http://www.chinanews.com/gj/2013/10-09/5352280.shtml
國際成年人能力評估：美國低於全球平均水平
新華網 2013年10月09日
中新社休斯敦10月8日電（記者王歡）經濟合作與發展組織（OECD）8日發布了首次“國際成人能力評估計劃”（PIAAC）調查結果。在被認為對全球競爭力和經濟實力至關重要的數學、閱讀和解決問題的技術能力方麵，美國成年人的“全球技能考試”得分低於國際平均水平。
這是經合組織第一次發表該調查結果。本次調查針對美國、日本、韓國、德國等24個國家的15.7萬名16至65歲間成人進行，主要比較他們在語言、數字、電腦等領域的能力。中國和印度沒有列入此次評估計劃。
語言能力主要考察理解、評價、應用書麵文章的能力；數學考察搜集、利用、分析數字信息並加以溝通的能力；信息技術應用能力則考察使用數碼技術、溝通工具及網絡的能力。除了基礎考題外，被調查者還參加了一些實際生活技能測試，例如作為推銷員計算報銷裏程，整理電子郵件和比較雜貨店食品標簽的保質期等。
美聯社報道稱，在所有三個領域的測試中，日本、加拿大、澳大利亞、芬蘭和其他多個國家的成年人得分均明顯高於美國。美國年輕學生的技能水平遠遠低於50至65歲的中老年人。
美國教育部部長鄧肯（Arne Duncan）在一份聲明中指出，“這些研究結果應該引起我們的關注。其展示出在全球經濟越來越要求高技能的大背景下，我們的教育製度在幫助美國人提高競爭力方麵做得很不夠。盡管我們擁有最高技能的成年人與其他領先國持平，但研究同樣暴露出，美國有大量被忽視的成年人隻具有非常低的基本技能，他們中的大多數正在工作。我們亟需找到方法改變這一現狀。”
美國的學齡孩子在國際評估測試中一直得分較低，這往往歸咎於人口的多樣性和大量移民的湧入。值得關注的是，大部分缺乏基本閱讀和數學技能的美國學生，來自於低收入和少數族裔家庭，父母的受教育程度與孩子的社會技能水平緊密相關。
哈佛大學教授彼得森（Paul Peterson）強調，“我們的年輕人口應該比受過良好教育的老年人做得更好，因為他們正在進入勞動力市場。”經合組織暗示美國和英國稱，“一些國家除非采取行動提高青年人的技能熟練度，否則未來幾十年裏，他們的經濟將出現疲軟。”
這次調查還顯示，在閱讀和數學能力方麵，日本位居首位；芬蘭人使用信息技術的能力排名世界第一。包括西班牙和意大利在內的一些歐洲國家的得分不樂觀。參與測評的各國均有最終學曆越高成績越好的傾向，測試得分與薪金同樣成正比。
“日本得分最高，但經濟40年來一直衰退，這其中的教訓是什麽？”曾為美國教育部監測統計數據的研究機構副總裁施耐德（Mark Schneider）對經合組織這一調查結果持懷疑態度。
http://nypost.com/2013/10/08/us-adults-are-dumber-than-the-average-human
US adults are dumber than the average human
by Associated Press, 8 October 2013
WASHINGTON — It’s long been known that America’s school kids haven’t measured well compared with international peers. Now, there’s a new twist: Adults don’t either.
In math, reading and problem-solving using technology – all skills considered critical for global competitiveness and economic strength – American adults scored below the international average on a global test, according to results released Tuesday.
Adults in Japan, Canada, Australia, Finland and multiple other countries scored significantly higher than the United States in all three areas on the test. Beyond basic reading and math, respondents were tested on activities such as calculating mileage reimbursement due to a salesman, sorting email and comparing food expiration dates on grocery store tags.
Not only did Americans score poorly compared to many international competitors, the findings reinforced just how large the gap is between the nation’s high- and low-skilled workers and how hard it is to move ahead when your parents haven’t.
In both reading and math, for example, those with college-educated parents did better than those whose parents did not complete high school.
The study, called the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, found that it was easier on average to overcome this and other barriers to literacy overseas than in the United States.
Researchers tested about 166,000 people ages 16 to 65 in more than 20 countries and subnational regions. The test was developed and released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which is made up of mostly industrialized member countries. The Education Department’s Center for Education Statistics participated.
The findings were equally grim for many European countries – Italy and Spain, among the hardest hit by the recession and debt crisis, ranked at the bottom across generations. Unemployment is well over 25 percent in Spain and over 12 percent in Italy. Spain has drastically cut education spending, drawing student street protests.
But in the northern European countries that have fared better, the picture was brighter – and the study credits continuing education. In Finland, Denmark, and the Netherlands, more than 60 percent of adults took part in either job training or continuing education. In Italy, by contrast, the rate was half that.
As the American economy sputters along and many people live paycheck-to-paycheck, economists say a highly-skilled workforce is key to economic recovery. The median hourly wage of workers scoring on the highest level in literacy on the test is more than 60 percent higher than for workers scoring at the lowest level, and those with low literacy skills were more than twice as likely to be unemployed.
“It’s not just the kids who require more and more preparation to get access to the economy, it’s more and more the adults don’t have the skills to stay in it,” said Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement the nation needs to find ways to reach more adults to upgrade their skills. Otherwise, he said, “no matter how hard they work, these adults will be stuck, unable to support their families and contribute fully to our country.”
Among the other findings:
-Americans scored toward the bottom in the category of problem solving in a technology rich environment. The top five scores in the areas were from Japan, Finland, Australia, Sweden and Norway, while the US score was on par with England, Estonia, Ireland and Poland. In nearly all countries, at least 10 percent of adults lacked the most basic of computer skills such as using a mouse.
-Japanese and Dutch adults who were ages 25 to 34 and only completed high school easily outperformed Italian or Spanish university graduates of the same age.
-In England, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the United States, social background has a big impact on literacy skills, meaning the children of parents with low levels of education have lower reading skills.
America’s school kids have historically scored low on international assessment tests compared to other countries, which is often blamed on the diversity of the population and the high number of immigrants. Also, achievement tests have long shown that a large chunk of the US student population lacks basic reading and math skills – most pronounced among low-income and minority students.
This test could suggest students leaving high school without certain basic skills aren’t obtaining them later on the job or in an education program.
The United States will have a tough time catching up because money at the state and local level, a major source of education funding, has been slashed in recent years, said Jacob Kirkegaard, an economist with the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
“There is a race between man and machine here. The question here is always: Are you a worker for whom technology makes it possible to do a better job or are you a worker that the technology can replace?” he said. For those without the most basic skills, he said, the answer will be merciless and has the potential to extend into future generations. Learning is highly correlated with parents’ education level.
“If you want to avoid having an underclass – a large group of people who are basically unemployable – this educational system is absolutely key,” Kirkegaard said.
Dolores Perin, professor of psychology and education at Teachers College, Columbia University, said the report provides a “good basis for an argument there should be more resources to support adults with low literacy.”
Adults can learn new skills at any age and there are adult-geared programs around the country, Perin said. But, she said, the challenge is ensuring the programs have quality teaching and that adults regularly attend classes.
“If you find reading and writing hard, you’ve been working hard all day at two jobs, you’ve got a young child, are you actually going to go to class? It’s challenging,” Perin said.
Some economists say that large skills gap in the United States could matter even more in the future. America’s economic competitors like China and India are simply larger than competitors of the past like Japan, Carnevale said. Even while America’s top 10 percent of students can compete globally, Carnevale said, that doesn’t cut it. China and India did not participate in this assessment.
“The skills in the middle are required and we’re not producing them,” Carnevale said.
Respondents were selected as part of a nationally represented sample. The test was primarily taken at home using a computer, but some respondents used a printed test booklet.
Among the other findings:
-Japan, Finland, Canada, Netherlands, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Flanders-Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, and Korea all scored significantly higher than the United States in all three areas on the test.
-The average scores in literacy range from 250 in Italy to 296 in Japan. The US average score was 270. (500 was the highest score in all three areas.) Average scores in 12 countries were higher than the average US score.
-The average scores in math range from 246 in Spain to 288 in Japan. The US average score was 253, below 18 other countries.
-The average scores on problem solving in technology-rich environments ranged from 275 in Poland to 294 in Japan. The US average score was 277, below 14 other countries.
http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2013/10/09/its-official-american-adults-are-dumber-than-average
It's Official: American Adults Are Dumber Than Average
by Michael Krieger, Liberty Blitzkrieg blog, 9 October 2013
The study is called the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies and it tested 166,000 people aged 16 to 65 in more than 20 countries. It found that in math, reading and problem solving, American adults scored below the international average.
I can’t say this is surprising, after all, the public allowed the big banks that destroyed the economy to gift themselves trillions in the aftermath of the financial crisis with barely a peep in response. You don’t have to be a problem solving genius to figure that one out. Finally, there is some proof behind our long-held suspicions.
From the Associated Press via the New York Post:
WASHINGTON — It’s long been known that America’s school kids haven’t measured well compared with international peers. Now, there’s a new twist: Adults don’t either.
In math, reading and problem-solving using technology – all skills considered critical for global competitiveness and economic strength – American adults scored below the international average on a global test, according to results released Tuesday.
Adults in Japan, Canada, Australia, Finland and multiple other countries scored significantly higher than the United States in all three areas on the test. Beyond basic reading and math, respondents were tested on activities such as calculating mileage reimbursement due to a salesman, sorting email and comparing food expiration dates on grocery store tags.
Not only did Americans score poorly compared to many international competitors, the findings reinforced just how large the gap is between the nation’s high- and low-skilled workers and how hard it is to move ahead when your parents haven’t.
Yes, it’s called feudalism.
The study, called the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, found that it was easier on average to overcome this and other barriers to literacy overseas than in the United States.
Researchers tested about 166,000 people ages 16 to 65 in more than 20 countries and subnational regions. The test was developed and released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which is made up of mostly industrialized member countries. The Education Department’s Center for Education Statistics participated.
Americans scored toward the bottom in the category of problem solving in a technology rich environment. The top five scores in the areas were from Japan, Finland, Australia, Sweden and Norway, while the US score was on par with England, Estonia, Ireland and Poland. In nearly all countries, at least 10 percent of adults lacked the most basic of computer skills such as using a mouse.
The above is somewhat surprising given the amount of time Americans spend glued to their iPhones for Facebook updates about what their cousin ate for breakfast. I can tell you one category in which Americans surely beat all global competitors. The art of mercilessly stampeding into one another like animals at Wal-Mart on Black Friday to purchase plasma televisions. That that world.
Full article here.
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