Posted December 5, 200717 yr Last Updated: Tuesday, 4 December 2007, 08:57 GMT UK schools slip down global table BBC News UK secondary school students have slipped down an international league table of reading and maths standards. Based on test results in 2006, the UK has lost the top 10 positions it held for both subjects seven years ago. The most successful countries in reading are South Korea and Finland and teenagers in Taiwan and Finland are the highest achievers in maths. The international study is produced by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. These Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) performance tables are based on tests taken by 15-year-olds which aim to assess their ability to apply their knowledge in "real world" situations. They are undertaken every three years - but the UK did not participate in the last round of tests, taken in 2003. Downwards Comparisons instead are made with the UK's ranking positions based on tests taken in 2000. Last week, figures from the Pisa study showed that the UK had tumbled down the league table for school science. And the latest report shows that the UK's performance has also declined in both reading and maths against international competitors - going from above-average to average. It is the only country which was in the top-performing group in 2000 to have slipped down into the lower group. In 2000, the UK was placed eighth in maths and seventh in reading - the UK in the latest table is in 24th place for maths and 17th for literacy. The countries which were ahead of the UK in reading in 2000 - Finland, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Korea - remain in the top 10 for this year. But the UK has now been overtaken by countries including Poland, Sweden, the Netherlands and Japan. Overtaken In maths, the UK has been overtaken by a group of improved performers, including Slovenia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Austria. The Pisa rankings, based on tests taken by 400,000 students in 57 countries, is an attempt to measure the attainment of pupils in different education systems. The tables being published now are based on tests taken by pupils in 2006. This is the latest in a series of international education tables - in an increasing trend to assess performance against other countries, rather than only using national benchmarks. This has not brought much positive news for the government. And the reading performance of 10-year-old children in England has fallen from third to 19th, according to the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study. An accompanying survey found high levels of concern about safety in school from pupils in England. Urgency The UK government has sought to downplay the Pisa findings - saying that the rankings were not comparable with previous years. But a spokesperson for the OECD said that such comparisons were "perfectly legitimate". Schools Minister Jim Knight said that the science results showed that the UK remained above average. And for maths and reading, he promised greater efforts to intervene when pupils are struggling. "We are putting a relentless focus on the progress of every individual through programmes such as Every Child Counts and personalised learning so that we know exactly where progress is made and where children are falling behind," said Mr Knight. The Shadow Children's Secretary Michael Gove said: "Every year the government boasts about the improvements it has made to education but every external audit tells us we're falling further behind." The CBI's director-general, Richard Lambert, said the report was "disturbing reading". "At a time of increasing global competition, the UK cannot afford to be 'average'. We need a renewed sense of urgency in tackling the UK's underperformance in literacy and numeracy," said Mr Lambert. When year on year GCSE & A Level students keep on getting record breaking results, yet this independent worldwide body suggest very much otherwise. Do you think the level of education & knowledge from school leavers has increased under the last 10 years of Labour's "Educatation, Education, Education" policies or do you think it has decreased in the last 10 years as a result of "lies, damn lies, statistics & spin" ?
December 5, 200717 yr Unfortunately, we are never told the whole story. This could be because standards in Britain have risen but standards elsewhere have risen faster. It could be that standards in all the countries in the survey are pretty similar and that relative positions are pretty meaningless. I really don't know whether that is the case. Sadly, the news media's obsession with "bad news" means that none of us do.
December 5, 200717 yr and all the immigrants want to come here? :huh: they'd probably getter a better education at home
December 12, 200717 yr Unfortunately, we are never told the whole story. This could be because standards in Britain have risen but standards elsewhere have risen faster. It could be that standards in all the countries in the survey are pretty similar and that relative positions are pretty meaningless. I really don't know whether that is the case. Sadly, the news media's obsession with "bad news" means that none of us do. My sentiments exactly.
December 13, 200717 yr How did the USA do? Unfortunately not very well. When I get home from work I can post the Economist article about it. But if you break it down by state, Massachussetts ranks near the top, while Mississippi lags down in the lower range. Further proof that our president's ludicrous No Child Left Behind Act, which punishes underperforming schools by snatching away their funding, and his obsession with school vouchers -- so that kids can abandon the public schools and join pricey private schools or creepy religious schools -- have failed miserably. Education reform should be among the highest concerns today. But it's just so much easier to remind us that Islamic facists want to kill us and step away from the podium. Edited December 13, 200717 yr by Consie
January 12, 200817 yr THIS IS TOTAL BS!!! My school (which is public) got 99.3% a-c (or a-g i will check on monday) for a-levels!!!
January 13, 200817 yr Unfortunately not very well. When I get home from work I can post the Economist article about it. But if you break it down by state, Massachussetts ranks near the top, while Mississippi lags down in the lower range. Further proof that our president's ludicrous No Child Left Behind Act, which punishes underperforming schools by snatching away their funding, and his obsession with school vouchers -- so that kids can abandon the public schools and join pricey private schools or creepy religious schools -- have failed miserably. Education reform should be among the highest concerns today. But it's just so much easier to remind us that Islamic facists want to kill us and step away from the podium. Totally agree, well I have all above national average grades on my report...but I guess that's not saying much :lol:
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