SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT

Your Child Left Behind

An article in the December issue of the Atlantic cites state-by-state research by Stanford economist Eric Hanushek to challenge many of the reasons given by educators for the poor showing of American students on international tests.  It would be very interesting to see the Canadian results by province on the chart that illustrates the article. Hanushek also investigated how Massachusetts moved into first place among the states—primarily by focusing on measuring and acting on outputs rather than inputs.  Although things are better in Canada related to some of the issues mentioned, they all provide food for thought despite the impression left at the end of the article by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty that we have little to learn from the American situation.