Tuesday, October 08, 2013

And then our situation becomes completely clear

NY Post:

US adults are dumber than the average human

 It’s long been known that America’s school kids haven’t measured well compared with international peers. Now, there’s a new twist: Adults don’t either.
In math, reading and problem-solving using technology – all skills considered critical for global competitiveness and economic strength – American adults scored below the international average on a global test, according to results released Tuesday.
Adults in Japan, Canada, Australia, Finland and multiple other countries scored significantly higher than the United States in all three areas on the test. Beyond basic reading and math, respondents were tested on activities such as calculating mileage reimbursement due to a salesman, sorting email and comparing food expiration dates on grocery store tags.
Not only did Americans score poorly compared to many international competitors, the findings reinforced just how large the gap is between the nation’s high- and low-skilled workers and how hard it is to move ahead when your parents haven’t.
Will that be large or extra large, ma’am?

3 comments:

Pastorius said...

Honey Boo Boo!

Christine said...

Not a whole lot of incentive to go beyond the minimum here.

Many countries put much more effort into education than we do.

Ciccio said...

UK and USA seem to be going the same way, everybody has to have a degree, be it useless or not. Even Canada is going that way, I see someone in B.C. is doing a Phd. in Islamophobia. Germany and Switzerland go a totally differnet way, after primary school a very sharp division based on nothing but ability, university or trade school, it is impossible for someone needing remedial language or maths to even get as far as university, The results are for all to see. Youth unemployment is no different than any other, the economy is humming, both have a massive trade surplus, wages and benefits are higher on average than in the States and another thing both have in common, there is no minimum wage.