Talk:Public education/Archive1

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International comparisons

I wanted to put something in about international comparisons using Pisa comparison scores but the US doesn't seem to be mentioned. Which is a bit of a shame as that's what the majority of people would be interested in. Or have I missed something?--Bob^{bing up} 07:49, 2 July 2008 (EDT)

Scratch that. this is the US version. --Bob^{bing up} 07:57, 2 July 2008 (EDT)

My word Finland does well. The UK could be generously called mediocre and the US abysmal. On the other hand I'm looking at one of the science questions:

• Question 3: THE GRAND CANYON
• There are many fossils of marine animals, such as clams, fish and corals, in the Limestone A layer of the Grand Canyon. What happened millions of years ago that explains why such fossils are found there?
• A In ancient times, people brought seafood to the area from the ocean.
• B Oceans were once much rougher and sea life washed inland on giant waves.
• C An ocean covered this area at that time and then receded later.
• D Some sea animals once lived on land before migrating to the sea.

I guess Andy's students would struggle with some of this. --Bob^{bing up} 08:05, 2 July 2008 (EDT)

The BBC is doing a pop education thing - How smart are you? The first series of 20 questions are on English. Genghis^{RationalWiki GOLD member} 11:01, 2 July 2008 (EDT)

Shit. 19, 'cause I read the question too fast.--Bob^{bing up} 11:34, 2 July 2008 (EDT)

Standards and Direction

Was the "educational standards" section meant to refer to the "standards-based" education standards that are common in America, are we going for a larger global definition, or something else entirely? And are we just focusing on American public education or not (considering a "public school" is defined very differently around the world)? I just wanted to get a feel for the "goal" of the article, I guess. --Arcan ¡ollǝɥ 21:12, 2 July 2008 (EDT)

o_o I didn't know that "standards-based" education was a mostly American thing. Radioactive afikomen ^{Please ignore all my awful pre-2014 comments.} 22:48, 2 July 2008 (EDT)

I don't so much have a goal as a vision of what we're aiming for. Mostly, I wanted to debunk all the crap that gets tossed around by critics of public education (either the current system or its very existence). The intent of the "educational standards" section was intended to addrress the debate about standards-based education. With regards to terminology, I was very purposeful in naming the article "public education", as opposed to public schools (the latter being by its nature limited in scope, because it discusses the location of the education system, as opposed to the education itself). I assumed (probably erroneously) that "public education" was a fairly universal (or at least immediately understandable) term. Radioactive afikomen ^{Please ignore all my awful pre-2014 comments.} 22:48, 2 July 2008 (EDT)