Economic Recession Provides Serious Impetus for Change
New York City – September 28, 2010 - Documentary film producer Robert A. Compton, was featured on an expert panel discussing global education at the NBC produced Education Nation program. The panel was moderated by Andrea Mitchell.
President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on September 27th kicked off Education Nation with new calls to America’s college graduates to consider a career in education.
Tom Brokaw articulated the hard facts about U.S. student performance: the U.S. now ranks 15th in literacy, 21st in science and 24th in mathematics. America’s high school graduation rate is 21st among developed countries. Where once the U.S. had the highest percent of college graduates between ages 25 - 35 years old; today America is 12th in the world.
The panel on global lessons focused on why so many other countries have surpassed the U.S. in all facets of education. Compton offered a framework for assessing the many sharp differences between American schools and those of its economic competitors.
“I have studied K-12 systems around the world and contrasted their performance with that of American students,” stated Compton, “It is very clear that top performing systems share a few common traits, around what I call the Five C’s of Education Excellence: Culture, Curriculum, Credentials of Teachers, Compensation and Choice.”
Compton continued, “In every top performing system one sees common threads – their culture recognizes and rewards academic achievement; their curricula are set at the very highest levels; teachers are subject matter experts first, holding Masters degrees in the subjects they teach; teacher compensation is not based on seniority, but on market rates; and finally most nations have more school choice than U.S. students.”
“It is both a mockery of American values and a betrayal to our children, that they should have fewer educational choices than children in China or India,” added Compton
NBC News has brought together leaders in politics, business, documentary film and technology to discuss the challenges and opportunities in U.S education today. Education Nation seeks to engage the public, through thoughtful dialogue, in pursuit of the shared goal of providing every American with an opportunity to pursue the best education in the world.
About Robert A. Compton
Compton has been producing documentary films about global education and global entrepreneurship since 2005, after a 25 year career as a new venture investor. He has visited and studied K-12 education in more than 20 countries around the world. Having analyzed how other leading nations are outperforming U.S. students, Compton offers unique insight into what works in other nations and what American education might learn from these world leaders. Visit 2 Million Minutes web site...
Bob - very well said...I like the 5 Cs...I saw Obama being interviewed for 30 minutes by matt lauer of NBC....
The real is execution...
Posted by: Suresh | September 28, 2010 at 01:53 PM