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Kagemusha
12-05-2007, 17:01
It seems atleast something other then just drinking beer and vodka is done with great care up here in North.:study:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7126562.stm

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Finland+breaks+point+record+in+PISA+study/1135232362277


Finland stays top of global class

South Korean academic results are flying high
Finland and South Korea remain among the superpowers of education, according to a major international study.

The three-yearly Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) shows that the two countries are in the top five for reading and maths.

South Korea has made rapid progress since 2000, says the report - with its pupils improving by the equivalent of a whole school year.

The rankings are based on tests taken by 15-year-olds in 57 countries.

Finland, a consistent top performer in international education surveys, also came top of the science league table, published last week.

The survey, gathered by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), also highlights the improvements in Poland.


READING TOP 10
S. Korea
Finland
Hong Kong
Canada
New Zealand
Ireland
Australia
Liechtenstein
Poland
Sweden
Source: Pisa/OECD

Rankings in full

The rankings for reading, based on tests taken in 2006, show that Poland is ninth placed, among a group of leading countries identified as significantly above average.

The latest findings also show the extent of global competition in education - with the northern European countries now challenged by and overtaken by Asian rivals, including Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea.

South Korea has continued to strengthen its position - after a remarkable rise in achievement against international competitors.

In the 1960s, the OECD says South Korea's national wealth was similar to Afghanistan's.


MATHS TOP 10
Taiwan
Finland
Hong Kong
S.Korea
Netherlands
Switzerland
Canada
Macao-China
Liechtenstein
Japan
Source: Pisa/OECD

Rankings in full

But a sustained drive in education has seen it rise to the upper ranks in international education leagues - both in subject scores and in completion rates in secondary school.

As with Finland, there has been an emphasis in South Korea on education as a key to economic success and the "knowledge economy".

The OECD also highlights improvements in maths scores from teenagers in Mexico and Greece.

The UK has shown a downward turn in its standing - leaving the top 10 for both maths and reading despite an increase in spending on education.

It has joined other major European countries such as Germany and France in a group with "average" standards for maths and reading.

And the report says that overall the industrialised OECD countries have not seen improvements to match extra investment.

It says that between 1995 and 2004, OECD countries increased education spending by 39% on average, but that in response "learning outcomes have generally remained flat".

Vladimir
12-05-2007, 17:11
Outstanding! Way to go guys. :2thumbsup:

ICantSpellDawg
12-05-2007, 17:34
congratulations. I always wondered why I was way above average (top 15%) on Math tests, even though I failed most of them. Now I know that U.S. Education is failing

Papewaio
12-05-2007, 23:42
S. Korea
Finland
Hong Kong
Canada
Liechtenstein

These are in the top ten in both. Should see what they are doing well in common to replicate.

Australia has watered down its science content... more essays, social content etc. Not enough first principles, maths skills and understanding.

Kagemusha
12-06-2007, 03:59
Pape are you suggesting the test is biased?

Papewaio
12-06-2007, 04:11
No, I'm saying we need to learn off the best.

Australian teaching standards have slipped because:

a) We don't pay enough for teachers in science and maths.
b) The curriculum is 'soft skilled' based when it should be teaching more fundamentals and maths skills.

So the end result is that Australia is not doing as well in the global setting as it should. Not because of biased tests, but because the students aren't get taught well enough.

woad&fangs
12-06-2007, 04:31
Hmmm, I see that the U.S. isn't on either of those lists.

For the reading list I'll blame it on the fact that English is the worst language on the planet and has 20 exceptions to every grammar rule. Please, if we ever have a global language can it please not be English.

There is no excuse for the math score. We're just a bunch of lazy spoiled youth.:shame:

Edit: one other reason that U.S. might be doing so poorly on these tests is because we already have so many standardized tests shoved down are throat that we don't really care or try on it unless it has something in it for us such as the ACT.

Roman_Man#3
12-06-2007, 04:32
You realize of course Canada's second official language is english, and we're on the reading list. And there is a note at the bottom about the test got screwed up in US so they can't accuratly display that.

woad&fangs
12-06-2007, 04:37
Ummm, I guess I didn't read it carefully enough, did I:laugh4:
:sweatdrop:

Peasant Phill
12-06-2007, 11:34
I'm surprised that Belgium or Flanders isn't on the list. We tell ourselves that we have one of the best educational systems in the world. Even yesterday it was on the news that our (Flanders not Wallony) scores (measured by the OECD) for science was in the top ten although the motivation was rather low. Reading was also one of our (again Flanders) strong points (here in newspapers last week so maybe different research) although (again) Flemings liked reading less then the average.

Oh well, congratulations to Finland and D. Korea

P.S. to Woad&Fangs, are you sure that English is that hard. My natural language is Dutch and I had to learn French, English and German in school (in that order) and I must say that English was the easiest of the three. German has much more grammar rules than English and French is possibly the worst language when it comes to exceptions to rules.

The_Mark
12-06-2007, 14:23
Additionally, the education offered by the Department of Physical Sciences of the University of Helsinki (where I'm studying) is the very best in Europe (http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/haku.php?action=page&id=268250&search=fysiikan%20laitos). The link is in Finnish, but it is based on a German research on the subject, of which I have no idea as to where to dig it up from.

Viking
12-06-2007, 15:16
Didn't really catch me as a surprise that Norway is below average in mathematics, though the reading bit did. :inquisitive:

cegorach
12-06-2007, 15:44
It is too bad we are still behind (though not much) in math, thogh at least the authorities have identified the problem one-two years ago and this is going to change.

Still a good thing Poland is higher than few years before.

Fragony
12-06-2007, 17:01
LOL@POLAND

Anyways, kinda surprised we score so high with maths