By Steven Chen
<[email protected]>

The U.S. education system is not doing anything wrong. It is just too conflicted right now to move forward.

President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address said we once again are in a “Sputnik moment” with the other superpower of this day – China. What defines the current “Sputnik moment” is a mix of standardized test scores and economic conditions that contribute to a sense of America’s decreased superpower status.

In fact, the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) that put Chinese students at the top only assessed students in Shanghai, a hub for the smartest students across China.

While many U.S. students have formed a sense of adventure through education and learn through their mistakes along the way, China emphasizes rote memorization, essentially spoon feeding its students. Because of such rigorous education absorption, Chinese students lack the fundamental ability to think critically and creatively. A sign of this difference between U.S. and China is in testing. While we write essays developing our thoughts and forming our solutions with care, Chinese students go straight to the answer with a memorized procedure.

Then there’s college. Chinese students want to go to college. However, if they don’t test into a good school, the road stops there. High school in China train students for the Gao Kao, a test with more significance than the American SAT since it actually directly determines college acceptance. In the United States, high school teaches the basic critical thinking skills necessary for students who might not want to choose college as their next step. This contributes in large part to the better U.S. colleges where students have already received a foundation of critical thinking rather than rote memorization. This is why Chinese colleges do not live up to their American counterparts.

The focus on standardization may not be the best route. China’s competitive student market makes standardized tests the most viable option. What schools really need are enrichment opportunities that hone a student’s career choice(s). This is what Superintendent Jeff Swensson’s proposed Greyhound Senior Semester is trying to achieve. (Swensson is currently pushing for local control of schools at the State Legislature, and one change he would install would modify the senior year curriculum.) An enhanced curriculum also calls for better educators. Because China has an aura of memorization, teachers don’t play as big of a role as they do here.

Although U.S. education might be losing its edge in public opinion, it’s not too far behind. Education is historically slow at reforming, but we will realize an American education will succeed in the future, producing strong leaders out of the current generation.