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Science/Tech See other Science/Tech Articles Title: Canadian Teenagers Ace International Science Test; US students not even in top 10... Behind only Finland and Hong Kong of 57 countries November 30, 2007 Canadian teenagers rank third in science on a respected international test, according to initial results released yesterday. The survey, which measured the scientific knowledge of 15-year-olds in 57 countries last year, found this country's youngsters were behind only their peers in Finland and Hong Kong. "Canadian students have proven again to be among the best," Kelly Lamrock, New Brunswick's Education Minister and chairman of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, said in a statement. Educators consider the test, which is called the Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA, a comprehensive yardstick of students' academic achievements and use results to drive policy and practices. "PISA is much more than just a ranking. It is about how well individual education systems are equipping their young people for the world of tomorrow. First and foremost, it tells countries where their strengths and weaknesses lie," Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, said in a statement. In the OECD's last PISA survey, which was conducted in 2003, Canadian students ranked 11th in science. However, officials warned against comparisons because the nature of the assessments varied. "They always look at these things with caution," said Paul Cappon, president and CEO of the Canadian Council on Learning, a federally funded organization that promotes lifelong education. "It is a picture at one point in time for a particular level of education. But we can still take some encouragement from it." The results come a day after another international test focusing on literacy among Grade 4 pupils ranked those from Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario among the top scorers. The OECD released initial PISA results earlier than planned because a Spanish magazine published leaked partial figures. Full details, including a breakdown of provincial results in Canada, will be made public early next week. In 2006, an extensive two-hour test was written by more than 400,000 15-year-olds in 57 countries that together account for nearly 90 per cent of the world economy. The test graded all countries on a scoring scale that set the average performance at about 500. The tests are administered every three years, and the focus alternates between reading, math and science. The latest cycle assessed science knowledge and skills, but also measured proficiency in the other two disciplines. The 2003 test focused on math, and the 2000 evaluation, which was the first of its kind, concentrated on reading. Top scorers Here are the top mean science scores among 15-year-olds as measured in 2006 by the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment: Finland 563 Hong Kong 542 Canada 534 Taiwan 532 Estonia 531 Japan 531 New Zealand 530 Australia 527 Netherlands 525 Liechtenstein 522 Korea 522
Poster Comment: After some digging, I find that the US students ranked 29th out of the 57 countries participating. Rankings can be found here: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/42/8/39700724.pdf
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#6. To: Brian S (#0)
What's the problem? Big deal that the USA ranked 29 out of 57 nations. Hey our yute beat those from Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Columbia. I don't know about you but I'm proud. Consider that education merely consumes 50% of our states' budgets. If we ratchet it up to 75% of our budgets, then we'd beat Croatia for sure. It's for the children. Woot, woot.
I consider all public schools horrible. However, some are less horrible than others, and those are able to produce kids who still make us the leader of the world. People howl about the ignorance of kids today, but who leads the world in software? Us. We have too many Ph.Ds of nearly all kinds, and if Bill Gates and others of the Treason Lobby weren't lying about the need to import indentured Third Worlders, every job he has would be filled by Americans. Most of our problems are caused by the national cognitive decline due to blacks and Mexicans and other Third Worlders. Without them, when we match our best against the best in the world, who would come out on top? I'd choose us.
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