Students in Singapore and many other Asian countries consistently score well in math. The 1999 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), updated in 2004 (http://timss.bc.edu/timss2003.html), shows that eighth graders in America score much lower than their Asian counterparts.

Notably absent from the Journal's long article is any reference to the high IQ level in Singapore. They and other East Asians were found to be the top five nations in IQ in a large study. Furthermore, the math component of IQ seems to be particularly strong in these East Asian countries. Thus it is surprising that neither the Wall Street Journal, the NCTM, nor the many other educators interviewed mentioned Asian IQ as a reason for their high math scores. This reluctance to accept the research that there are noticeable IQ differences among groups is widespread. We accept that in sports many Blacks seem naturally gifted, but many have difficulty accepting that in IQ there are national/ racial differences. Instead like the NCTM, we tend to speak of school performance as the consequence of the "culture" in which the student was raised, the expectations of parents and community - anything but the native IQ of the student. In egalitarian America, we like to point to the leaders who have come from disadvantaged backgrounds. For any student who does not do well in school, we blame to the mediocre texts, the family home life, the neighborhood environment, etc. There are enough Horatio Alger cases of overcoming difficulties that we persist in the myth that all Americans can succeed in college and life, if only our math texts and elementary schools did their job better. The 2004 Washington Post article on "Equality still Elusive" is typical of the defeatist attitude prevalent in education.

As with any challenge, until we face all the realities in K-12 education, we are unlikely to solve its problems. Importing textbooks from Singapore is a false hope. The WS Journal reports that the Boston Public Schools experimented with Singapore math books last year, but decided to drop them. Ed Joyce, curriculum director for math in Boston commented: " I wouldn't say anything bad about Singapore math, but I would say there's a lot of programs that would have the same result." No matter what texts are used, it is extremely unlikely that an inner city Boston school will achieve the same scores as in the suburbs. With randomly selected students, the highly successful KIPP charter schools only claim to be the best among similar, nearby schools. That is no small achievement. If all schools were as realistic and hard working as at KIPP, America's problems with education would be meeting the 21^st century challenge of worldwide competition.

Dear Mr. Sloan, I agree with your conclusion that the IQs of Asian students accounts for the fact that Singaporean students outscore U.S. students on international math tests repeatedly. However, I am the Math Coach at a K-6 charter school in Phoenix, Arizona, one of the few schools in the State to be using the Singapore Math curriculum... This is our third year with the Singaporean math curriculum and our math test scores were within the top 2% of all public and charter schools in the State....A TV newscast (of my program) has aired and is now available on my website www.thesingaporemathcoach.com

Sloan replies: Kevin, thanks for your information. I don't think it is useful to lump all Asians as having certain characteristics. This past year, I traveled in Thailand (my second visit) and Bali. These areas have some of the friendliest people in Asia, perhaps explaining why they are popular tourist destinations. Less comfortable with foreigners are the Japanese and to some extent Chinese. On the other hand, Australians consistently rank in surveys as the most socially outgoing people in the world. See Social Quotients of nations (but not races) vary, affected by cultural traditions

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