The Smartest Kids in the World

The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way

The presence of smarter children and how their lifestyles affect their abilities have been hotly contested topics of discussion all over the world. By examining case studies from educational establishments in South Korea, Finland, and Poland, Amanda Ripley focuses on the topic in her book The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way. Ripley contrasts the educational systems in the aforementioned countries to those in the United States using examples from those systems. In order to determine why some children were learning a lot while others were learning very little, Ripley composed the book. The reason for the case was to educate the audience that the education system exercised in America is not the most suitable hence the poor performance by students. Ripley’s book shows us that one way to make American schools better is to stop focusing on sports, but rather teach subjects like math differently, and infuse the schools with rigor and respect.

Nations with Better Tests for Standardization

First, nations such as Finland have established better tests for standardization purposes during primary and secondary schooling. According to the United States of America theme No Child Left Behind and Common Core, every student that was in their third and eighth grade had to do a standardized test every year to assess student’s performance (Schmidt & Curtis). Meanwhile, in Finland, the system applied by the National Matriculation Examination focus on giving children exams once they are about to clear high school. According to Professor Pasi Sahlberg who once served as director general in the Ministry of Finland, the system applied the concept that the well-being and happiness of any individual cannot be an ethical concept (Schmidt & Curtis).

Therefore, the students should be taught critical life skills such as how to handle revolution, political issues, violence and losing a job, etc. According to my personal experience, taking a test every end of the year is mandatory for every student (Schmidt & Curtis). However, most students tend to find the process tedious and unnecessary. Since the test is a must, most students prefer to cram the teachings, and once they are done with the exam, they let go of the knowledge (Schmidt & Curtis).

Streamlining the Learning System

Second, streamlining the learning system to ensure there is the effectiveness of the entire system. The effectiveness of this measures has been proven by the approach applied by Poland (Schmidt & Curtis). In Poland, strict testing standards were established, construction of additional schools was implemented and a quarter of the country’s teachers were made to undergo extensive training. During the year 2000, students in Poland recorded a performance below the normal standard in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) test. However, the Polish student passed their United States counterparts and continued with the upward trend until they establish their name as one of the most literate nations in the current three categories. According to Ripley, in the last pages of her book, there exists a consensus in Finland, Poland, and Korea that every child was required to spend much of their timer leaning for the students to pass. This contradicts the ideologies in the US since over here I have experienced a situation where most of the teachers encourage students to dedicate much of their time in other activities such as sports while the same effort was not applied in convincing children to learn.

The Korean Model: Grit and Hard Work

Third, even though the Korean model: Grit and hard, hard, hard work appear to be a system that places extreme pressure on the students, it stands out as an effective method. For more than 100 years, most of Asia adopted the notion that for any individual to be able to go up the socioeconomic staircase and secure a job, they had to undergo a test (Sahlberg & Ravitch). According to Marc Tucker who serves as the CEO and president of the National Center on Education and the Economy, the test given to the student was a difficult rite of passage and required the students to have a thorough command of knowledge (Sahlberg & Ravitch). The effects can be established as South Korea is arguably the most successful nation academically and has recorded 100 percent level of literacy (Ripley). Furthermore, the nation is always at the forefront whenever they engage in International comparative tests of achievement as well as analysis and critical thinking skills.

However, to attain the status, Korea had to implement a system that students find enormous and unrelenting. When the situations are compared to America, it is the contrary since most American schools tend to emphasize greatly on engaging in sports and non-academic activities, it is also critical to understand that the system in Korea has made Korean economy to grow by 40,000% within the last 50 years (Ripley). When Ripley was in the city of Wroclaw, she came across a bookish teenager within Pennsylvania and learned that the main culture in Pennsylvania was playing football. However, the activity was not incorporated into the school system (Ripley). Even though children were allowed to practice football on their own after they were done with school, it did not deter the significance of school to the students.

The Impact of Poverty on Education

One controversial issue that was attributed to the low performance experienced within the United States of America is due to the poverty rate in America. According to the description given by American educators, Finland happens to be a silky paradise where teachers were greatly loved by students (Ripley). Additionally, Finland stands out among the top nations with the best learning strategies that have influenced their students to perform well academically because of various reasons. The major reason is that Finland has extremely low rates of child poverty when compared to America, which has high rates of 20 percent.

Based on the above perception, it suggests that the case of poor academic can only be fixed when the children poverty level in America is solved. Undeniably, the reason could be true considering that poor kids do experience a certain level of stress that should not be managed by a child. However, the mystery was brought about when America’s literacy level was compared to Norway’s, which is a Nordic welfare state that had imposed high taxes and a universal health system but still, the Norwegian children perform better in education when they are compared to the America (Ripley). The finding implies that there was more to what affected the performance of children other than child poverty.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the research case focused on discussing the different education system exercised by various nations across the globe including America. Based on Ripley’s findings, the education system adopted by the United States of America plays a key role in the poor performance that students are giving. The poor performance is because the education system in America focuses on encouraging sports activity rather than balancing out. As a result, most leaners even though develop a physical fit healthy life, the same cannot be said about their academics. Therefore, it is critical for the America education system to adjust the current system to ensure it incorporates and balances both academic and non-academic elements necessary to bring out an all centered society. The adjusted system will allow the student to at least be able to develop a balanced system of both academic and extra-curriculum activities rather than depend on one factor such as sports only to shape their lives.

Works Cited

Ripley, Amanda. The smartest kids in the world: And how they got that way. Simon and Schuster, 2013.

Sahlberg, Pasi, Diane Ravitch, and Andy Hargreaves. Finnish Lessons 2.0: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland? 2015.

Schmidt, William H, and Curtis C. McKnight. Inequality for All: The Challenge of Unequal Opportunity in American Schools. New York: Teachers College Press, 2012.