Good article on New York Times that proves two of the Korean's deeply held beliefs:
1. Despite its numerous flaws, Korean educational system does at least some things right. -- The Korean himself was a poor student at math and science in Korea, but once moved to U.S., he was destroying the curriculum. Californian 12th graders learn 8th grade Korean math. It's a crying shame.
2. Immigration is a vital source of strength of the U.S., and it must be encouraged -- So what if America sucks at math? Import more Asians!
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I think that my high-school level of math (BC Calculus, which is the equivalent of American college Calc 1 and 2, in 11th grade) was roughly on track with that of a Korean 11th-grader (this guess comes from asking 4-5 of my college-education Korean friends, who go to "good" schools in Seoul).
ReplyDeleteMany, many more Koreans than Americans - as a % of students - are at that level (~Calculus 2 or 3) at the end of high school. BUT there are a significant number of Americans, mostly at wealthy suburban high schools or urban magnet schools, who obtain a similar or even better. At my brother's ultra-wealthy magnet school, there is a special chaos-theory class taught by a PhD.
However (again, from anecdotal evidence) science is a different story and even the best American high schools are behind in terms of science. I think a lot of this may be due to the high degree of time investment (i.e. rote memorization and maybe some lab work) needed to gain proficiency in the fundamentals of biology, chemistry, and physics. Most American students simply view the opportunity cost as too high (rightly or not).
Also I COMPLETELY agree with point #2. The amount of skilled immigrants allowed into the U.S. should be exponentially increased.