The International Level Through Foreign Language Acquisition And Increased Global Cultural Knowledge

There is no need to be alarmed over education in America. While many critics are quick to point out the fact that American students have fallen behind in the academic realm, they fell to mention that the American students rank high in competitiveness and creativity, giving the American students the advantage (Bracey, par. 1).

Americans believe in multiple chances to succeed. Failure is okay as long as you learn from it and move on to a successful attempt. That driving force to succeed makes for more innovative thinkers. Being fed facts and made to regurgitate them for testing purposes does not spark imagination and lead to new discoveries. Different studies result in different opinions of which style of education is better. When broken down and actually comparing apples to apples, America’s educational system is a clear winner and “trains more engineers per capita than either India or China does.” (10).

In an intelligence-based economy, education is important to national prosperity and individual success. Huge achievement gaps and opportunities must shrink to non-existence, and every student must receive a well education that prepares them for college and careers in the world as it is today. Comparing the United States education system to other countries shows that the United States scored lower than nineteen other counties and education systems in reading in the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment. Germany and Poland in particular are two countries that have now surpassed the United States. During the same study, scores showed that twenty-nine nations outperformed the United States by a large amount in mathematics, and in science, there have been twenty-two education systems that scored higher than the United States (Heitin).

Since the end of the Cold War, there have been a number of changes that have occurred globally. The mobile communication and internet technology has exposed this world to the new avenues of possibilities. With the advent of globalization, a borderless world has started to emerge, and the significance and demand of the education in this new world education has grown even more. The United States and the entire Western region has been witnessing n erosion of advantages in technological, economic, and defense arenas. This is because the country is lagging the other countries of the world with respect to education. In the present times, the

The book The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way written by Amanda Ripley, tells about the various types of education systems from several of the countries that are in the lead for the most educated countries in the world. In Ripley’s book she does not just explain the importance of education but also how it affects the countries and how the students that are getting the education experience it. What led to the finding out of which country was the smartest country in the world was the Program for International Student Assessment or the PISA test. The PISA test is a test that was made to test a person 's ability to think critically, their communication skills, the ability to solve problems in math, reading and science, along with the students’ preparedness to do well in and be able to cooperate in society. Education is something that every country needs to move forward and gain powers in more ways than one so obviously in every country education should come first above all else for the young minds of the future. Author of The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way, Amanda Ripley, explains the issues concerning education and how the world is making huge leaps in education through many unbelievable factors that can affect a student 's education. She follows several completely different students that are from America and go off to other countries to go to school through a study abroad program. The American education system needs to follow what the

Education is one of the most important assets a country can offer in terms of the future. Education is what drives technical advances and helps form the general structure of the country. As the United States’ monetary deficit grows, one may forget about the pending problems in education. These problems in education may led to the downfall of the once great global powerhouse the United States once was.

The United States spends more money on education each year than any other country in the world, yet the education system is not thriving. Three decades ago, America was the leader in the quality of high school diplomas, yet, students in the U.S. rate 31st in math literacy and 23rd in science in comparison to the rest of the world. (Federal Reserve Bank of New York) The country that is famous for being the most advanced and innovative country in the world is yielding a generation that is falling behind in the global education race. Public K-12 education is worsening simultaneously with the growing competitiveness of universities. Part of the problem is that teachers are not being paid sufficiently, and many find themselves being laid off. College is getting exponentially more expensive each year. These are only a couple of the issues that the american education system faces today, but the list carries on.

America’s test scores are barely average compared to other countries. 470,000 15-year-old students took the OECD test in math, science, and language arts. The test was scored on a 1,000 point scale. The U.S average score in math was 487 meaning that 24 out of the 34 countries ranked higher. This includes Finland who scored a 541. In science, America scored an average of 502 which placed them at 17th. Once again Finland was a leader on the scoreboard. Finally, in language arts the U.S scored a 500 putting them in 14th place. Finland still ranked higher; they were in the ranks with places like Shanghai. “The brutal fact here is there are many countries that are far ahead of us… this should be a massive wake up call”, says U.S Education Secretary Arnie Duncan (Hechinger). So why is education so important?

The United States is one of the leading nations in innovation, education, and quality of life.It is essential that its people be well educated problem solvers who are adequately prepared to make a “difference in the world(Roth)” and be able to project the “future results(Roth)” so that they might be able to further our nation. The U.S currently ranks as number fourteen in the world of education, leaving a large amount of room for improvement, and “given the pace of technological and societal

(Audience Hook)When someone shows a chart of the top 10 scoring nations and economies worldwide in the field of education, the USA doesn’t even reach the list. According to the PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) the US scores below average in Math; Science and Reading scores don’t look all that impressive, either.

Dating back to the dawn of the Space Race, calls to improve young people’s mastery of the academic material undergirding U.S. technological strength have been a recurrent refrain in American education.

In We’re Number Umpteenth (2013), author Alfie Kohn argues that the U.S.’s constant need for comparison is nonsense. Kohn’s argument is supported by deconstructing the myth that U.S. schools are lagging and disprove that comparison is helpful -in this case. In order for us to see the nonsense behind this education comparison Alfie Kohn shines light on the ugly truth that by having a need to be number one the U.S. is basically wanting kids in foreign countries to do bad. Because the myth that U.S. schools are lagging is so widely accepted this argument can be directed to just about anyone living under this notion; educators, college students, and so on.

What is it that’s making our country suffer from excelling in education? Very few would argue about the importance of our education system today. Issues such as lazy teachers, lack of parent involvement, and teaching useless information in class may hinder progress in today’s education system. An education plays a crucial role and is an essential tool, unfortunately, with all the jaded judgments; our students are not able to value their education. A proper education can open the doors to many opportunities that would have never been possible if it had not been for the knowledge and preparation that one received while in school. With the growing economy and desperate times, it is more important than ever for our country’s children to receive the proper education and training that is needed to allow them to acquire a good job and produce the revenue needed to live. Today's education system is flawed in many ways, and these flaws should be eliminated to ensure a good education for our future generation.

The prologue and Chapter 1 of “The smartest kids in the world and how they got that way” describes the origin of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which is an international assessment that measures critical thinking skills (Ripley, 2013, p.15). The chapters revealed the countries that had the top scores and explained what certain countries did in response to those scores. Overall, Ripley (2013) demonstrated curiosity in the educational systems of Finland, Korea and Poland, and planned to send 3 students from the United States to those countries to explore and compare the difference from school there and in the U.S.

According to the passages and video, the United States is no longer a world leader in education. We are being surpassed by countries such as Japan, China and India. I believe this chemistry class is going to challenge me because our country needs a population full of sharp minds. Without proper education that challenges students, how can the United States keep up with other countries?