Everywhere But Here: U.S. Takes a Beating in Rankings
November 4, 2009 | Todd G.
The Associated Press is up with a piece about the declining graduation rates in the United States. It points to a college survey that claims the U.S. is falling behind other countries in college graduations, particularly in the areas of science. For some the criticism is unjustified, as the article explains via an interview with education expert, Cliff Adelman. He lays out the case for the American educational system being on par or better than other countries and shows why the numbers just don’t add up. Things like graduation rates are calculated in a way that negates students who transfer to another school.
I’m in agreement with the reporter and the expert that concrete comparisons are difficult to make, since the definitions of key aspects of education vary too much. Is this just supposed to make us feel badly about ourselves? Oh, look, the U.S. isn’t so tough now is it? Although I welcome the wake-up call and acknowledge that we can always do better, I tend to look at these kinds of “global” surveys with a bit of skepticism as they don’t capture what’s really going on inside different countries with different cultures. Much like the health care debate, both sides can cite information that promotes their position. Is the data not valid in one case or the other? Or is it just a matter of differences in definitions, cultures, social norms, etc? My gut tells me it’s the latter.
Anyone out there attend college in a different country and would like to share their thoughts on this?
