Minnesota Teacher of the Year

In education, we take pride in good answers. But in order to get good answers, you’ve got to have good questions. Bad questions can cause all sorts of problems. Take, for example, the education question in the final debate between Senators Barack Obama and John McCain. In case you missed it, here is the lead-in: “The US spends more per capita than any other country on education, yet by every international measurement in math and science competence from kindergarten through the twelfth grade, we trail most countries of the world.” If you’d like to hear the question, here’s the video:

Seriously, who permitted this question? This is a perfect example of how a poorly composed question can frame answers and subtly lead public opinion to dangerous and unfounded conclusions. It’s so easy to hear the underlying assumption in this question: “We spend all this money on education in the US, yet we stink. What are you going to do about it?” The question is misleading in so many ways.

Money per capita spent on education is a grossly inaccurate measure of public commitment to education. Of course the United States spends more dollars per student than any other country: the US has a high cost of living. In simple terms, stuff is expensive here, and a dollar goes a lot further in the Philippines than it does here. A more accepted and better measure of a country’s commitment to education is the percentage of Gross National Product devoted to education. This measures how much of a country’s production is invested in education, and using this removes much of the bias that other measures reflect. And where does the US rank in this regard? According to the latest United Nations’ figures, the US ranks a paltry 38th, behind such economic powerhouses as Mongolia, Estonia, and Morocco. Furthermore, the US spends extraordinary amounts on Special Education. Many countries marginalize the deaf, the disabled, and children with autism; in the United States, we do the right thing and help them become productive citizens.

The question also states that the US trails “most countries of the world” in math and science scores. Comparing international science and math scores is fraught with pitfalls, but even if you accept the scores’ validity, US students range from top-ten to the mid-twenties on most tests. While there’s definitely a need for improvement, it’s hardly “trailing most countries of the world”.

But the bigger problem with the question is the implication that multiple-choice test scores in science and math somehow magically reflect US educational effectiveness. In the United States, the Friedman-fueled debate rages on how to prepare students for the new world of international competitiveness. If we want to build students capable of thriving in the 21st century, we’ve got to educate children in a wide range of skills. Our schools are gradually transforming to reflect this: where possible, we provide a broad curriculum that focuses on areas such as health, world languages, music, art, and technology. Our students can do so much more than prepare for multiple-choice exams. They collaborate in teams, work creatively and do a plethora of activities that facilitate building the skills needed for this new century.

So if math and science scores are a poor proxy for our nation’s educational effectiveness, what is a more effective measure? Given that the angle of the debate question was on international competitiveness, could we have used worker productivity? Isn’t that the heart of the private sector’s concern: making productive, employable citizens? Well, then, consider this: According to the UN’s International Labor Organization, the US worker is the most productive worker in the world.

Let’s go back and rephrase the original question. “Despite ranking 38th in the world in terms of percentage of GNP spent on education, the US educational system fuels the most productive workforce in the world. What are you going to do about it?” That puts a different slant on the question, doesn’t it?

To be fair, my purpose isn’t to put education on a pedestal of perfection. To say that our system needs no reform is just as ignorant as saying that it’s totally broken and should be disassembled. I’m also not arguing that worker productivity is a better measure of a nation’s educational achievement.

The point I’d like to press home is that good questions get good answers, and bad questions lead public opinion to devastating conclusions. When you ask only one question about education in a debate, and you frame that question to make it sound like the United States is the greatest proponent of education yet gets the worst results, you paint an unwarranted and false picture of US education. We have grave and pressing educational issues in front of us. Let’s begin tackling these issues by asking good questions.