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Math Digital Education United States Technology

US Workers Show Little Improvement In 21st Century Skills 88

Posted by BeauHD from the basic-skills-or-lack-thereof dept.
A new government agency report found that U.S. workers are failing to improve the skills needed to succeed in an increasingly global economy. Bloomberg reports: The National Center for Education Statistics asked 3,300 respondents ages 16-to-65 to read simple passages and solve basic math problems. What the researchers found is that literacy, numeracy and digital problem-solving ability in the U.S. have stagnated over the past few years. Some 19% of the test-takers ranked at the lowest of three levels for literacy and 24% lacked basic digital problem-solving abilities. Meanwhile, a shocking 29% performed at the lowest level for numeracy, the same as findings from the previous study conducted in 2012-2014. Almost one in three couldn't correctly answer "how much gas is in a 24-gallon tank if the gas gauge reads three-quarters full."

There were a few bright spots among the research. Latino adults saw their overall scores improve in both literacy and digital problem solving. Some 35% ranked at the highest of three levels for the latter, up from 24% during the 2012-2014 survey period. In addition, high school graduation rates climbed 2 percentage-points to 14%, while the percentage of people with more than a high school diploma jumped 3 percentage-points to 48%.
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US Workers Show Little Improvement In 21st Century Skills More

US Workers Show Little Improvement In 21st Century Skills

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  • gas gauge in us do not show the true size there is an hidden buffer and some time you need fill it pasted the click by an bit to really get it to F

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by 110010001000 ( 697113 )

      yeah we arent stupid plus we write good too

    • That is due to the high speed pump at the station, if you use the slow setting it will usually allow a little more in before the auto shutoff. Of course it takes longer or you have to get good at knowing when to slow down before it is 'full'.

      Also, it is a simple math question, don't over think it (I can't believe this is a problem with the question, but there are several posts already complaining about real world gas gauges).

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by Fallen Kell ( 165468 )
        Accept that is not the only reason that the gauges report incorrectly. Most modern gauges have a large bias associated with them. In fact, Ford engineers have been on record stating that the gauge is designed to meet custom expectations that the gas tank is not actually empty when it reads "E" and that the customer also does not want to see it drop below "F" so quickly after filling up as they don't feel like they see the satisfaction of a car that is sipping the gas.

        There is a huge bias on how the fuel g

        • The correct answer is that there is not enough information

          You use the information given, which in a math test would be a true 3/4 fraction, holy cow, it is like adding the words 'fuel gauge' makes it a trick question or something. I can't believe people have become this distrusting of information.

          Yes, I get that gauges are biased on purpose and can be inaccurate - BUT THIS DOESN'T APPLY TO A SIMPLE MATH QUESTION.

          • Of course it does. The world is not as simple as you think it is.

            • You are arguing about metadata, and the assumptions conventionally made about it.

              Fly Swatter pointed out that, in all examinations, assumptions are made that all the data is given in the question. That is, that a "fuel tank" is of such a shape that the gauge gives an accurate reading.

              In fact, this kind of assumption is one that most of us become used to right from the beginning of Euclidean geometry. Euclid's axioms state that a point has dimension but no magnitude, that a line has no width, etc. We all kno

            • When you lack total information you must estimate on the information you have at hand.
              When you try to add conspiracy theory (the take was overfilled or the guage isn’t accurate ) to your factor. You are just adding your bias into the factor. That may not help get the best answer.
        • the customer also does not want to see it drop below "F" so quickly after filling up as they don't feel like they see the satisfaction of a car that is sipping the gas.
          I didn't know they did that will FULL. I thought my gauge was miscalibrated. I noticed that it stayed on FULL for a bit and then started dipping. I didn't know that effect was intentional, I thought it was broken.

        • ... also in large part based on tank designs and the nature of the fuel level sensors (not to mention the reasons above). Modern tanks are no longer a simple rectangular shape in which the fuel level within the tank causes a float to drop at an even pace no matter starting point in the tank. Modern tanks have nooks and bends and shapes that contour the available room in the car's frame/body. The float will typically move at a slower pace at the top of the tank since there is typically more cross-sectional surface area at the top of the tank than there is towards the bottom of the tank, resulting in the float dropping at a faster pace as the volume of fuel in the tank gets lower....

          This cannot possibly be part of the explanation. Fuel gauges are not linear readouts from an analog sensor any more (nor for a few decades at least). The vehicle builder knows precisely how the height of the float corresponds to the remaining fuel and can make the simple mapping from sensor reading to remaining fuel with trivial ease.

    • If you fill it to full and you overfill it. The gauge will just stay full for longer. When it is at 3/4 full there will be 18 gallons left.

  • Very undefined (Score:5, Funny)

    by chrism238 ( 657741 ) on Friday November 15, 2019 @10:37PM (#59418970)
    Other than the un-described "digital problem-solving abilities", none of those skills sound like 21st Century Skills. Though, perhaps, respondents were simply asked to hit the Any key.

    • none of those skills sound like 21st Century Skills.

      The 21st century still is understanding why it is "shocking" that skills have not improved in the last 5 years in a nation that has done nothing to improve either education or job training.

      From TFS:

      Meanwhile, a shocking 29% performed at the lowest level for numeracy, the same as findings from the previous study conducted in 2012-2014.

      • Actually, if you read articles and essays from about 1890-1900, you will find educated Americans complaining bitterly about plummeting standards in schools and universities. Such as six-year-olds no longer being taught to memorise their multiplication tables up to (and beyond) 20 x 20. And ten-year-olds no longer being able to read Homer and compose Latin and Greek poetry.

  • 21st century ? (Score:5, Funny)

    by gurps_npc ( 621217 ) on Friday November 15, 2019 @10:49PM (#59418988) Homepage

    " literacy, numeracy and digital problem-solving ability"

    Literacy = 18th century skills (Printing press is a 17th century invention)
    Numeracy = 19th century skill, when it became important for non-accountants

    digital problem solving is a bit vague. It sounds like being able to forward an email to one person rather than all, but I am not sure.

    Sounds a lot to me like they picked old skills and ignored new ones, such the ability to detect a piece of satire that is being pushed as 'true' for a political reason.

    • I imagine they're using the term in the sense of skills which will be most relevant in the 21st century.

      Illiteracy is a major problem, because communication skills are only becoming more important. But most people are frankly terrible at communication. They have poor language skills, are often unaware of their tone (both in the literal sense, and in terms of word choices, the latter of which is related to their poor language skills) and are also unaware of what their body language is saying.

      Innumeracy is im

  • High-earning skills for the 21st Century (Score:5, Funny)

    by timeOday ( 582209 ) on Friday November 15, 2019 @10:51PM (#59418994)
    - Social media influencing
    - Getting "likes"
    - Twerking
    - Victimhood-milking
    - Inheriting money

  • I blame the.. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Republicans for doing everything in their power to dumb-down our collective society by squashing anything akin to critical thinking.
    and
    Democrats for ass-kissing the teacher unions with regards to pay for performance, and thinking tenure would be a good thing.

    In short, everyone says they want better education but no one is willing to put in the hard-dollars, time, and effort to get us there.

    I'd be happy to pay taxes that would allow teacher starting salaries at 75K and up. But, I want that teacher to be wel

    • This got to +2?
      Given that it showed zero understanding of the problems in education.
      Probably a bloke that needs to be retested and certified every two years, and have zero chance of advancement or even a pay increase.

    • Yes, because REPUBLICANS were the ones pushing Common Core. Wait, no, that was the leftist tards led by Arne Duncan.

    • I think your analysis of who is to blame for the dumbing down of the USofA is 180* reversed from the reality of the situation.

      • I think your analysis of who is to blame for the dumbing down of the USofA is 180* reversed from the reality of the situation.

        And yet, OneNotSoSmartFellow, you apparently can't say what is the reality of the situation.

    • I don't disagree that, basically, politicians suck.

      In the 1980s the United States was spending more on education than almost any country in the world, and generally getting the worst results of any developed nation. Since then, we keep increasing spending and getting worse results. More and more money, lower and lower test scores. Clearly somebody is lacking in critical thinking skills, and not just the students.

      Since more and more money has only seen the problem get worse, more money isn't the easy answ

      • In most U.S. cities, you can have a high-achieving school in one part of town,
        while a few blocks away there are schools where hardly any education is taking place.
        This may even apply where both schools are of similar size and receive similar funding.
  • I'm not surprised by people not knowing the gas tank answer. I don't know my gas tank answer. Empirically, I know at 3/4 full (indicated) I'm at about 1/2 tank, but I haven't done the measurement. My gauge is mostly logarithmic, and shows empty at 2.5 gallons remaining. My propane tank isn't much better. That's a linear height in a cylindrical, horizontal tank. There is no rational solution to convert height to volume-remaining (boiling down, as it were, to solving sin x=x).

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dfsmith ( 960400 )
      (Oops, sinx=x has a rational solution. I meant sin x=Ax, with A some constant I don't remember.)
    • You put way too much thought into this, it is a simple math question. Don't they still teach fractions in school? Maybe real world experience with gauges lost a few over-analytical people such as yourself along the way, but most would try give the simple lazy and correct answer.

      • Re:Gas tank (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Psychotria ( 953670 ) on Saturday November 16, 2019 @02:23AM (#59419302)

        Well, I was going to write something very similar. They clearly want the salient answer (what is 3/4 of 24) and that is how I imagine most people would interpret the question although I have no data to support this. The question, as stated, is easy enough to calculate in your head: half of 24 is 12, half of that is 6 (which is one quarter); therefore 3 quarters is 6 * 3 = 18. Maybe they don't teach fractions in US schools these days (?) I recently got asked what 75% of 60 was and without hesitation said 45. The person who asked me the question seemed astonished that I answered so quickly and asked me if I'd had the question before. I said, no, but I can read a clock.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dfsmith ( 960400 )
        That scares me. If you put mathematics in the same category as "things that don't work in practice", then science mumbo-jumbo becomes a faith religion rather than a description of reality. If you have to throw out experimental evidence to get the "right answer", there's something wrong. (It reminds me of Feynman's story of a Brazilian text book that didn't understand angular momentum.)
    • 4 times 6 is 24, and 3 times 6 is 18.
      That's it. The answer is 18.

      How a particular car's gauge works is entirely irrelevant.
      Of course, the whole concept of "relevance" seems to be a
      mystery to many people.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dfsmith ( 960400 )
        You answered the question "what is 3/4 of 24 gallons". That wasn't the question asked. Suppose, let's say, your wife is driving your 10mpg truck with a 24 gallon gas tank. She asks, "Can I make it to the gas station 170 miles from here? The gauge says I have 3/4 tank." Does that answer change if it's asked by a survey taker instead? Why?

  • Bull f*ing shit (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Friday November 15, 2019 @11:40PM (#59419076)
    Nearly 40% of Americans have degrees [pbs.org]. And no, they're not in Gender Studies, 75% are business, STEM or Law [ed.gov]

    We're the best educated we've ever been and up to our eyeballs in skills. This is just more "Give us H1-Bs!" bullshit. When are we going to stop voting for pro corporate assholes who sell us out to phony crap like this?
    • Just because you have a degree so you could get a job doesn't mean you are proficient in the old basic reading writing and 'rithmetic skills. It also doesn't mean you are actually proficient at your job.

      It will only get worse as the 'my phone has the answer' crowd is moving into the workforce. It's not that they don't have the ability, it is that they never honed it through practice.

      As an example one of the box stores had 90 percent off the remaining end of season plants, and the discount was not upda

      • instead she whipped out her phone and pulled up the calculator to figure out 90 percent off for each item

        I completely sympathize with her. I've been writing software for various purposes for 35 years, and I still use the database or calculator to do many of my calculations during development. The reasons are simple: fatigue and pressure. I don't trust myself with all of the responsibilities I have to juggle. When I have to tend to multiple lines of thought simultaneously, I make mistakes (sometimes very simple mistakes with large consequences). I will happily use any tool available to me to reduce or elim

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by alvinrod ( 889928 )
      What are you counting that you get 75%? Law degrees aren't really included (I'm assuming legal studies is a pre-law type degree designation) in the list because a JD is essentially a Masters degree equivalent. Business has a bad of a reputation of an idiot's degree as gender studies, so I'm not sure why'd you'd lump that in with STEM other than to inflate the numbers.

      Business by itself is 19.3%
      STEM (Biomed, CIS, Engineering (and tech), Math, Physical Sciences, and Psychology) account for about 25% and

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      As someone in the US, we see this garbage every few years. In the 80s, it was that the US worker didn't work like someone from Japan and die at their workplace. In the 1990s, it was that someone from India was a better worker, just because they were cheaper.

      Same shit. If American universities suck, then why are so many foreign countries shoveling their herds of people through them?

      The real issue is the completely fucked up education system in the US. When I got my degree, I had Venezuelan, Chilean, Germ

      • If American universities suck, then why are so many foreign countries shoveling their herds of people through them?

        Maybe it's the people then and not the Universities...

        More seriously though. Those other countries are often sending their best and brightest. America is sending in anyone who qualifies for a student load. (has a pulse)

      • > then why are so many foreign countries shoveling their herds of people through them?

        nobody's shoveling anything. the brightest students from abroad want to come to US universities because it's a good way to get noticed by a US company and sponsored for a visa. it makes no sense for a country to want to rid itself of its brightest students with little chance of their returning. and no, remittances are not a reason for this.

        also, the academic competition here is significantly lower than in some of those

      • "Americans still fight their way into the STEM fields, regardless. Mainly the perception is that we suck so bad that we have to do more than everyone else to not get fired. Europeans especially. If you are from Germany or Switzerland, the "Herr", "Frau", or "Fraulein" title will get you far more respect than someone from the US with a PhD or a CISSP. Even in the US, a H-1B, or a B1 will get you more jobs than degrees or certs."

        And therein lies the root of the problem. All ya American's believe that respect

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

      Not so. Many modern degrees are literally built around avoiding math skills, because math skills are a very specific kind of abstraction skills that many people just don't have, or could have but really don't like and as a result, avoid learning.

      In "humanities" category, there's a very large amount of disciplines that are genuinely useful that have no math included. At all. You can get your masters in such fields without needing any math.

      It's how you get the stereotypical "airhead with a doctorate in histor

      • In "humanities" category, there's a very large amount of disciplines that
        are genuinely useful that have no math included. At all.
        You can get your masters in such fields without needing any math.

        Define "useful" as used here.
        I'm not aware of any.

      • where a medical doctor can treat maybe five patients in an hour, a software engineer can produce software that can serve million people in the same time frame

        But it takes the software engineer two years to write it, and in that time frame he serves no one. And then when it's "finished" (because no software is ever really finished) there is a bug and it causes issues. Hopefully only killing the software engineers bonus, but if not he will be killing a million people an hour. Yay for software engineering.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

          It took a few days for stardock guys to write their start10 tool, which benefited a lot of people and killed no one as far as we know. You're focusing on very strange things.

    • Yes. Many of these degree-holding geniuses were even hired by Fortune 500 companies:
      Exxon: pumping gas
      Walmart: greeting and stocking shelves
      Apple: "genius" bar
      Amazon: picking packages for orders
      CVS: ringing up greeting cards and meds ...

    • While I agree with much of the sentiment ("Americans have no skillz!") in fact the U.S. is dropping seriously behind in education compared the rest of the advanced world.

      Here is an interesting exercise you can do. Go to List of countries by tertiary education attainment [wikipedia.org] and sort the chart using the age tabs. Start with the first one (Age 24-65) and you will find the U.S. ranks 7th among the nations listed. Not great being #7, but not too bad? Try the oldest category (55-64), the U.S. is 4th. Now go down the

  • We all walk around with a computer in our pocket that's more powerful than the PCs that most first started with back in the 1990s.

    25 years ago if we got stuck on something we didn't know most of us would either know it, ask someone who did or just forget it. Now if we don't know some trivial fact about something, we simply whip the mobile phone out and look it up. How many of us do serious mental maths? I mean proper mental maths like areas and volumes or tally up a 20 item list of groceries in our heads,

  • This is a red herring (Score:4, Insightful)

    by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Saturday November 16, 2019 @01:16AM (#59419218)

    What business leaders are really looking for, in terms of 21st century skills, is for Americans to get over the idea of making a good living and instead be willing to work very long hours for a few bucks a day.

  • Blame the OECD (Score:4, Insightful)

    by VeryFluffyBunny ( 5037285 ) on Saturday November 16, 2019 @01:29AM (#59419240)

    Andreas Schleicher (http://www.oecd.org/education/andreas-schleicher.htm), who has no background or qualifications in education, is responsible for propagating this nonsense about "21st Century Skills." There's very few meaningful definitions of what 21st Century Skills actually are, & when they are described, they look more like 300BC skills. I'm not kidding: The Greeks were waaay ahead of Schleicher.

    What the USA & many other countries need is simply higher-quality evidence-informed education in traditional subjects, e.g. reading, writing, & 'rithmetic, the sciences, history, geography, the arts, etc..

    I know. It's not headline-grabbing material. It's dull & boring & doesn't sell shiny new gadgets, fancy-named EdTech startups, or "This will revolutionise education!!!" mumbo jumbo. It's just good ol' fashioned classroom teaching by well-trained, experienced & decently-paid teachers under stable, supportive conditions, in well-resourced & well-organised schools.

    Did you know that in almost every real-world scenario where EdTech was added to curricula, students' scores went down, not up?

    • they look more like 300BC skills

      So.... America sucked at the skills test for 300BC. I think your "smart" bombs are smarter than you, thank god the software was probably written by an H1B programmer.

  • how much gas (Score:3)

    by spongman ( 182339 ) on Saturday November 16, 2019 @03:04AM (#59419350)

    three quarters of a tank, duh.

  • ... and another bucket with five gallons . . .

    How many buckets do you have, dear Americans?

    XD

    • Simple, you go to the elephant statue at the fountain and use those buckets to measure out exactly four gallons before the timer is up. Yippee Ki Yay...

  • Six gallons of gas (Score:3)

    by CaffeinatedBacon ( 5363221 ) on Saturday November 16, 2019 @08:56AM (#59419756)
    3/4 of 24 is 18.
    So 18 gallons of liquid and 6 gallons of gas.
  • Has there been some sort of education revolution that I am unaware of? If not, why would I expect '21st Century' skills to have improved? Just as an aside, does the author know that fractions have been around for a while, even cars with fuel gauges!

  • In the US right now, there are only two guaranteed paths to success remaining: medical education or getting into and graduating from an Ivy League school, Everything else is a crapshoot -- there's still opportunity to succeed or at least do all right for yourself, but there's an element of chance. STEM degrees are a smart bet, but even there you have salary compression due to offshoring, work visa programs and automation. The problem is that there are fewer and fewer safe paths to take, and not everyone has

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