There are some interesting points in this article. The author argues that the US is not as far behind as we have been led to believe and points out several ways the public has been misled.
However, the author also provides at least some misleading information when comparing the US and South Korea: "South Koreans do have a longer school year, measured in days. But Americans actually spend more time in school. The average U.S. eighth-grader has 1,146 instructional hours a year, compared with 923 hours a year in South Korea."
Before accepting this you might want to know that many Korean high school kids spend a ridiculous amount of time in school - an unhealthy amount of time in school. After the regular school day has ended they go to private institutes or stay in school and study. I often hear stories about students who wake up at 6:00 AM and get home at midnight. I also see high school kids fooling around so it's not all work and no play for everybody...
But my point is that this writer can not be counting the time spent studying after school, either in the school itself or in private institutions or with tutors at home.
Posted by James Trotta at May 19, 2009 9:09 AMESL blog is one of many Blogs for learning English & teaching English. Translation services information.