The rise and slide of Taiwanese education

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/editorial/world-issues/2010/12/13/283456/The-rise.htm

The rise and slide of Taiwanese education

            Shanghai participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) for the first time and came out on top in all three categories (reading, mathematics, and science).  They beat the next three countries by over fifteen points. The PISA is an international exam given to 15-year-olds.  The exam is given in 65 developed nations and it assess their ability to do real life challenges.  Critics from Taiwan and the United States thought that Shanghai may have gathered their brightest students for the test.  Others thought that they hone their students in on the subject matter and textbooks in order to do well on standardized tests.  This idea, however; doesn’t hold up, because if Shanghai was just to the books, then Japanese and Taiwanese students should have scored high also because of the similar curriculum styles.

            It is amazing that Shanghai had the top score in all three categories of the PISA test.  It shows that they must be doing something right as far as educating their students.  The article also talked about a difference in emphasis on academics and extracurricular activities between the U.S. and Shanghai.  The U.S. may have to look into what is making Shanghai successful and incorporate some of their techniques into its curriculum.