GLOBAL RANKING FOR AMERICAN EDUCATION

The United States of America, has been a strong influence across the world, and we have remained a role model for many developing countries, particularly through their admiration of American innovations. However, after some research, it seems that our education structure ratings barely mediocre and actually below average on an international level. In fact, on an international level we are lagging more and more behind other developed nations. In research done on the international learning assessment ranking, Linda Darling-Hammond makes a point in her video, “On the PISA rankings, the United States ranked 35^th out of the top 40 developed countries in math. We ranked 29^th out of the top 40 countries in science. We typically do a little bit better in reading, however, we have gone down on the international assessments with reading each year it has been given. We have gone down on math and science ratings as well. So we are losing ground,” explains Darling-Hammond. She develops further to explain how the rankings are determined internationally by several alternative testing measure. Ranks are determined internationally by addressing areas such as analysis skills, high order thinking, deduction abilities, innovative ingenuities, and evaluated performance skills. With all of these abilities taken into account, the United States of America, and its current education structure and standardizations is completely failing in the assessments of international ranking. Methods of memorizations and multiple choice tests have been shoved quickly to students in a crunch. Rankings have proved these current standards as ineffective in the overall ranking. In addition, we continue to fall more and more behind each year.

Linda Darling-Hammond the high thinking researched other teaching and learning standards created in high achieving countries and found there methods were much different then standardized methods we have used in the United States. Standards internationally included different types of exercises and activity where students are able to activate their interactions in things such as project based learning, hand on investigations, and other group cooperative interactive types of assessment. In the United States we are still using testing assessments that are primarily based on multiple choice scoring, and this is where we are robbing the opportunities for growing students. In the United States we have one of the most diverse populations, and so it we are to advance along with other nations we need to adopt different methods they are using that are putting them in the lead. United States needs to consider more funds appropriately applied towards the education system, and we need to work on recreating standards across the fifty states. We need teachers to reach a point of professionalism, and also receive professionalism from students involved in academia. There is no reason that our education system can not adapt to these different testing methods, especially when research proves that through other nations it has been highly effective. We need to look to other countries for inspiration with scholastic structures, and open our education system up to the futures and its competitors. It takes educators and parents and faculties to demands these changes to avoid further fall in international ranks. America needs to take hold of the future of the students and recreate the failures in the systems.

　

Big Thinkers: Linda Darling-Hammond on Becoming Internationally Competitive, Edutopia Home Web Page: Article/Video 01/27/2010. Web site:

http://www.edutopia.org/international-teaching-learning-assessment-video