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Jeanie Huynh

Annotated Bibliography
Ferreras, A., Olson, S. (2010). The Teacher Development Continuum in the United States and
China. The National Academies Press. Retrieved
from http://www.nap.edu/read/12874/chapter/1
In Ana Ferreras's and Steve Olson's journal, they compare education environment, math
curriculum, and teacher preparation in America and China. Ferreras and Olson state that there are
two incentives that motivate teachers in the U.S.: salary and personal interest in students,
whereas in China, salary isn't important to the teachers. Additionally, teachers in the U.S. see
their career as solely a profession however, teachers in China find genuine satisfaction in
teaching. Further, the physical layout of Chinese classrooms differ from American classrooms as
well. In China, all of the desks are placed so that each and every students' eyes are facing the
teacher. According to teachers in China, they "dont feel comfortable if [they] dont see all the
eyes of [their] students." In a Chinese classroom, there is an average of 60 students, so they
spend most of their time out of the classroom grading papers.
Gladwell, M. Rice Paddies and Math Tests. Gladwell.
Retrieved from http://gladwell.com/outliers/rice-paddies-and-math-tests/
Surprisingly, another one of the main causes for the discrepancies in math scores is
language. According to Malcolm Gladwell, Chinese, specifically Cantonese takes "the prize for
efficacy" in memorizing numbers. This can be accredited to the brevity as well as the rhythmic
nature of the language. Additionally, whereas in English double digits numbers such 22 is said as
twenty-two, in Chinese, it is directly translated as "two ten two." Essentially, Chinese already
breaks down the number for you as two tens and a two which makes mathematical processes
occur at a much faster rate. The same applies for fractions, 3/5 directly translated from Chinese is
"out of five parts, take three," where as in English, it's "three-fifths." It's easier to comprehend
math in Chinese because its meaning is literally given to you in the language.
Hefling, K. (2013). Why Asian teens do better on tests than US teens. The Christian Science
Monitor. Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-NewsWires/2013/1203/Why-Asian-teens-do-better-on-tests-than-US-teens
As shown in the PISA score results, 3 of the top 5 ranked countries are cities in China.
This is because not all of the country participates in PISA testing. In this article, Kimnberly
Hefling addresses the controversy regarding the credibility of PISA scores. In all three subject
categories of the PISA test, Shanghai ranks first. According to Tom Loveless, a former sixthgrade teacher and Harvard policy professor, Shanghai's test scores are "almost meaningless"
because of how biased they are. The scores are "not equitable and the students tested are children
of the elite because they are the ones allowed to attend municipal schools."

Matthews, J. (2014). Why admiring Chinese test scores might hurt U.S. schools. The Washington
Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/envy-of-chinesekids-is-bad-for-us-and-china/2014/09/14/39dc6910-3951-11e4-860197ba88884ffd_story.html
Another huge factor of the test grades is not only self-efficacy, but also selfresponsibility. In this article, Jay Matthews argues that most Americans will blame their poor
grades on how difficult the course material is or the boring teaching method of their teachers,
whereas Chinese students say they will succeed if they try hard and they trust their teachers to
help them succeed. Chinese students hold high respect for their teachers and would never place
the blame on anyone other than themselves. By placing the blame on something they have
control over, themselves, Chinese students have room for improvement, while American students
give up.
Peverly, S. (2006). Do the Math: the Difference Between Chinese and American Teachers. TC
Media Center. Retrieved from http://www.tc.columbia.edu/news.htm?articleId=5974
This article explores another possible source of low math scores in America compared to
China: teachers. The study suggests that "Asian teachers simply know more about math" because
they're knowledgeable about the whole subject rather than just the little section they teach.
Additionally, U.S. math teachers are thrown into a cyclical path because "they, themselves, were
poorly educated in math." Using this study, one possible solution is to improve the quality of
teachers in the U.S. through methods such as more schooling or a renewal test for teaching
licenses.
Schleicher, Andreas. (2014). Opinion: What Asian schools can teach the rest of the world. CNN.
Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/03/opinion/education-rankingscommentary-schleicher/
In this article, Andreas Schleicher, who directs PISA tests, turns the spotlight onto
another vital facet of education, the teachers. According to Schleicher, East Asian school systems
stress the importance of high quality teachers and prioritize them over the size of the classes.
Typically, a Chinese classroom will have anywhere from around 40 to 60 students, that may
seem like a lot compared to Americas average 25, but Chinese teachers are trained to handle
them. Further, although all Chinese teachers start off following a standard of teaching, the more
high performing they are, the more they get to take control and create their own lessons.
Stevenson, H. W. (1998). Why Asian students still outdistance Americans. Education and
training in Japan, 1, 260. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educationalleadership/feb93/vol50/num05/Why-Asian-Students-Still-Outdistance-Americans.aspx
This article discusses a study where Chinese and American fathers are asked, "Let's say
that your child took a math test worth 100 points. The average score was 70. What score do you
think your child would get?" Both groups of fathers averaged around the mid-80s. However,

when asked, "What is the least number of points you would be satisfied with?," the American
fathers averaged a score 3 points lower from what they expected, whereas the Chinese fathers
averaged a score 8 points higher than their estimates. This underscores one of the possible causes
of the discrepancy between math test scores: parenting/parent expectations. The study suggests
that the higher the bar is set for a child, the better they perform.
Wei, K. (2014). Explainer: what makes Chinese maths lessons so
good? The Conversation. Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/explainer-whatmakes-chinese-maths-lessons-so-good-24380/
In this article, Kan Wei attempts to find the reasoning behind why Chinese math lessons
are so good, and it boils down to the curriculum and how the education system is set up. In
China, teachers teach their students to understand the relationships between numbers, rather than
to just memorize the facts. This ensures that students comprehend the whole concept, thus
allowing them to "apply previous knowledge to...new topics." Furthermore, "teachers also
emphasize logical reasoning," so students are asked "why?," "how?." and "what if?" These
essential questions involve critical thinking where a complete understanding is necessary.
Wei, M.-H., & Eisenhart, C.. (2011). Why do Taiwanese children excel at math? The Phi Delta
Kappan,93(1), 7476. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23049024
This article discusses a study that makes culture/parenting accountable for high test
scores in China. According to the article, "most Taiwanese mothers force their children to
participate in after-school tutoring programs." The competitive and high-stress cultural
environment that Chinese children find themselves in yield children who value math for its
"broad spectrum of future academic learning." Whereas in America, students sit in their math
classrooms complaining and asking "When will I ever use this?" American students' perspective
could possibly be the thing holding them back from skyrocketing math scores. To bridge this
gap, America should hone in and emphasize the importance of math, and education in general.
Weisenthal, J. (2013). Here's The New ranking Of Countries In Reading, Science, And
Math. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/pisa-rankings2013-12
This image compares countries' mean PISA, an international test that tests many
countries in math, science, and reading, scores for math from 2012. Three of the top five
countries are provinces in China (the whole country doesn't participate), whereas the United
States ranks number thirty-six, thirteen below the world average. The PISA scores emphasize
that Asians being good at math isn't just a stereotype, it's a reality.

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