http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/dec/07/world-education-rankings-maths-science-reading
Huh. Canada ranks higher than the UK and the US, by far! Even better than Australia! Well, this is what I'm dealing with. It's amazing how little the kids here know and how their math does NOT stick. Is it the lack of knowledge by teachers? Is it the push to pass the tests which are mostly based on facility with numbers, which isn't obviously connected to number sense? Is it affluence or economic and social stability? Still trying to figure it out. I'm so surprised that year 11s (15 year olds) cannot add fractions even when given a procedure, and didn't like it when I tried to explain equivalent fractions by shading in chocolate bars on the board...
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ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of the Finnish educational system. I've done a bit of research on it, and they have a totally different sort of respect for their teachers...it's actually a COMPETITIVE career. There was a definite country-wide movement for intentional reform a number of years ago and it's starting to pay off now.
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