If each US state were sovreign, the maths education rankings would be:

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Studies reveal US has some problems.

 

The US is so large that overall ranking masks the states that do poorly.

[Ocram's Razr 964]

I was surprised that Washington trails behind UK but I guess Eastern Washington and budget cuts could explain it.

--Ocram

[Easy Bakes 253]

So the plan worked

[Meg 368]

Interesting list.   A state-by-state comparison to other countries is more valid than the country as a whole.

 

No surprise about the order of states, though.  Mississippi is usually at the bottom of "good" lists and at the top of "bad" ones with  Alabama, Louisiana, and West Virginia not far behind.

[Duke87 1,070]

This little study makes an excellent point, although it kind of tells us some things we already know:

1) If you compare different states within the US, the variations on just about any metric are quite large.

2) Poverty drags down school performance, states with more families living in poverty have lower overall scores. Compare that list to this one.

 

 

Although there's something strange here: they've only got 49 states on their list. Where's Connecticut?

[Mr Saturn64 742]

As a student who endured an Algebra exam today, I can say that I speculate the reasoning behind this is the simple fact that too much stress and pressure is put on students.   We're not taught math, but rather how to pass these diabolical standardized exams.  Just a big of speculation.

 

By the way, there's an ad at the bottom of the screen that says "Math Maths"...   Ohhhhh..... kay?

[ROFLyoshi 1,760]

Although there's something strange here: they've only got 49 states on their list. Where's Connecticut?

Don't you mean Northeast New York?

Interesting article nonetheless.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Things are not much better here in the frozen north.  As an educator, I can assure you that the number of innumerate and illiterate people who "graduate" from secondary school are quite frequent and often find themselves not in the course they've selected but in bone-head math and English courses. 

 

The interference by the political system with education, especially in Ontario, has been pushing the idea of staying with the peer group to the effect that they have a sort of no child left behind syndrome.  Instead of educators in the public schools we now have a set of sheep who can at best be called educaterers.  They deliver things that taste good.  The concept of failure is put off until the post-secondary institutions have to attempt recovery of the ruined material.  This is often not possible due to the abdication of the parental duty.  The result is yet another set of unemployed and unemployable twenty-somethings.

 

We need a return to a primary and secondary system that emphasizes literacy and numeracy in addition to social skills.  I am sure many talented, bright students quit school at the first opportunity out of sheer boredom.  It is a waste.  Time for a return to proper streaming of students starting at around Grade V.

 

I am so glad I am retired and no longer have to cope with the little darlings.

[hamsterTK 93]

Among the children of poorly educated families, Texas is a spectacularly strong performer, equivalent to sixth place in the OECD rankings, just behind Finland.

 

 

I guess it goes to show Texas isn't that terrible. There are certain elements and certain things that are and in the long run they'll be muted by positive trends elsewhere. Some of more our outrageous politicians come from backwater districts that don't represent the state as a whole.

 

Low income casts a wide net though. You get stable working class families and dysfunctional "culture of poverty" communities alike. Texas might just have a lot more of the former than the latter. That would not surprise me.

21. Luxembourg

Texas

Virginia

22. Norway

 

 

Yay suck it Norway; you aren't so perfect are you?

 

One trait I suppose both places share is the existence of oil money funneled into a state fund that helps pay for higher education.