Also, it's a very American attitude to deficiency (just work more/harder) that ignores the far deeper problems. Outside of the Asian countries, who nobody should be emulating, the countries that do education well all have sane school hours. let kids be kids and figure out what you're doing fundamentally wrong. Poverty and a basic lack of respect for education are a good place to start.
Look at the Jews (not the Chinese, they go a bit overboard). They take education and achievement seriously. When my buddy Dave was in grade 11, his father was making him spend an hour a day studying for the SATs. He volunteered in research labs, got great grades, and got into a very good combined college/med school (rpi). He now does medical research, at 25.
Dave's parents placed a lot of emphasis on educational achievement, and it paid off. His brothers are similarly successful, and this attitude pervades Jewish culture in away that can't be said of society as a whole. Now, obviously, this is a value that individual families must hold, and something that Government can't just legislate. Still, there are ways of encouraging this behaviour that don't involve determining funding by standardized test scores. Most of it, however, needs to come from Americans themselves.
I thought that the "American Dream" was to be an all-star quarter back in high school and college, and then get signed by the NFL. Now that's a sound career path that everyone should follow... </sarcasm>
Look at the Jews (not the Chinese, they go a bit overboard). They take education and achievement seriously. When my buddy Dave was in grade 11, his father was making him spend an hour a day studying for the SATs. He volunteered in research labs, got great grades, and got into a very good combined college/med school (rpi). He now does medical research, at 25.
Dave's parents placed a lot of emphasis on educational achievement, and it paid off. His brothers are similarly successful, and this attitude pervades Jewish culture in away that can't be said of society as a whole. Now, obviously, this is a value that individual families must hold, and something that Government can't just legislate. Still, there are ways of encouraging this behaviour that don't involve determining funding by standardized test scores. Most of it, however, needs to come from Americans themselves.