"The Sky is Falling"

       Most of you know the story of Henny Penny who runs around telling everyone that "the sky is falling" when an acorn falls on her head. Henny warns everyone there is grave danger and recruits a cast of characters to help spread the word. Depending on the version you read, the moral to this fable is not to be a "chicken" but have courage or not to believe everything you are told. Perhaps we should take heed of the message in this fable again as it relates to public education? Is the public education system in the United States in grave danger? Are our students failing to learn or do we have "Henny Penny's" sounding an unfounded alert?
      For quite a few years the public has been barraged with the message that public schools are failing. The media reports that our students are far behind in math and science compared to other countries. Public schools are berated for low test scores, lousy teachers, and Federal and State Departments of Education across the country are calling for reform and looking at other countries' education systems for the answers to our "problem." If you really want to know the answer to these questions, you must look at the data. What do the test scores really say about student learning and progress?
      Don't get me wrong, there are weakness in our education system that need to be addressed, but overall, we do a really good job educating the children of this country. In today's issue of Education Weekly there is an interesting article called "International Tests Reveal Surprises at Home and Abroad" in which the authors conclude you can't just compare overall scores, you must disaggregate the data to get the true picture. In the analysis, the authors find that if you compare similar students, you will find that the US education system is doing a pretty good job educating the children in this country.
      Those of you that know me personally are aware of my recent trip to China over the Christmas holiday. I had the opportunity to talk with Chinese educators and to visit a Math and Technology Middle School in Xiamen, China. I think it is time to talk about the comparison made between the Chinese education system and the US education system. I can't count the number of times I have heard that the Chinese system is far superior to the US. In my opinion, you are comparing apples and oranges. The educational mission for both systems of education are polar opposites. In the US, we educate everyone and provided the opportunity for everyone to go to college. We have students in our classrooms with behavior issues, learning disabilities, social and emotional issues, English Language Learners, as well as those that are socio-economic disadvantaged. In China, the education system is a "weeding out" process. Students take tests at various points in their education career that determine their educational future. If a student passes the test, they move on in the education system and if they don't their education is complete. As I walked through the Math and Technology Middle School, I saw classrooms with 50-55 students in each class. Every student was on task, the classrooms were dead silent and there were stacks of books on each desk. I did not see students with disabilities or students with behavior issues. I didn't see student collaboration, small group instruction, creativity, or student work on display. These observations lead to a very interesting conversation at dinner with one of the Ph.d candidates who was teaching my Mandarin language class at the University. She told me, "In China we memorize many facts in order to pass the tests." Out of the 78 students in her high school classroom, less than half went on to college. She continued by telling me "we memorize and in the US, you create." Yes, we do. We create and this is what leading educators like Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs have been talking about for the past several years.
      You cannot compare the two systems of education because their missions are completely different. It is comparing apples to oranges.  So, this brings us back to our original question. Is the public education system in the United States really in grave danger? Is the sky really falling? I don't think so.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/01/23/18rothstein.h32.html?tkn=NSYFWq%2BQlUNF901uyLGxCdm2nkcMQo3s7san&cmp=ENL-EU-VIEWS1