Why Korean Education Is Leaving America In The Dust: and What We Must Do to Catch up

This author not only identifies the major shortcomings of the American Public Elementary School but makes thirty three specific recommendations as to how to improve them He does this because he fears America is falling behind other nations particularly the Asian countries such as South Korea Japan and China He decries the short teaching day and teaching year of the United States in comparison with those nations that are leaving us behind such as South Korea He pulls no punches in taking on the politicians In the process parents are not spared as they have exempted their children from walking to neighborhood schools and losing the exercise children experienced in walking by driving them Our drop out rate of one third is a disgrace when other nations graduate over 93 from high school says Hedges After describing Korean education and making recommendations in the first three chapters the author then sets forth how modern elementary schools should be and can be organized and operated in contrast with the way so many of them are organized and operated today This development would help them in contrast with Korean Schools which are more lockstep He points out that one reason for so many home study children is that parents are not pleased with what the elementary public schools are providing They want an education tailor made for their children and they set about doing it when the public schools come up short Too many of our schools proceed in lock step tracking children into dumb average above average and bright groups when with modern computers this is no longer necessary Hedges an author of two books on testing and one on early childhood education maintains that the testing going on is for all of the wrong reasons i e 1 to evaluate teachers 2 to compare students with one another 3 to compare schools with one another In his view tests should be used as the medical profession uses tests i e to diagnose individual needs and thus to s