Shanghai students a class apart

American officials and Europeans involved in administering the test in about 65 countries acknowledged that the scores from Shanghai—an industrial powerhouse with some 20 million residents and scores of modern universities that is a magnet for the best students in the country—are by no means representative of all of China.

As many as 5,100 fifteen-year-olds in Shanghai were chosen as a representative cross-section of students in that city. In the US, a similar number of students from across the country were selected as a representative sample for the test.

Experts noted the obvious difficulty of using a standardised test to compare countries and cities of vastly different sizes. Even so, they said the stellar academic performance of students in Shanghai was noteworthy, and another sign of China’s rapid modernisation.

The results also appeared to reflect the culture of education there, including greater emphasis on teacher training and more time spent on studying rather than extracurricular activities like sports.

“Wow, I’m kind of stunned, I’m thinking Sputnik,” said Chester E Finn Jr, who served in President Ronald Reagan’s Department of Education, referring to the groundbreaking Soviet satellite launching. Finn, who has visited schools all across China, said: “I’ve seen how relentless the Chinese are at accomplishing goals, and if they can do this in Shanghai in 2009, they can do it in 10 cities in 2019, and in 50 cities by 2029.”

The test, the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), was given to 15-year-old students by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, a Paris-based group that includes the world’s major industrial powers.
“We have to see this as a wake-up call,” Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in an interview on Monday.

“I know skeptics will want to argue with the results, but we consider them to be accurate and reliable, and we have to see them as a challenge to get better,” he added. “The US came in 23rd or 24th in most subjects. We can quibble, or we can face the brutal truth that we’re being out-educated.”

In math, the Shanghai students performed in a class by themselves, outperforming second-place Singapore, which has been seen as an educational superstar in recent years. The average math scores of American students put them below 30 other countries.

PISA scores are on a scale, with 500 as the average. Two-thirds of students in participating countries score between 400 and 600. On the math test last year, students in Shanghai scored 600, in Singapore 562, in Germany 513, and in the US 487.

In reading, Shanghai students scored 556, ahead of second-place Korea with 539. The United States scored 500 and came in 17th, putting it on par with students in the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Germany, France, the UK and several other countries.

In science, Shanghai students scored 575. In second place was Finland, where the average score was 554.

The testing in Shanghai was carried out by an international contractor, working with Chinese authorities, and overseen by the Australian Council for Educational Research, a nonprofit testing group, said Andreas Schleicher, who directs the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s international educational testing program.

A 259-page Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development report on the latest Pisa results notes that throughout its history, China has been organised around competitive examinations. “Schools work their students long hours every day, and the work weeks extend into the weekends,” it said.

Chinese students spend less time than American students on athletics, music and other activities not geared towards success on exams in core subjects.