American students test in the bottom in math and physics

By Nancy Natividad

The buzzer rings and the race is on between the nations of the world for knowledge and education in math and science. The U.S. is trailing behind, tied for dead last with Cyprus and South Africa!

On Feb. 23, the United States scored the lowest in the world on an international test of math and science called the Third International Math Science Study (TIMSS). Scholars all over the country as well as the county are responding swiftly to the test results. One local teacher responding to the results is FHS science teacher Gary Freebury, who is in the process of writing a paper on the education system.

“It’s got to be a wake-up call for us,” said Freebury. “We’ve got to analyze it and we can’t make any excuses.”

Chemistry teacher Geoff Hughes feels changes in the school system would help the school system keep up with the other developed countries. Certain modifications would include a longer school year along with a longer school day. Hughes also suggests more in-service training for teachers.

“We’re lowering our standards,” said Hughes. “We should be doing just the opposite.”

While some teachers feel the United States was slammed in the face with the international test, others feel it was not as drastic as the results are made out to be.

Math teacher Larry Kaber suggests that three or four years of high school math should be required for graduation rather than the present two, but not necessarily teaching geared towards the TIMSS test.

“Sometimes tests are not the hurtle you want to get over,” said Kaber. “We need to give students a larger understanding of what they need.”

Math teacher Karen Longhart feels there are some positive things on the other side of the the TIMSS test.  The students who scored higher on the test used the same calculators as students at FHS. Also, more and more teachers are using a classroom structure with students working together through problem solving.

“You can’t just look at one test score and say we should do all the things Japanese do,” said Longhart. “It’s a tough question that we have to look at before we slam ourselves.”

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