Thesis:

"Lack of discipline in US schools has destroyed their ability to function properly".

Background:

In the following list of 31 countries, the US ranks 27th in math scores. Discussions on the Witchhnt Listserve regarding Child Protective Services, Education, and Law Enforcement indicate that a large percent of citizens are unaware of the economic devastation caused by poor public education, whose roots are the lack of discipline in schools. A similar lack of discipline contributed to events like Waco, Ruby Ridge, the $285 Billion/year false child abuse industry, and even welfare, the high divorce rate, the high rate of fatherlessness, and the 77 point decline in SAT scores in the US in the last 3 decades. Recent political proposals suggest that an increase in education spending is the solution, even though the US already spends more than most countries per student, and clearly gets much less.

Disclaimers:

1. Warning: this is a public forum on which all responses will be posted on this forum for all to see.
2. The original data is available for your direct viewing pleasure from the US Dept of Education at http://www.ed.gov/nces/pubs/d95/chp6tabs.html
3. Posting this data does not represent an endorsement. Personal direct experience by a number of those involved in this issue in many of the classrooms around the world which produce the students who score significantly higher than US students suggests that the real difference could much bigger than that illustrated by the data.
4. "Correlation does not prove causation". And space exploration does not PROVE that the world is not flat.
5. Calculations for cost/point were not completed by the US Dept. of Education.
6. This is not a personal insult to anyone who participates in this forum -- it is an analysis of a national tragedy.

Proposed:

If it is demonstrated that there is NOT a direct correlation between the level of discipline in the school system and performance, then this roundtable should determine what other factors are involved. If there is no other factor identified, then implement in US schools the disciplinary systems that are successful in those countries whose students score 45% or higher than US students. Making schools lean and mean, cutting education budgets drastically, instilling discipline, and focusing on the basics may emerge as the only viable solution.

Data:

1. "Percent" is the "average percent correct" on the "International Assessment of Educational Progress" mathematics test in 1991.
2. "Cost/Student" is "public education expenditures per student" in 1992 in US dollars.
3. "Cost/Percent" is the "Cost/Student" divided by "Percent" to illustrate relative price/performance.

                        
                        
                        
                        
Percent         Cost/Student            Cost/Percent

Austria                                 $4,010.00       
Belgium                                 $2,390.00       
Denmark                                 $4,220.00       
Germany                                 $2,980.00       
Japan                                   $3,530.00       
Norway                                  $4,480.00       
China                   80.2            
Korea                   73.4            
Taiwan                  70.8            
Switzerland             70.2            $3,560.00               $51
Quebec-Frence           68.7            
Hungary                 68.4            
Saskatchewan-Frch       67.5            
Quebec-English          65.7            
France                  64.2            $2,900.00               $45
Alberta                 64              
Italy                   64              
Israel                  63.1            
Canada                  62              
England                 60.6            $3,120.00               $51
Scotland                60.6            
Ireland                 60.5            $1,770.00               $29
Slovenia                57.1            
Spain                   55.4            $2,030.00               $37
Turkey                                  $592.00 
Sweden                                  $4,840.00       
United States           55.3            $5,600.00               $101   Yikes!! 
Portugal                48.3            $2,300.00               $48
Jordan                  40.4            
Brazil                  37              
Mozambique              28.3            
 

Introduction

Of the 20 countries that participated in the 1991 International Assessment of Educational Progress (IAEP), 16 have national curriculums. Only Canada, Switzerland, and Brazil join the United States in having state or provincial control of education. Eleven of the 20 countries have ethnically homogeneous populations. For the countries participating in the assessment, the average length of the school year ranged from approximately 172 days in Portugal to approximately 251 days in China. The average amount of instruction per school day varied from just under 4 hours in Hungary and Fortaleza, Brazil, to a little over 6 hours in France (table 386).

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