OECD PISA test scores.

[Goldstone1976]

Once again, the UK lags behind many, many countries in maths tests results.

Only 55% of 15 year-olds could say which was the smallest number from the following list:

1.79
1.796
1.82
1.783

I honestly despair.

Top of the class? China (Shanghai, as opposed to Hong Kong) with 89%.

http://www.oecd.org/pisa/test/form/

 

[supaseagull]

In all fairness, does it really matter?

 

[somerset]

In another list, China does very well too,..... executions,.... top of the class ( unknown number, estimated in the thousands per year)

 

[Thunder Bolt]

In all fairness, does it really matter?

It does in certain professions and occupations.

 

[dougdeep]

110% of people can't do maths.

 

[jgmcdee]

It does in certain professions and occupations.

Well as long as the 55% who answered correctly can fit in to those professions we're good. Not everyone can be a genius at everything.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

It does in certain professions and occupations.

I would say in every day life. If you go down a supermarket aisle and can't tell which price is cheaper from two numbers, you're not making an informed choice. I would say mental numerical dexterity is extremely useful. As for the test given by the OP, I reckon we were doing stuff like that when I was 6, so anyone without good reason not able to do it by 15 would be a worry.

 

[Goring-by-Seagull]

I.79 and 1.82 have the fewest numbers, and 7 is lower than 8. So I'm gonna go with 1.79. Easy.

 

[Goldstone1976]

In all fairness, does it really matter?

You're kidding, right? You have to be

I'll bite anyway. Yes, it matters - immensely.

We have a high wage economy, therefore we can't compete with low cost products/services, since all the companies would rapidly go out of business. We therefore have to compete with high value-added products/services. These require careful R&D. This requires Maths skills.

Currently, at least half of the countries scoring higher than us on the PISA test have a lower wage economy than us. That is utterly unsustainable in the long term. If we can't improve our maths scores, we have to accept that we'll become a low value-add economy, which means low prices, which means low wages.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Well as long as the 55% who answered correctly can fit in to those professions we're good. Not everyone can be a genius at everything.

You hardly have to be a genius to work out that answer. That is year 5 or 6 work.

 

[The Large One]

Well as long as the 55% who answered correctly can fit in to those professions we're good. Not everyone can be a genius at everything.

By not knowing which is the bigger number, does that follow that 45% don't know that 'Brighton 3 Crystal Palace 0' means that Brighton won because they scored a higher number of goals?

Is ascertaining which is a bigger number the mark of a genius?

 

[Titanic]

It's alright... nice Mr Gove is on the case... he will sort out New Labour's disgraceful record on education.

 

[vegster]

In another list, China does very well too,..... executions,.... top of the class ( unknown number, estimated in the thousands per year)

So they are not that good with numbers after all ? Most people have no problem remembering how many people they have killed.

 

[vegster]

You're kidding, right? You have to be

I'll bite anyway. Yes, it matters - immensely.

We have a high wage economy, therefore we can't compete with low cost products/services, since all the companies would rapidly go out of business. We therefore have to compete with high value-added products/services. These require careful R&D. This requires Maths skills.

Currently, at least half of the countries scoring higher than us on the PISA test have a lower wage economy than us. That is utterly unsustainable in the long term. If we can't improve our maths scores, we have to accept that we'll become a low value-add economy, which means low prices, which means low wages.

Oh no we don't I'm earning less now than I did 7 years ago.

 

[Goring-by-Seagull]

You hardly have to be a genius to work out that answer. That is year 5 or 6 work.

I'm pretty sure I did decimal places in year 3, and that was 20 years ago. So if they now only start that kind of "complex" mathematics in year 5 or 6, it's no wonder kids aren't as bright these days. Too much mollycoddling.

"Oh sorry young sir, is this too hard for you? Ok we'll come back to that in a few years"

 

[jgmcdee]

You hardly have to be a genius to work out that answer. That is year 5 or 6 work.

Yes but the question as shown by the OP isn't actually the full question. The actual question consisted of a table with a number of different figures and the question was about engine capacity rather than just "which is the smallest number". Might not seem like a lot of difference, but given that 78% of UK respondents managed to answer a more mathematically challenging, though more plain, question shows that it's not quite as simple a matter as some are making out.

 

[Mellotron]

In all fairness, does it really matter?

In my job, definitely.

 

[TheJasperCo]

In another list, China does very well too,..... executions,.... top of the class ( unknown number, estimated in the thousands per year)

Irrelevant statement as it has nothing to do with this particular issue, one of continued failings in the education system. I don't blame teachers in the slightest, but I do hold successive governments, bureaucrats and a culture of dumbing-down to appease the less academically gifted for these results.

For what it's worth, I found the test itself a PISA piss.

 

[Goldstone1976]

Oh no we don't I'm earning less now than I did 7 years ago.

I'm truly sorry about your personal circumstances, but I was referring to the country as a whole:

"The average annual earnings of full-time workers in the UK rose by 1.4% to £26,500 in the year to April 2012." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20442666

World average wage = $1,480; call it £2,400. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17543356

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Click on the link to get this...

"In January, the new CDs of the bands 4U2Rock and The Kicking Kangaroos were released. In February, the CDs of the bands No One's Darling and The Metalfolkies followed. The following graph shows the sales of the bands' CDs from January to June."

Where can I find these bands? Are they any good?