This is the presentation made by Dr. Zhao on March 11-12, 2009 at the HPL 09 Leadership Conference.

1. Catching Up or Keeping the Lead: American Education in the Age of Globalization Yong Zhao, Ph. D University Distinguished Professor Director, US-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence College of Education Executive Director, Confucius Institute Michigan State University [email_address] . edu

2. Achievement Gaps

3. Achievement Gaps

4. Inside photos showed Alexei doing complicated experiments in physics and chemistry and reading aloud from Sister Carrie . Stephen, by contrast, retreated from a geometry problem on the blackboard and the caption advised, "Stephen amused class with wisecracks about his ineptitude." Seated at a typewriter in typing class, Stephen tells us "I type about one word a minute." 1958 USSR

5. Our Nation is at risk. Our once unchallenged preeminence in commerce, industry, science, and technological innovation is being overtaken by competitors throughout the world. the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people. We are raising a new generation of Americans that is scientifically and technologically illiterate. 1983 Japan

6. 1995 TIMSS Grade 8 Mathematics Performance 1995 Singapore

7. By comparing how these students prioritize their time (approximately four years or “two million minutes” of high school), the film demonstrates that the typical student in the U.S. spends much less time on his/her education and gives less thought to future career opportunities than his/her global peers in India and China. --2 million minutes Two Million Minutes , vividly reveals that American students are no longer “at risk” of falling behind -- they are now clearly behind even Third World students in India and China, in addition to being in 24th place among developed countries. Source: http://www.2mminutes.com/pressblog6.html 2007 China India

8. But…

9. http://www.weforum.org/pdf/Global_Competitiveness_Reports/Reports/gcr_2007/gcr2007_rankings.pdf

11. Why?

13. Jefferson told us where to look to see if a nation is a success. He did not say to look at test scores. Instead, he said to look at “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” --Keith Baker (2007)

21. Baker, Keith (2007).Are International Tests Worth Anything? Kappan, October, 2007

22. As a result…

23. [USA 2002] In January 2002, the United States of America enacted the No Child Left Behind Act , which dramatically increases the importance of testing in education. The law requires each state to administer statewide assessments to all students in core academic areas. Rewards are given to schools and teachers whose students perform well, while schools whose students perform poorly are publicly identified and required to take corrective actions.

24. [USA 2008] Five Steps Toward Building Globally Competitive Education Systems (National Governors Association & Council of Chief State School Officers) Action 1: Upgrade state standards by adopting a common core of internationally benchmarked standards in math and language arts for grades K-12 to ensure that students are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to be globally competitive. Action 2: Leverage states’ collective influence to ensure that textbooks, digital media, curricula, and assessments are aligned to internationally benchmarked standards and draw on lessons from high-performing nations and states. Action 3: Revise state policies for recruiting, preparing, developing, and supporting teachers and school leaders to reflect the human capital practices of top-performing nations and states around the world. Action 4: Hold schools and systems accountable through monitoring, interventions, and support to ensure consistently high performance, drawing upon international best practices. Action 5: Measure state-level education performance globally by examining student achievement and attainment in an international context to ensure that, over time, students are receiving the education they need to compete in the 21st century economy.

25. [USA 2009] President Obama: In a 21st-century world where jobs can be shipped wherever there's an Internet connection, where a child born in Dallas is now competing with a child in New Delhi, where your best job qualification is not what you do, but what you know -- education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity and success, it's a prerequisite for success. … And yet, despite resources that are unmatched anywhere in the world, we've let our grades slip, our schools crumble, our teacher quality fall short, and other nations outpace us. Let me give you a few statistics. In 8th grade math, we've fallen to 9th place. Singapore's middle-schoolers outperform ours three to one. Just a third of our 13- and 14-year-olds can read as well as they should. … Now, this is an area where we are being outpaced by other nations. It's not that their kids are any smarter than ours -- it's that they are being smarter about how to educate their children. They're spending less time teaching things that don't matter, and more time teaching things that do. They're preparing their students not only for high school or college, but for a career. We are not. Our curriculum for 8th graders is two full years behind top performing countries. … So let's challenge our states -- let's challenge our states to adopt world-class standards that will bring our curriculums to the 21st century.

26. But other countries…

32. What does education often do? It makes a straight-cut ditch of a free, meandering brook. - Henry David Thoreau Schools have not necessarily much to do with education. - Winston Churchill The only time my education was interrupted was when I was in school. - George Bernard Shaw My grandmother wanted me to have an education, so she kept me out of school. - Margaret Mead

33. The emergence of two new worlds Local-Physical Virtual Global Local-Physical

34. As electrically contracted, the globe is no more than a village. Marshall McLuhan, 1964 “ Honey,” I confided, “I think the world is flat.” Thomas Friedman, 2005

35. 1492: about 3 months 2009: about 13 hours

36. 1858: 17 hours Glory to God in the highest; on earth, peace and good will toward men. 2009: less than 1 minute

37. 1927: $65 ( about $1,000 ) 2009: about $0.02 3 minute phone call

38. By almost any economically relevant metric, distances have shrunk considerably in recent decades. [T]he shrinking globe has been a major source of the powerful wave of worldwide economic integration and increased economic interdependence that we are currently experiencing. But the full implications of these developments for all aspects of our lives will not be known for many years. --Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the U. S. Federal Reserve 2006 Death of Distance

39. Diversity 多元 World Population Distribution World Wealth Distribution World Tertiary Education Enrollment Royalties and License Fees Exports Toy Exports

40. http://www.worldmapper.org/

42. It’s a Big Job to Make the Mini: Global Supply Chain

43. Yao Ming and Herbert Hoover: Global Trade of Talents

44. The eBay Phenomenon: Expanded Market

45. Today, Indian engineers make $7,500 a year against $45,000 for an American engineer with the same qualifications. If we succeed in matching the very high levels of mastery of mathematics and science of these Indian engineers — an enormous challenge for this country — why would the world’s employers pay us more than they have to pay the Indians to do their work? They would be willing to do that only if we could offer something that the Chinese and Indians, and others, cannot. --New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce (2007). Tough Choices or Tougher Times

46. When I was growing up, my parents told me, “Finish your dinner. People in China and India are starving.” I tell my daughters, “Finish your homework. People in India and China are starving for your job.” ---Thomas Friedman, 2005

47. Therefore we need to move into niche areas where they will not be able to completely replace us for quite some time. ---Lee Kuan Yew, 2007 In the global economy, our student’s careers are global. Where can they find employment depends on their niche talents.

50. Your Child's Strengths, Discover Them, Develop Them, Use Them , by Jenifer Fox, M-Ed. (Viking, 2008) http://www.strengthsmovement.com/ The Strengths Movement

53. Schools as Global Enterprises: Re-imagine Education in the Age of Globalization

54. Schools as Global Enterprises Global products Global resources Global market Global staffing Unique qualities Creativity, passion R-directed thinking skills Global Competences

55. Personalized Learning: the drive to tailor education to individual need, interest and aptitude so as to fulfill every young person’s potential (Department for Education and Skills (UK), 2004)

56. HD TV

58. Technology redefines talents…

62. "Say bud, can you tell me where the illiterate club is?"

63. Industrial Revolution

64. What knowledge is of most worth? --Herbert Spencer, 1859 Science! Latin Greek Grammar Theology Latin Greek Grammar Religion Chemistry Physics Physics Chemistry Biology Technology Biology What’s taught in schools

65. The Virtual: Technology Changes

66. Virtual marriage & 2nd Life: Socializing virtually Anshe Chung has become the first online personality to achieve a net worth exceeding one million US dollars from profits entirely earned inside a virtual world. --Business Week, May, 2006

67. Gold-farming and digital produce: Digital farmers market

69. Real-money trade of virtual items (RMT) “ I estimate the total worldwide RMT volume to reach 2,090M ” Virtual Economy Research Network: http://virtual-economy.org/blog/how_big_is_the_rmt_market_anyw

70. YouTube and podcasting: Everybody a Broadcaster

71. Hackers and Thieves: Morality and Crimes in CyberSpace What can an 18 year old do? In the UK, Sasser forced staff at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to return to manual map reading because computer systems were made unusable by the worm. Check-in for some British Airways flights was also delayed thanks to Sasser. Around the world, the Australian Railcorp trains stopped running because computer problems caused by Sasser made it impossible for drivers to talk to signalmen. In Taiwan, more than 400 branches of the post office were forced to use pen and paper because Sasser crashed desktop PCs. Anti-virus firm Sophos estimates that 70% of all the virus infections in the first half of 2004 could be blamed on Mr Jaschan's creations. Statistics gathered by Sophos show that in the first six months of 2005 there were four variants of Netsky in the top 10 viruses and they accounted for 25.5% of all infections. Unlike many other viruses, Sasser made its way from

73. Never Send a Man to Do a Machine's Job: Reconsider the Human-Machine Relationship in Education Yong Zhao Michigan State University

74. Test Scores Were Not Significantly Higher in Classrooms Using Selected Reading and Mathematics Software Products. --IES Study on the Effectiveness of Computer Software (2007) http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pdf/20074005.pdf Software's Benefits On Tests In Doubt: Study Says Tools Don't Raise Scores --The Washington Post Major Study on Software Stirs Debate: On whole, school products found to yield no net gains --Education Week Readers are advised to “scrutinize the findings carefully, as even [ED] states that the study 'was not designed to assess the effectiveness of educational technology across its entire spectrum of uses.‘” --CoSN, ISTE, and SETDA As this study recognizes, proper implementation of education software is essential for success. Unfortunately, it appears the study itself may not have adequately accounted for this key factor, leading to results that do not accurately represent the role and impact of technology in education. -- The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA)

75. Why are we unhappy?

76. + =

77. What if?

78. Are we sending a man to do a machine’s job? + = wo

79. Teachers and Technology: Making the Connection --Office of Technology Assessment, 1995 Problem #1: Unwilling Solution: Mandate Problem #2: Unable Solution: Professional Development Problem #3: Lack of access Solution: More technology Problem #4: Lack of content Solution: More content

82. [T]ypical morning at a middle school connected to the information superhighway might begin as one group of students arrives early to update the school's home page on the World Wide Web. This home page signals to other schools that also have electronic access to the Web that they have a sister school here whose students and teachers are interested in exchanging ideas about world events and other educational topics. At the same time, another group of early arrivals works with the vice principal to prepare the morning broadcast. Each school day formally starts with a live television presentation about the day's events; these presentations are written, directed, and produced by rotating teams of students and broadcast internally to all the classrooms. In the quiet minutes before this broadcast airs and classes start, a young language teacher is using his desktop computer to access an electronic bulletin board to see how language teachers from schools across the state have responded to his question about the best ways for explaining prepositions. Meantime, the principal is reviewing the electronic mail that parents sent her the evening before, prior to sending voice mail to all her teachers suggesting a schedule for the upcoming parent-teacher "open house.“ Later in the morning, in a first-period modern history class, the same video technology that carried the local morning broadcast now enables this class to tour the Smithsonian's aerospace museum. In the classroom next door, the subject is anthropology. Students are grouped in teams of 3 and 4 around the classroom's computers, engrossed in a computer simulation that allows them to play the role of archaeologists on-site in Egypt, exploring ancient Egyptian culture as revealed in its artifacts. In a classroom down the hall, each individual student is working math problems pitched at exactly the pace and level of difficulty appropriate for him or her, and getting immediate feedback on the answers, thanks to interactive software. At the same time, students in a writing class are drafting an essay assignment on their computers and employing electronic mail to get rapid feedback on their work from their peers....(McKinsey & Company, 1996)

83. Where is the teacher?

84. Why hasn’t technology transformed education?

85. We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us. --Winston Churchill

87. man machine (wo) Personal Response System New Era Interactive English, Tsinghua University Press Online Chinese Language Courses and Vs. Classroom School System Teacher-led Small Group Practice 1 hour Online Modules Audio CDs Companion Book 1-2 Hours 0.5-1 Hours 0.5-1 Hours 2-4 Hours

89. Input-based Accountability Physical environment Learning facilities Diverse opportunities Leadership Teacher quality Student voice Global connections Tolerance