What are European and Asian countries doing that causes them to be ranked higher than us in education?

Lahoma Beadell: I live in Europe, but some of my relatives live in America, so I know what I'm talking about: American school are just too easy. I'm in the first grade of high school, and I'm doing your 4th grade maths. :O

Jasper Mangel: guessing your american? - its the same with healthcare, Americans pay ALLOT more per capita for health and education yet get back ALLOT less XD, someones obviously getting very rich :) .personally i think its the general american phobia of socialism, im not staying the state should own everything (far from it) but the government is prevented from regulating either "industry" very well, and they are just industrys now, a lucrative business opportunity :) (+the state doesn't pay for it... free healthcare and education ftw XD)btw, i think all education systems are critisised by local media + paying more increases cost - counter intuitive? )...Show more

Jill Thomer: It also has to do with babying American citizens with chances to ! pass. Also the media and the lack of conformity in schools.

Jana Sakasegawa: They pay their teachers.

Maurice Breuning: They simply deliver a higher academic standard of education. In the UK children sit GCSE's at age 16 which in terms of academic difficulty are the same as the exams you guys sit when leaving high school at 18, so by the time English students go to Uni they are at least two years more advanced. The american system also seems to baby students, in the UK children go to nursery where they begin to learn not just play at 2 years 9 months, not 5 years, so again an advantage, also European education is targetted toward self efficacy rather than a didactic teacher/student relationship, so students are encouraged to develop the tools/skills for effective learning, to learn themselves in all aspects of life and to develop a thirst for knowledge rather than expecting to be given not only the tools but the materials to learn....Show more

Michelle Soh! re: Canada ranks in the top 2-6 worldwide - depending upon the! subject. In Canada, some Provinces have started all-day Kindergarden. Until '02, there were 13 Grades. Then in '02 the Grade 13 Curriculum was moved to Grade 12, Grade 12 down to Grade 11, etc. Graduating students can expect to have taken Advanced Algebra and Calculus if College/University bound. There are national tests in Grade 1, Grade 3, Grade 6 and Grade 9. Teachers starting salaries are between $50,000 and $55,000 depending upon the Province. The average teacher's salary is about $77,000. Some make 6 figures.Even with all this in mind, many Canadian families still opt for Private Schools that offer an even higher level of education.I grew up and went to school in Michigan and the one key difference that I've found was that at my old school it was NOT COOL to be smart. In Canada it is VERY COOL to be smart. The parents here also spend much more time with their children from a pre-school level reading to them and engaging them in discussion more than I have s! een in their U.S. counterparts....Show more