What Knowledge is of the Most Worth: Education for the Global Economy

Yong Zhao, Ph. DUniversity Distinguished Professor

Director, US-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence

College of EducationExecutive Director, Confucius Institute

Michigan State Universityzhaoyo@msu.edu

American education has been said to be in crisis….

And it threatens the nation’s future….

Inside photos showed Alexei doing complicated experiments in physics and chemistry and reading aloud from Sister Carrie.

Stephen, by contrast, retreated from a geometry problem on the blackboard and the caption advised, "Stephen amused class with wisecracks about his ineptitude." Seated at a typewriter in typing class, Stephen tells us "I type about one word a minute."

1958

Our Nation is at risk. Our once unchallenged preeminence in commerce, industry, science, and technological innovation is being overtaken by competitors throughout the world.The educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people.We are raising a new generation of Americans that is scientifically and technologically illiterate.

1983

Nations with Average Scores Significantly Higher than the US

Nation AverageSingapore 643Korea 607Japan 605Hong Kong 588Belgium (Fl) 565Czech Republic 564Slovak Republic 547Switzerland 545(Netherlands) 541(Slovenia) 541(Bulgaria) 540(Austria) 539France 538Hungary 537Russian Fed. 535(Australia) 530Ireland 527Canada 527(Belgium (Fr)) 526Sweden 519

Nations with Average Scores Significantly Lower than the US

Nation AverageLithuania 477Cyprus 474Portugal 454Iran, Islamic Republic 428(Kuwait) 392(Columbia) 385South Africa 354

Nations with Average Scores Not Significantly Different than the US

Nation AverageThailand 522Israel 522(Germany) 509New Zealand 508England 506Norway 503(Denmark) 502United States 500(Scotland) 498Latvia (LSS) 493Spain 487Iceland 487(Greece) 484(Romania) 482

1995 TIMSS Grade 8 Mathematics Performance

1995

By comparing how these students prioritize their time (approximately four years or “two million minutes” of high school), the film demonstrates that the typical student in the U.S. spends much less time on his/her education and gives less thought to future career opportunities than his/her global peers in India and China.

--2 million minutes

Two Million Minutes, vividly reveals that American students are no longer “at risk” of falling behind -- they are now clearly behind even Third World students in India and China, in addition to being in 24th place among developed countries.

Source: http://www.2mminutes.com/pressblog6.html

2007

U.S. treading water in reading Bloomberg News ServiceRussia, Hong Kong and Singapore shot to the top of 45 countries and provinces participating in a fourth-grade reading test, while England fell below the United States, according to results released yesterday. (Honolulu Advertiser, November 29, 2007)

U.S. Students Fall Short in Math and Science

Teenagers in a majority of industrialized nations taking part in a leading international exam showed greater scientific understanding than students in the United States—and they far surpassed their American peers in mathematics. (Education Week, December 4, 2007)

2007

But…

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40

60

80

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120

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UnitedStates

Japan Korea China India Russia

2007-2008 Global Competitiveness Index

United States

Japan

Korea

China

India

Russia

http://www.weforum.org/pdf/Global_Competitiveness_Reports/Reports/gcr_2007/gcr2007_rankings.pdf

Why?

The First International Mathematics Study (FIMS)

• Year data collected: 1964• Target Population: 13 year olds• Participating Countries: Australia,

Belgium, England, Finland, France, Germany (FRG), Israel, Japan, Netherlands, Scotland, Sweden, United States.

• US finished second to last (Sweden)

Jefferson told us where to look to see if a nation is a success.He did not say to look at test scores. Instead, he said to lookat “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

--Keith Baker (2007)

40 years later: Wealth

FIMS scores in 1964 correlate at r = -0.48 with 2002 PPP-GDP. In short, the higher a nation’s test score 40 years ago, the worse its economic performance on this measure of national wealth.

40 years later: Rate of Growth

The nations that scored better than the U.S. in 1964 had an average economic growth rate for the decade 1992-2002 of 2.5%; the growth rate for the U.S. during that decade was 3.3%. The average economic growth rate for the decade 1992-2002 correlates with FIMS at r = -0.24. Like the generation of wealth, the rate of economic growth for nations improved as test scores dropped.

40 years later: Productivity

There is no relationship between FIMS scores and hourly output, r = -.03. In 2004, the average hourly output of those nations that outscored the U.S. in 1964 was 3.4% lower than U.S. productivity, though the three nations with higher hourly output all had higher test scores than the U.S.

40 years later: Quality of Life

The average rank on the Quality of Life Index for nations that scored above the U.S. on FIMS was 10.8. The U.S. ranked seventh (lower numbers

are better). FIMS scores correlated with Quality of Life at r = -0.57.

40 years later: Democracy

On the Economy Intelligence Unit’s Index of Democracy, those nations that scored below the median on FIMS have a higher average rank on achieving democracy (9.8) than do the nations that scored above the median (18). Once again, the U.S. scored higher on attaining democracy than did nations with higher 1964 test scores.

40 years later: Livability

An alternative to the Quality of Life Index, the Most Livable Countries Index, shows

that six of the nine countries that scored higher on FIMS than the U.S. are worse places to live. Livability correlates with FIMS scores at r = -.49.

40 years later: Creativity

The number of patents issued in 2004 is one indicator of how creative the generation of students tested in 1964 turned out to be. The average number of patents per million people for the nations with FIMS scores higher than the U.S. is 127. America clobbered the world on creativity, with 326 patents per million people. However, FIMS scores do correlate with the number of patents issued: r = .13 with the U.S. and r= .49 without the U.S.

Baker, Keith (2007).Are International Tests Worth Anything? Kappan, October, 2007

What does education often do? It makes a straight-cut ditch of a free, meandering brook.

- Henry David Thoreau

Schools have not necessarily much to do with education. - Winston Churchill

The only time my education was interrupted was when I was in school. - George Bernard

Shaw

My grandmother wanted me to have an education, so she kept me out of school. -

Margaret Mead

In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards. - Mark Twain

bureaucratization of education

kills creativity

discrimination

narrows curriculumcheating

demoralization

Campbell’s Law

The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it was intended to monitor.

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.

--Albert Einstein

The current movements are destroying our strengths to meet

the new challenges.

New Challenges…

HD TV

Swanni's Annual 'Best & Worst' HDTV List

1. Teri Hatcher2. Demi Moore3. Donald Trump4. Heather Locklear5. David Letterman6. George W. Bush7. Ray Liotta8. Sandra Bullock9. Bill Clinton10. Clint Eastwood

1. Jessica Alba2. Eva Longoria3. Anna Kournikova4. Ben Affleck5. Ashton Kutcher6. Marcia Cross7. Halle Berry8. Jessica Simpson9. Nicole Kidman10. Angelina Jolie

http://www.tvpredictions.com/fall2005hd092605.html

Technology redefines talents…

"Say bud, can you tell me where the illiterate club is?"

Industrial Revolution

Science!

Latin

Greek

Grammar

Theology

LatinGreek

Grammar

ReligionChemistry

Physics

Physics

Chemistry

Biology

Technology

Biology

What’s taught in schools

What knowledge is of most worth?--Herbert Spencer, 1859

The emergence of two new worlds

Local-Physical

Virtual

Global

Local-Physical

The global

World Population Distribution

World Wealth DistributionWorld Tertiary Education EnrollmentRoyalties and License Fees ExportsToy Exports

Diversity 多元

Inequality 不均

共存

co-existence

History of Colonization and Decolonization

变化

change

As electrically contracted, the globe is no more than a village.

Marshall McLuhan, 1964

“Honey,” I confided, “I think the world is flat.”

Thomas Friedman, 2005

By almost any economically relevant metric, distances have shrunk considerably in recent decades.

[T]he shrinking globe has been a major source of the powerful wave of worldwide economic integration and increased economic interdependence that we are currently experiencing. But the full implications of these developments for all aspects of our lives will not be known for many years.

--Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the U. S. Federal Reserve 2006

Death of Distance

When I was growing up, my parents told me, “Finish your dinner. People in China and India are starving.” I tell my daughters, “Finish your homework. People in India and China are starving for your job.”

---Thomas Friedman, 2005

It’s a Big Job to Make the Mini: Global Supply Chain

Yao Ming and Herbert Hoover: Global Trade of Talents

The eBay Phenomenon: Expanded Market

Today, Indian engineers make $7,500 a year against $45,000 for an American engineer with the same qualifications. If we succeed in matching the very high levels of mastery of mathematics and science of these Indian engineers — an enormous challenge for this country — why would the world’s employers pay us more than they have to pay the Indians to do their work? They would be willing to do that only if we could offer something that the Chinese and Indians, and others, cannot. --New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce (2007). Tough Choices or Tougher Times

Therefore we need to move into niche areas where they will not be able to completely replace us for quite some time.

---Lee Kuan Yew, 2007

In the global economy, our student’s careers are global. Where can they find employment depends on their niche talents.

Daniel H. Pink (2005).A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age

A Whole New Mind

Information Age: L-Directed Thinking

– Sequential– Literal– Functional– Textual– Analytic Conceptual Age:

R-Directed Thinking– Simultaneous– Metaphorical– Aesthetic– Contextual– Synthetic

AsiaAutomationAbundance

Essential Aptitudes in the Conceptual Age

• Design• Story• Symphony• Empathy• Play• Meaning.

Implications for Education

Are we preparing citizens for the globalized world?

• Unique talents• Creativity, Imagination, and Passion• Cross-cultural competencies

– Understanding the globe– Foreign languages– Understanding other cultures

• Global responsibilities

The Virtual

Virtual marriage & 2nd Life: Socializing virtually

Anshe Chung has become the first online personality to achieve a net worth exceeding one million US dollars from profits entirely earned inside a virtual world.

--Business Week, May, 2006

Gold-farming and digital produce: Digital farmers market

Real-money trade of virtual items (RMT)“I estimate the total worldwide RMT volume to reach 2,090M”Virtual Economy Research Network:

http://virtual-economy.org/blog/how_big_is_the_rmt_market_anyw

YouTube and podcasting: Running your own show

With the 100 millionth account being created on August 9, 2006[4] and a news story claiming 106 million accounts on September 8, 2006,[5] the site reportedly attracts new registrations at a rate of 230,000 per day.

Currently staffed by 67 employees,[1] the company was named TIME magazine's "Invention of the Year" for 2006.[2] In October 2006, Google Inc. announced that it had reached a deal to acquire the company for US$1.65 billion in Google's stock. The deal closed on 13 November 2006.[3]

Podcast Users Expected To Reach 60 Million In Five Years The number of podcast users in the United States is expected to increase nearly 15 fold over the next five years, a research group says. –Information Week, May 15, 2005

What can an 18 year old do?

Hackers and Thieves: Morality and Crimes in CyberSpace

In the UK, Sasser forced staff at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to return to manual map reading because computer systems were made unusable by the worm.

Check-in for some British Airways flights was also delayed thanks to Sasser.

Around the world, the Australian Railcorp trains stopped running because computer problems caused by Sasser made it impossible for drivers to talk to signalmen.

In Taiwan, more than 400 branches of the post office were forced to use pen and paper because Sasser crashed desktop PCs.

Anti-virus firm Sophos estimates that 70% of all the virus infections in the first half of 2004 could be blamed on Mr Jaschan's creations.

Statistics gathered by Sophos show that in the first six months of 2005 there were four variants of Netsky in the top 10 viruses and they accounted for 25.5% of all infections. Unlike many other viruses, Sasser made its way from

Digital Citizenship

• Living in the digital world– Consumers– Citizens– Community leaders

• Making a living in the digital world– Digital workers– Global workers

• (Re)Creating the digital world– Innovators– Entrepreneurs

Finally,Lead Schools as Global Enterprises