Academic Performance

The big news hitting the media recently is the ranking of academic performance by country. While American students performed above the average for nations taking part in the survey there is not much to cheer about. The most striking contrast is math where almost half of 8th graders in South Korea, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) and Singapore reached the advanced level compared to only 7% of American test-takers (TIMSS, 2011). Others countries such as Japan, Russia, and Quebec (Canada) outperformed the United States by significant margins. The same countries performed well in science in comparison as well. Previous PhysEd Global posts applauded the Fins who ranked number 1 in the assessments four years ago. They dropped to about the same scores as the USA in 4th and 8th grade math. (Education Week, Dec 13, 2012). Most notable is England that showed the most improved results in math of any country. (Read previous post on my theory why this is the case). America does not rank in the Top 10 of nations in either math or science.

On the health front there is a proposal in Australia to put student's weight on report cards as part of an effort to combat obesity. The Sydney Morning Herald ( Dec 7, 2012) reports that such a step could lead to teachers and parents discuss students' diet and fitness routines according to Prof. David Penington, former vice-chancellor of Melbourne University and dean of medicine. This is a tough one because of confidentiality issues and there are certainly other ways to open communication on health-related issues between teachers and parents. Public education on obesity has not helped much over a 12-year period in the USA and a bit of shock tactics might just be what the doctor ordered.

Finally The Guardian (London) reports that educators on the UK is advocating for outdoor learning citing benefits such as physical skills, self-confidence, relationship development and risk taking. In a world of excessive curriculum, safety conscientiousness and fear of litigation school trips have drastically declined. However, outdoor exploration probably addresses more learning styles of students than most structured lesson plans in a classroom. It is important that students are given an opportunity to explore - even if it is a local park - Michael Cordier