American Students Are Falling Behind the International Standard

Educational standards in America today have dropped significantly from former heights. While the U.S does, in fact, have some of the most coveted Ivy League schools, it also falls behind the international community when it comes to secondary math and science; two areas extremely important to the future development of technological and medical fields. In fact, U.S students spend less time at school and studying than do the students of international nations that beat out U.S students in the aforementioned subject areas. It seems the U.S is fast falling behind in the technological advancement it started years ago.

The U.S has always made it a point to stay on top of the technology field, a field highly based around mathematics and science. We were the first ones on the moon, the computer was developed here, we even developed the deadliest weapons on the planet (albeit with the help of foreign scientists we brought over). It seems the U.S desire for power and prestige in the international community is often won through its technological ventures and advancements. However, for some years now it has not been the U.S leading the way in the world of technology, nor in the world of medicine where there are great aspirations of greatness. Instead, Asian nations such as Japan produce half the world's technology. Additionally, an increasing number of H-1B workers from Europe and India are replacing U.S IT graduates in the workplace due to better qualifications. This later statement will be discussed in further detail later. The main point is, if the U.S plans to continue on its path to advancement in technology and medicine, to better the quality of U.S lives (jobs, security, modern home amenities, cures for diseases, better long-term treatment), it will have to up its educational demands on high school students in the areas of math and science. With current educational standards as they are, there is no way that the U.S will achieve advancement without the increased participation of the international community.

On that same note, we will re-visit the aforementioned issue of H-1B workers. H-1B workers are international professionals that come into the U.S to work under an H-1B visa and take a position in the IT industry. These workers are used when, after a thorough search has been made, no domestic help can be found that fits a company's needs. An increase in H-1B workers being utilized in U.S IT corporations in recent years tells tale of the poor standards of education U.S graduates are receiving. They are ill prepared, and ill qualified to find a position, and to contribute anything significant to the country. This relates to the fields of electronics development, engineering, and medical research as well.

Currently, there is no graduation standard in the U.S by which to judge a student's grasp of math and science. Some would argue that such tests as the SATs and ASVAB are high schoolers gauge of mathematic and scientific understanding. However, countries such as Japan, whose average math score is 51 points over that of the U.S, and whose science score is 57 points higher than the U.S, require entrance and exit examinations for high schoolers. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2003), "U.S. 15-year-olds performed below the international average of 29 industrialized countries in both mathematics literacy and problem solving in 2003." These countries include the aforementioned Japan, as well as China, Korea, the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Australia, among others.

Nearly five years ago the state of California initiated a pre-graduation exam for high school students. The concept was that students had to take, and pass the exam before they were able to graduate high school and move on to college, or other life plans. However, when it conducted the first test, the appalling results made exit examination officials pull away in fear. They stated that far too many students had failed the exam, and that it simply could not be followed through with. Advocates of the exit examination argued that if students couldn't pass a simple exit exam, then they shouldn't be graduating. However, little notice was taken of them, and the exit examinations were tossed aside. This seems an asinine way of dealing with California student's incompetence on important areas of education. It is for this reason that U.S students are finding it harder to compete in the international community, and why the U.S is fast falling behind in technological advancements.

It is high time that the U.S implement a concrete and comprehensive set of standards by which high schools must adhere to when educating and releasing students from their establishments. It is only through the establishment and implementation of higher high school educational standards and exams that the U.S can ensure its place in the advancing international community. Without higher high school math and science standards, I fear that the U.S will be left behind in the industries of technology and medicine, to the detriment of both our government and its citizens.

References:

National Center for Educational Statistics. (2003). Average mathematics literacy, reading literacy, science literacy, and problem-solving scores of 15-year-olds, by sex and country: 2003. Retrieved November 1, 2007 from Digest of Educational Statistics: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d05/tables/dt05_391.asp

National Center for Educational Statistics. (2003). International Comparisons of Mathematics Literacy. Retrieved November 1, 2007 from: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2006/section2/indicator17.asp