chance to go back and live there again, I would still homeschool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a27mom Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Perhaps, but the Swiss kids are probably reading in three different languages. I imagine there is a long list of "perhaps" for any country/school district. If you are looking at the information, and deciding that your school doesn't measure up, then you also have to say that lots of other countries don't measure up. I don't have anything against Switzerland. I was just being sarcastic actually. Honestly we hear how American schools are so bad. but each of the 3 different districts I checked in 3 very different geographic/economic areas, exceeded the world in at least 1 area. So we are not nearly as bad as I thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Most Singapore kids grow up bilingual, and some are trilingual. I wonder how that affects reading scores. ...... If I had the chance to go back and live there again, I would still homeschool. There are people like my brother who are just not good at languages. Luckily there are polytechnics in Singapore which cater to people like him. At least homeschooling is legal now. I'm confused how the authors of the report calculate though "To allow for direct comparisons across state and national borders, and thus testing instruments, we map all testing data to the standard normal curve using the appropriate student level mean and standard deviation. We then calculate at the lowest level of aggregation by estimating average district quality within each state. Each state's average quality is evaluated then using national testing data" School districts with top reading scores School districts with top math scores Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Seriously, anytime we pay too much attention to numbers like these, we help to reinforce that school districts must "teach to the test", and that the only things worth teaching are reading and math. There was a poster on these board who, sadly, doesn't post anymore, who frequently praised the rigor of her Italian schooling. However, if you look at Italy, and see the endless number of failing governments it has had, the huge rate of organized crime, the failing economy, one has to wonder if we aren't worrying about the wrong things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qtkimi Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 for some reason the page is no longer loading :( I'm really afraid what my child's school would rank at. I wish I could homeschool him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniBlondes Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 for some reason the page is no longer loading :( I can't get it to load either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 for some reason the page is no longer loading :( I'm really afraid what my child's school would rank at. I wish I could homeschool him. I can't get it to load either. The report website is http://globalreportcard.org/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmmm Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 Did nobody find it ironic that this tool is being supplied by the George W. Bush Institute? Also, these are based on 2009 scores even though global scores have been updated. I know my states reading scores for Elementary were at the top of all the states last go around, so I am curious to see the change (if any). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 Seriously, anytime we pay too much attention to numbers like these, we help to reinforce that school districts must "teach to the test", and that the only things worth teaching are reading and math. There was a poster on these board who, sadly, doesn't post anymore, who frequently praised the rigor of her Italian schooling. However, if you look at Italy, and see the endless number of failing governments it has had, the huge rate of organized crime, the failing economy, one has to wonder if we aren't worrying about the wrong things. Indeed. It also seems that any time an adult praises their schools, it is entirely retrospective and doesn't represent today at all. That being said, I watched a movie about Finnish schools and wish I could enroll myself! They look amazing. I do not think I would survive South Korean schools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 Indeed. It also seems that any time an adult praises their schools, it is entirely retrospective and doesn't represent today at all. That being said, I watched a movie about Finnish schools and wish I could enroll myself! They look amazing. I do not think I would survive South Korean schools. I agree. It's interesting that the countries with the winning scores sometimes have extremely different ways to get there. I feel like the whole movement in education now is to find "the answer" as if there's some single equation that will fix everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 I agree. It's interesting that the countries with the winning scores sometimes have extremely different ways to get there. I feel like the whole movement in education now is to find "the answer" as if there's some single equation that will fix everything. That's an interesting point. And the drumbeat that America is unique means that any solution from another country is rejected immediately because they are not like us, therefore nothing applies. Okay then! And every country is rejected because it's not ethnically diverse, when really, there are many countries that are more ethnically diverse than the US, such as Singapore, which has three main ethnic groups, and more "built in" linguistic diversity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 My local district (only one K-8 school) scored 67% Math and 82% Reading versus the world, and 47% and 75% versus Singapore. Our district is less than 2% need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 The school district my kids would be enrolled in: 45%math/56%reading compared to the world, 33% need The district I grew up in: 72% math, 74% reading compared to the world I'm actually shocked that the district I grew up in performed so well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In the Rain Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 Our school district isn't even a choice. :confused1: I think it is one of the better districts in the state, so I was interested to see how it measured up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 Our school district isn't even a choice. :confused1: I think it is one of the better districts in the state, so I was interested to see how it measured up. I thought I was in the same position, but the district I'm in is a joint district with another county even though it's commonly known by just the first county's name. I found it listed under the second county, by just the first county's name. So, I can finally list mine! Vs. state: math 70% reading 63% Vs. national: math 67% reading 59% Vs. the world: math 58% reading 57% Vs. Canada: math 52% reading 48% Vs. Finland: math 45% reading 43% Vs. Singapore: math 38% reading 48% Vs. Switzerland: math 49% reading 59% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 Our district was terrible. Nationally it's at 38% for math and 40% for reading. Internationally it's 29% math and 39% reading, although compared to Finland, it's 15% and 25%, respectively. Of course, we knew it was a pretty poor district when we moved here. We plan to homeschool at least through middle school and use a private high school if we don't home school/dual enroll DD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 Our school district isn't even a choice. :confused1: I think it is one of the better districts in the state, so I was interested to see how it measured up. Select "I don't know" in county, and you'll get a box to type in the name of your district. I had to do that with the school district I graduated from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 Select "I don't know" in county, and you'll get a box to type in the name of your district. I had to do that with the school district I graduated from. Ah, thank you. Math = 37% vs. world Reading = 44% vs. world. One district over (which people try to lie to get into) math = 68% vs. world Reading = 69% vs. world Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 Math = 37% vs. world Reading = 44% vs. world. One district over (which people try to lie to get into) math = 68% vs. world Reading = 69% vs. world I went to the first district, it was a bit better then but still below the "one district over." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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