http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/o...-are-you-smarter-than-an-8th-grader.html?_r=0
This article is depressing. The pop quizzes contained therein are simple, yet today's children have a low success rate in answering them.
The Educational Testing Service released a global report finding that young adults from the United States rank poorly in reading but are even worse in math — the worst of all countries tested. This is the generation that will be in the labor force for the next half-century, struggling to compete with citizens of other countries.
It’s not just that American results are dragged down by poverty. Even American millennials with graduate degrees score near the bottom of international ranks in numeracy.
Public debates often dance around basic statistical concepts, like standard deviation, because too few Americans understand them. And people assume far too much of “averages.”
After all, American adults have, on average, one ovary and one testicle. But try finding such an “average person.”
This article is depressing. The pop quizzes contained therein are simple, yet today's children have a low success rate in answering them.