Comparing American and Japanese Achievement
Is the United States Really a Low Achiever
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9733273 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ian Westbury (0000-0003-0021-9873, College of Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 341 Armory Bldg., 505 E. Armory, Champaign, IL 61820. He specializes in educational policy analysis and curriculum theory, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1992 |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 18-24 |
| Publication date | 1992-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Educational Researcher (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0013-189X • E-ISSN: 1935-102X |
| Publisher | American Educational Research Association (AERA) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.3102/0013189x021005018 |
| OpenAlex | W2121467291 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 20 |
| References cited | 7 |
It is widely accepted that the Japanese educational system is more effective than the U.S. system and that this greater effectiveness produces across-the-board higher achievement. Using the data from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA.) Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS), this paper examines both curriculum and achievement in Japan and the United States in grade 7/8 algebra and grade 12 elementary functions and analysis (calculus). The results suggest that overall, the lower achievement of the United States is the result of curricula that are not as well matched to the SIMS tests as are the curricula of Japan. Where the American curriculum is comparable to both the "curriculum" of the test and the curriculum of Japan, that is, in grade 8 algebra classes, U.S. achievement is similar to that of Japan. These findings suggest that the analytic methodology of cross-national achievement Studies like those of IEA or International Assessment of Educational Progress (IAEP) with their focus on the undifferentiated variable of "country" as a unit of analysis needs to be rethought. While the emphasis on comparative national standings that emerges from such studies may excite political and public interest, it cannot be regarded as a legitimate approach to comparative analysis
Academic achievement · Achievement test · Curriculum · Mathematics education · National curriculum · Pedagogy · Political science · Standardized test · Student achievement · Economic Policies and Impacts · Educational Assessment and Improvement · Global Educational Reforms and Inequalities · Global Financial Crisis and Policies · Psychology · School Choice and Performance
Directrices para la traducción y adaptación de los tests
The Uses of Evidence for Educational Policymaking
Opportunity to Learn as a Research Concept and a Policy Instrument
Evaluating policy inferences drawn from international comparisons of students' achievement test performances
Discursive Construction of the Images of U.S. Classrooms
Forming American Educational Policy with International Data
American and Japanese Achievement ... Again A Response to Baker
Comparative Education for the 21st Century
Affluence, Inequality, and Educational Achievement
Good News, Bad News, and International Comparisons
An International Comparison of Achievement Inequality in Within- and Between-School Tracking Systems
International Achievement Differences
Incomplete Explanations
International Comparisons and the Condition of American Education
Poor School Funding, Child Poverty, and Mathematics Achievement
Egalitarianism and Educational Excellence
Science Achievement Growth Trajectories
The Transition from School to Work
The Effect of Attitudes on Science Achievement
| Unique citing works | 19 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,61 |
| Citation span | 1993 - 2014 (22) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 20 |