A decade of heightened emphasis in the United States on mathematics and science education has had little influence on academic achievement or parental attitudes. American elementary school children in 1990 lagged behind their Chinese and Japanese peers to as great a degree as they did in 1980. Comparison of the performance of elementary and secondary school students between 1980 and 1990 reveals a decline from first to eleventh grade in the relative position of American students in mathematics. Parental satisfaction with (...) American students' achievement and education remains high and standards remain low. Innate ability continues to be emphasized by Americans as a basis for achievement. American eleventh graders report more indications of stress than do their Chinese and Japanese counterparts. (shrink)

Wales uses languages with both regular (Welsh) and irregular (English) counting systems. Three groups of 6- and 8-year-old Welsh children with varying degrees of exposure to the Welsh language—those who spoke Welsh at both home and school; those who spoke Welsh only at home; and those who spoke only English—were given standardized tests of arithmetic and a test of understanding representations of two-digit numbers. Groups did not differ on the arithmetic tests, but both groups of Welsh speakers read and compared (...) 2-digit numbers more accurately than monolingual English children. A similar study was carried out with Tamil/English bilingual children in England. The Tamil counting system is more transparent than English but less so than Welsh or Chinese. Tamil-speaking children performed better than monolingual English-speaking children on one of the standardized arithmetic tests but did not differ in their comparison of two-digit numbers. Reasons for the findings are discussed. (shrink)

Cultural differences in the amount of time spent on homework and in beliefs and attitudes about homework were investigated through interviews with more than 3,500 elementary school children, their mothers, and their teachers. The children lived in 5 cities: Beijing, Chicago, Minneapolis, Sendai, and Taipei. Chinese children were assigned more homework and spent more time on homework than Japanese children, who in turn were assigned more and spent more time on homework than American children. Chinese children also received more help (...) from family members with their homework than American and Japanese children. Chinese children were found to have more positive attitudes about homework than American children; Japanese children's attitudes were between those of the Chinese and American children. Relations between amount of time spent on homework by children, amount of time parents spent assisting their children with homework, and children's achievement were also explored. The views of both parents and teachers about the value of homework are discussed. (shrink)

The scientist Richard Lovell Edgeworth, educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and Oxford, was a Member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham, where he exchanged ideas with other scientists, including James Watt, and was known for his significant mechanical inventions. However, Edgeworth's real interest was education: in this 1788 two-volume work, written with his daughter, the poet Maria Edgeworth, he draws on his own experience of raising twenty children, from which the work derives its authority and innovative character. The work was (...) very influential, and led to his Essays on Professional Education. The two volumes discuss the theories of philosophers and educationalists, while in general arguing for the importance and formative character of early childhood experiences. Volume 1 deals with different areas of childhood education, including play, learning, and obedience and good behaviour. (shrink)