来点振奋人心的： Top Test Scores From Shanghai Stun Educators# Returnee - 海归
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/education/07education.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print
December 7, 2010
Top Test Scores From Shanghai Stun Educators
By SAM DILLON
With China’s debut in international standardized testing, students in
Shanghai have surprised experts by outscoring their counterparts in dozens
of other countries, in reading as well as in math and science, according to
the results of a respected exam.
American officials and Europeans involved in administering the test in about
65 countries acknowledged that the scores from Shanghai — an industrial
powerhouse with some 20 million residents and scores of modern universities
that is a magnet for the best students in the country — are by no means
representative of all of China.
About 5,100 15-year-olds in Shanghai were chosen as a representative cross-
section of students in that city. In the United States, a similar number of
students from across the country were selected as a representative sample
for the test.
Experts noted the obvious difficulty of using a standardized test to compare
countries and cities of vastly different sizes. Even so, they said the
stellar academic performance of students in Shanghai was noteworthy, and
another sign of China’s rapid modernization.
The results also appeared to reflect the culture of education there,
including greater emphasis on teacher training and more time spent on
studying rather than extracurricular activities like sports.
“Wow, I’m kind of stunned, I’m thinking Sputnik,” said Chester E. Finn
Jr., who served in President Ronald Reagan’s Department of Education,
referring to the groundbreaking Soviet satellite launching. Mr. Finn, who
has visited schools all across China, said, “I’ve seen how relentless the
Chinese are at accomplishing goals, and if they can do this in Shanghai in
2009, they can do it in 10 cities in 2019, and in 50 cities by 2029.”
The test, the Program for International Student Assessment, known as PISA,
was given to 15-year-old students by the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development, a Paris-based group that includes the world’s
major industrial powers.
The results are to be released officially on Tuesday, but advance copies
were provided to the news media a day early.
“We have to see this as a wake-up call,” Secretary of Education Arne
Duncan said in an interview on Monday.
“I know skeptics will want to argue with the results, but we consider them
to be accurate and reliable, and we have to see them as a challenge to get
better,” he added. “The United States came in 23rd or 24th in most
subjects. We can quibble, or we can face the brutal truth that we’re being
out-educated.”
In math, the Shanghai students performed in a class by themselves,
outperforming second-place Singapore, which has been seen as an educational
superstar in recent years. The average math scores of American students put
them below 30 other countries.
PISA scores are on a scale, with 500 as the average. Two-thirds of students
in participating countries score between 400 and 600. On the math test last
year, students in Shanghai scored 600, in Singapore 562, in Germany 513, and
in the United States 487.
In reading, Shanghai students scored 556, ahead of second-place Korea with
539. The United States scored 500 and came in 17th, putting it on par with
students in the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Germany, France, the United
Kingdom and several other countries.
In science, Shanghai students scored 575. In second place was Finland, where
the average score was 554. The United States scored 502 — in 23rd place —
with a performance indistinguishable from Poland, Ireland, Norway, France
and several other countries.
The testing in Shanghai was carried out by an international contractor,
working with Chinese authorities, and overseen by the Australian Council for
Educational Research, a nonprofit testing group, said Andreas Schleicher,
who directs the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s
international educational testing program.
Mark Schneider, a commissioner of the Department of Education’s research
arm in the George W. Bush administration, who returned from an educational
research visit to China on Friday, said he had been skeptical about some
PISA results in the past. But Mr. Schneider said he considered the accuracy
of these results to be unassailable.
“The technical side of this was well regulated, the sampling was O.K., and
there was no evidence of cheating,” he said.
Mr. Schneider, however, noted some factors that may have influenced the
outcome.
For one thing, Shanghai is a huge migration hub within China. Students are
supposed to return to their home provinces to attend high school, but the
Shanghai authorities could increase scores by allowing stellar students to
stay in the city, he said. And Shanghai students apparently were told the
test was important for China’s image and thus were more motivated to do
well, he said.
“Can you imagine the reaction if we told the students of Chicago that the
PISA was an important international test and that America’s reputation
depended on them performing well?” Mr. Schneider said. “That said, China
is taking education very seriously. The work ethic is amazingly strong.”
In a speech to a college audience in North Carolina, President Obama
recalled how the Soviet Union’s 1957 launching of Sputnik provoked the
United States to increase investment in math and science education, helping
America win the space race.
“Fifty years later, our generation’s Sputnik moment is back,” Mr. Obama
said. With billions of people in India and China “suddenly plugged into the
world economy,” he said, nations with the most educated workers will
prevail. “As it stands right now,” he said, “America is in danger of
falling behind.”
If Shanghai is a showcase of Chinese educational progress, America’s
showcase would be Massachusetts, which has routinely scored higher than all
other states on America’s main federal math test in recent years.
But in a 2007 study that correlated the results of that test with the
results of an international math exam, Massachusetts students scored behind
Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. Shanghai did not
participate in the test.
A 259-page Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development report on
the latest Pisa results notes that throughout its history, China has been
organized around competitive examinations. “Schools work their students
long hours every day, and the work weeks extend into the weekends,” it said
.
Chinese students spend less time than American students on athletics, music
and other activities not geared toward success on exams in core subjects.
Also, in recent years, teaching has rapidly climbed up the ladder of
preferred occupations in China, and salaries have risen. In Shanghai, the
authorities have undertaken important curricular reforms, and educators have
been given more freedom to experiment.
Ever since his organization received the Shanghai test scores last year, Mr.
Schleicher said, international testing experts have investigated them to
vouch for their accuracy, expecting that they would produce astonishment in
many Western countries.
“This is the first time that we have internationally comparable data on
learning outcomes in China,” Mr. Schleicher said. “While that’s important
, for me the real significance of these results is that they refute the
commonly held hypothesis that China just produces rote learning.”
“Large fractions of these students demonstrate their ability to extrapolate
from what they know and apply their knowledge very creatively in novel
situations,” he said.
December 7, 2010
Top Test Scores From Shanghai Stun Educators
By SAM DILLON
With China’s debut in international standardized testing, students in
Shanghai have surprised experts by outscoring their counterparts in dozens
of other countries, in reading as well as in math and science, according to
the results of a respected exam.
American officials and Europeans involved in administering the test in about
65 countries acknowledged that the scores from Shanghai — an industrial
powerhouse with some 20 million residents and scores of modern universities
that is a magnet for the best students in the country — are by no means
representative of all of China.
About 5,100 15-year-olds in Shanghai were chosen as a representative cross-
section of students in that city. In the United States, a similar number of
students from across the country were selected as a representative sample
for the test.
Experts noted the obvious difficulty of using a standardized test to compare
countries and cities of vastly different sizes. Even so, they said the
stellar academic performance of students in Shanghai was noteworthy, and
another sign of China’s rapid modernization.
The results also appeared to reflect the culture of education there,
including greater emphasis on teacher training and more time spent on
studying rather than extracurricular activities like sports.
“Wow, I’m kind of stunned, I’m thinking Sputnik,” said Chester E. Finn
Jr., who served in President Ronald Reagan’s Department of Education,
referring to the groundbreaking Soviet satellite launching. Mr. Finn, who
has visited schools all across China, said, “I’ve seen how relentless the
Chinese are at accomplishing goals, and if they can do this in Shanghai in
2009, they can do it in 10 cities in 2019, and in 50 cities by 2029.”
The test, the Program for International Student Assessment, known as PISA,
was given to 15-year-old students by the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development, a Paris-based group that includes the world’s
major industrial powers.
The results are to be released officially on Tuesday, but advance copies
were provided to the news media a day early.
“We have to see this as a wake-up call,” Secretary of Education Arne
Duncan said in an interview on Monday.
“I know skeptics will want to argue with the results, but we consider them
to be accurate and reliable, and we have to see them as a challenge to get
better,” he added. “The United States came in 23rd or 24th in most
subjects. We can quibble, or we can face the brutal truth that we’re being
out-educated.”
In math, the Shanghai students performed in a class by themselves,
outperforming second-place Singapore, which has been seen as an educational
superstar in recent years. The average math scores of American students put
them below 30 other countries.
PISA scores are on a scale, with 500 as the average. Two-thirds of students
in participating countries score between 400 and 600. On the math test last
year, students in Shanghai scored 600, in Singapore 562, in Germany 513, and
in the United States 487.
In reading, Shanghai students scored 556, ahead of second-place Korea with
539. The United States scored 500 and came in 17th, putting it on par with
students in the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Germany, France, the United
Kingdom and several other countries.
In science, Shanghai students scored 575. In second place was Finland, where
the average score was 554. The United States scored 502 — in 23rd place —
with a performance indistinguishable from Poland, Ireland, Norway, France
and several other countries.
The testing in Shanghai was carried out by an international contractor,
working with Chinese authorities, and overseen by the Australian Council for
Educational Research, a nonprofit testing group, said Andreas Schleicher,
who directs the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s
international educational testing program.
Mark Schneider, a commissioner of the Department of Education’s research
arm in the George W. Bush administration, who returned from an educational
research visit to China on Friday, said he had been skeptical about some
PISA results in the past. But Mr. Schneider said he considered the accuracy
of these results to be unassailable.
“The technical side of this was well regulated, the sampling was O.K., and
there was no evidence of cheating,” he said.
Mr. Schneider, however, noted some factors that may have influenced the
outcome.
For one thing, Shanghai is a huge migration hub within China. Students are
supposed to return to their home provinces to attend high school, but the
Shanghai authorities could increase scores by allowing stellar students to
stay in the city, he said. And Shanghai students apparently were told the
test was important for China’s image and thus were more motivated to do
well, he said.
“Can you imagine the reaction if we told the students of Chicago that the
PISA was an important international test and that America’s reputation
depended on them performing well?” Mr. Schneider said. “That said, China
is taking education very seriously. The work ethic is amazingly strong.”
In a speech to a college audience in North Carolina, President Obama
recalled how the Soviet Union’s 1957 launching of Sputnik provoked the
United States to increase investment in math and science education, helping
America win the space race.
“Fifty years later, our generation’s Sputnik moment is back,” Mr. Obama
said. With billions of people in India and China “suddenly plugged into the
world economy,” he said, nations with the most educated workers will
prevail. “As it stands right now,” he said, “America is in danger of
falling behind.”
If Shanghai is a showcase of Chinese educational progress, America’s
showcase would be Massachusetts, which has routinely scored higher than all
other states on America’s main federal math test in recent years.
But in a 2007 study that correlated the results of that test with the
results of an international math exam, Massachusetts students scored behind
Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. Shanghai did not
participate in the test.
A 259-page Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development report on
the latest Pisa results notes that throughout its history, China has been
organized around competitive examinations. “Schools work their students
long hours every day, and the work weeks extend into the weekends,” it said
.
Chinese students spend less time than American students on athletics, music
and other activities not geared toward success on exams in core subjects.
Also, in recent years, teaching has rapidly climbed up the ladder of
preferred occupations in China, and salaries have risen. In Shanghai, the
authorities have undertaken important curricular reforms, and educators have
been given more freedom to experiment.
Ever since his organization received the Shanghai test scores last year, Mr.
Schleicher said, international testing experts have investigated them to
vouch for their accuracy, expecting that they would produce astonishment in
many Western countries.
“This is the first time that we have internationally comparable data on
learning outcomes in China,” Mr. Schleicher said. “While that’s important
, for me the real significance of these results is that they refute the
commonly held hypothesis that China just produces rote learning.”
“Large fractions of these students demonstrate their ability to extrapolate
from what they know and apply their knowledge very creatively in novel
situations,” he said.
