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
I have found the article titled “Lessons from the Smartest Kids in the World” from usnews.com, which has a brief summary and information from Amanda Ripley’s book titled “The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way”. While I was not able to find the exact book itself, in my research I have found several sources and interviews with the author that I will use to make my argument. I feel very strongly about many of the arguments presented in this book, and the facts are very clear that the American schooling system is severely behind other countries standards. In order to improve our school system as a country, there needs to be much more support from the parents, more expectations from teachers, and we even need the government
I selected the book The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth by Alexandra Robbins because I was interested to read about an adult author’s perception of a modern American high school experience. I also chose the book because the reviews mentioned that it related to a TV series I enjoyed, Freaks and Geeks. As I read through the book, I found that it centered around the theory that if a student is excluded or dismissed in high school for having different traits than what other students considered normal, those same traits that made them different will allow them to succeed in an adult life after high school. As soon as I got about a quarter of the way into the book I was not as enthusiastic as I was at first glance. I did agree that these traits could benefit someone, but they don’t define what you have the potential to be when you’re an adult. This high school cliché, despite the seven heartwarming storylines, is inaccurate in describing what the future holds for high school students because our future is unpredictable, and a book with a little statistic and seven high school experiences can’t solidify someone’s adulthood. I also noticed that there were no counterarguments present in the book, leading me to assume that Robbins may not have heavily researched both sides of her ‘quirk’ argument. Although I had differing opinions than the author, the seven characters, their storylines, and the promise of a young James Franco continued to perk my interest and
America is a country that currently spends more money on public education per student than any other nation in the world; nevertheless, these good intensions have achieved only slight positive outcomes. For instance, in PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), an authoritative test used to measure the education levels of students from 53 countries, American students ranked 12th in reading, 17th in science, and 26th in math. No doubt, a question like this one has been argued for decades “ what exactly is happening in foreign countries that allows them to out-pass America in terms of academics?” The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way is an illuminating book by Amanda
The American education system needs to change techniques in order to successfully prepare students for success in today’s world. American students are reportedly averaging some of the lowest test scores on the PISA test. This is mentioned in Amanda Ripley’s book the Smartest Kids in the World when it’s stated “Failure in American schools was demoralizing…American kids could not handle routine failure” (pg.72 par.4). This statement is a clear sign that the techniques used in the American education system to promote academic success in students need amending. There is definitely a change that needs to happen within the American educational system this is the only way to ensure that American students will be equipped with the tools they require
For roughly thirty years, international test scores have shown that the United States is falling behind in the education rankings. Many Asian and European countries have much higher test scores. Professionals have argued for years that these rankings are “Threatening the country’s economic growth”(Carnoy). One test in one year compared to all these countries is very inaccurate and should not be taken so literal. Being that the US is so large, each state is in charge of their own education systems. Many different rules and the way exams are graded could be a variable that is being overlooked year after year. Another variable being overlooked is social class(Carnoy). In many countries, only those who come from middle to upper classes may go to school(Carnoy). Along with that, many there are various regulations that are much
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?
Nowadays the United States is not known for their educational system. Countries like South Korea, Japan, and Singapore have surpassed the United States buy large margins, in terms of educational success. While other countries are constantly revolutionising their education system, the United States’ education system has not changed in decades, leaving the U.S. unsuccessful. The U.S. continues to fall behind these same countries that are thriving. Due to the fact that the U.S. education system not developing as time went on, leaving them now with a multitude of flaws. The gap between the educated and non-educated, along with the length of how long students are in elementary and high school, are two consequential problems in the United States’ educational system that need to be addressed.
Poor language development among the infants has been a problem in the societies. The problems is attributed to many factors such as the parental influence, and environment of the child (Berk, 2012). Many researchers have argued that such problem is mainly brought by exposing the infant to the television programs On the other hands some researchers also argues that television programs can enhance proper language development among the infants. The above views from the researchers are clearly illustrated from the article Baby Einstein's Not So Smart After All" by Alice Park.
Not many students have a chance like this in their life to explore the other side of the world. In “The Smartest Kids in the World: And How they Got that Way” Amanda’s Ripley she shared the Fared on the Performance for International Students Assessment (PISA) test throughout the country as well as the United States and how the education is different from one to each other. Ripley states that “Worldwide, children’s skills rose and fell in mysterious and hopeful ways, sometimes over short periods of time (3).” That all around the world children skills rise in different ways even in a short amount of time. She is astonished by the results of the PISA test results. This shows how each country differs on many various levels. It is not necessarily
During the story, I noticed that Dick and Perry weren't the smartest people, so there had to be someone else who put the thought to stell and kill the Clutters. The "brains" of the stelling and killing was Floyd Wills. Wills worked for the Clutter's family, so he knew that they had a lot of money. Floyd talked about the family and their safe and Dick and Perry fell for it.
The Smartest Girl in the World, set in the spacious bedroom of a modern-day, lower class cityscape apartment, tells the story of vivacious third-grader Lizzy Martinez, who works to save the relationship between her and her chronically-ill brother, Leo, and the sibling’s idealistic plan to help their family. The performance, albeit child-oriented, is able to speak to all the members of the audience and teaches that one should put those they love before everything else - a simple, yet understated lesson about the value of family. The beginning of the play describes the special bond between Leo and Lizzy, where the siblings become super heroes and adventurers and the everyday materials found in their bedroom are used as supplies for fantastical
Currently, the United States is ranked 14th in the global educational standard, 17th in educational performance and 24th in literacy, based on average test scores and research done by the Program for International Student Assessment and organized by a trusted Forbes author and journalist, Mark Rice (Ranking America, Education). Rice’s work has been cited in multiple news outlets including the New York Times and several radio shows. His work shows, compared to the rest of the world, we currently outranked by countries like Poland, China, Finland and New Zealand. China, currently America’s largest rival economically and socially, a country which heavily censors information from its people and tightly controls education,
Education is one of the most important things you can have in this world. Some people don’t have it, but those who do, choose how they want to use it. Some countries push their students to various limits, plus they set various standards for their students.While some can be exceedingly low compared to the rest of the world, some can be superbly high compared to the rest. A documentary called 2 Million Minutes spotlights how three country superpowers, USA, India, and China examines how their students prepare for their life thereafter high school. While the USA is doing great things when it comes to education, it is no match correlated to the other two countries.
The Finnish education systems shows that their high test scores from the OECD are the result of students receiving a better education. As for Hong Kong, their high test scores are the result of students mastering standardized testing, rather than their learning. Although some may believe that a country’s education in standardized testing helps the students master the basic education principles, the United States is proof that this is not the case. From 2000 to 2009, students of the United States “slipped from 18th in the world in math… to 31st place” (Standardized Tests), as the American education system turned towards standardized
In chapter sixteen, “Social Class and Inequality” the essays show different cases in which being rich, poor, smart or middle class can affect a person. In the writings of Angela Locke in “Born Poor and Smart” (338-339) Angela summarizes her life of what it was like growing up with a poor, yet smart mother. However, in “When Shelter Feels like a Prison” (374-376) Charmion Browne writes about being poor, and living in homeless shelters. Somethings in life, are no more than learning experiences, and only you can change it.