Reflections on The Global Achievement Gap

The Global Achievement Gap provided great exposure to several topics: how students are living their lives outside school, what schools need to do to educate them more effectively, America's education system in comparison with other countries, and how we can (and must) become more competitive in the global market. I will reference a few points in the book that I thought were exceptional.

First of all, America's present-day youth are spending the majority of their time involved in structured activities: soccer practice, music lessons, organizations, and the like consume their "free time". When they are faced with "free time", many children (and adults alike) spend it engaged in some kind of electronic device. The most common, of course, is the computer. The Global Achievement Gap discusses how educators must harness these technological devices and put them to use in their classrooms. On page 173, it discusses how the stereotype of a "computer geek" is long gone. Eighty percent of preteens and teens use MySpace weekly. Children are great at multitasking, but there is considerable concern when they are faced with digging deeper into one topic.

The problem, according to The Global Achievement Gap, is not that our country is filled with poor teachers or low quality schools. The problem is that our schools and teachers are outdated. We must update our systems. Currently, our students are excellent at memorizing facts and data and the ability to regurgitate it. The issue that they face is that the global market and economy are requiring people to have skills that are not being taught in schools; skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, and communication.

Other countries around the world are preparing students by teaching them these skills. Japan has long been known for its teamwork mentality. They are expected to work as a team and solve problems as a team. The Global Achievement Gap suggests that America needs to do something similar. One vice president from Talent Management at Cisco System actually suggests that American schools need to throw out textbooks altogether because the answers to tomorrow's problems are not in yesterday's solutions (p.15-16). This is somewhat extreme, in my opinion.

Overall, the book did a great job of exposing me to new ideas that exist globally. I would suggest this book as a launching point for anyone interested in how America is competing with other countries globally. However, I did not feel that many solutions were presented. It was mostly pointing out problems but not offering much in the way of solutions.