U.S. high school math scores lag significantly behind other countries, even though scores in reading and science are above average
How much of this math gap is because other countries focus heavily on test prep and exam performance?
How much of this math gap is because other countries focus heavily on test prep and exam performance?
(Although of course nobody on here likely knows anything about more than a handful of countries’ systems at most.)
Completely false. Look at the culture around standardised testing in places like Japan and South Korea. I'm Australian and optimizing for test scores is absolutely a thing here too, though I admit probably less so than the US.
https://www.npr.org/2010/12/29/132416889/chinese-top-in-test...
Being more concrete, test in Europe scores are generally not a factor in university admissions* or school funding.
I love being told I'm blatantly wrong about the world by confident Americans on the internet but, like, I did go through three of the systems in Europe for a total of 18 years and not once did the topic of test scores even come up.
*: How could they be? How do you use Swiss Matura grades to apply to an Italian university?
But if you'd like to restrict candidates to the IMF's "developed" list, then other countries with well-documented testing cultures include Japan, South Korea, and the UK.
They are signal for your teachers and parents. Matura might influence your choice of German schools, but that's about the only one, and even then, it's not really an important factor these days, is it?