There are some major issues with this article, the more I look at it. The general tone is quite prejudiced--using Turkey, Chile, and Mexico as obviously terrible comparisons we should be ashamed of. The article also fails to mention that the two countries the US is ranked between are Sweden and Spain.
There's also no indication of the variation between #1 and #34 on the country rankings. Are the kids in Mexico 50% dumber than South Koreans? Or 5%?
Finally, is it a shock that there's variation in test results between US states? To whom?
There's plenty that can be critiqued about American education, but this article shows a lot of good ways not to do it.
Its a news article, not a research paper. And just because it lacks the depth of a research article does not necessarily impeach it. A better question would be "would this information be included in, or be reasonably drawn from, a good article?"
I think this information would be conclusions that could be reasonably drawn from a good research article, and therefore I disagree that "this article shows a lot of good ways not to do it."
And while I agree the general tone is quite prejudiced (using the South as representative of the US is akin to using Eastern Europe as representative of the EU) those countries are not terrible comparisons. Most Americans would admit those countries are not good to be similar to in way of education achievements, and yet the author does make a good argument that America is similar to them, and in doing so impeaches Americans view of the success of their educational achievements.
There's also no indication of the variation between #1 and #34 on the country rankings. Are the kids in Mexico 50% dumber than South Koreans? Or 5%?
Finally, is it a shock that there's variation in test results between US states? To whom?
There's plenty that can be critiqued about American education, but this article shows a lot of good ways not to do it.