Amy - while I am not overly impressed with the general level of elementary education, I think I need to challenge the assertion that we are a year behind India. Back when I was in high school ( a LONG time ago), I had a friend who came from England in the 11th grade. He had been told by his parents that he would be a year ahead of US schools especially in Math. And when he first started taking courses, that seemed to be the case.
However, he was not in the 'fast math track' initially - when he was moved onto that track, he discovered that he was in the same level of class as when he was in England.
My son was also in the fast track in Math when he was in high school here in Texas, about 5 years ago. The fast track was pretty much unchanged from when I took it - trigonometry and pre-calculus in the 11th grade, and an introduction to calculus as a senior.
Also, the Indian students who come here, and those who come here later after college, are almost certainly those from the upper end of their tracks in high school.
So I would suggest that you are comparing the fast track students from other countries with the average students here, which is not a good comparison.
I don't know if the course selections across the US are the same as here, but Texas is not known as an education leader, so I would be surprised if they were ahead of the curve on this. |
