The Smartest Kids in the World Summary
5 min read ⌚
And How They Got That Way
And How They Got That WayNo, don’t feel dumb right away. There are different types of intelligence; the ability to analyze and solve problems is just one of them.
In this summary, we try to unveil some of the principles and enacted policies that changed the path leading to higher knowledge.
Who Should Read “The Smartest Kids in the World”? And Why?
If you are not smart enough, this book is not for you. – Just joking! “Smart” is a relatively unbalanced term because it focuses mainly on the creative and cognitive skills of one’s mind.
“The Smartest Kids in the World” is an excellent book for those willing to crush the boundaries of their mind and expand their horizons.
The stories of these kids will surely help you out in that endeavor.
About Amanda Ripley
Amanda Ripley is lauded as a great writer, who manages to penetrate into the mind of the reader.
She is also the author of The Unthinkable: Who Survives When!
“The Smartest Kids in the World PDF Summary”
If the name Andreas Schleicher doesn’t ring any bells; a recount of past events may eventually clear up the confusion. He was a student at the University of Hamburg, Germany in the mid-80s, where he studied physics.
Amidst all the uncertainty, he received an invitation from Thomas Neville Postlethwaite (an educational scientist by profession) to conduct a full-scale quantification of educational patterns with the help of hard data.
No more than two decades later, approximately half a million students from 40+ Countries enrolled in testing” to gauge their level of competence in various fields. Putting numbers on their cognitive and critical thinking skills is vital to ascertain the level of proficiency in math, science, and reading.
Nowadays, this “phenomenon” is labeled as the PISA Test. The testing is controlled and carried out by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) division. The OECD embraces the father-figure in this process and acts as its executioner.
The real question was – Is PISA doing something to improve the level of education? The primary concern of this inquiry was to mark the countries, which are subtly indoctrinating the kids. The people involved in this process, recall the long-awaited results of the first PISA Testing in Paris.
OECD officials announced the results and showed the light at the end of the tunnel, which many skeptics didn’t see.
Schleicher didn’t hold back in his admiration for Finland’s social system. Moreover, according to him: Americans were partially distressed, while the Finns dazed by these revelations.
Indeed, the world has now evolved in the realm of education, and as a result, the number of countries that are enforcing this type of assessment is growing by the year. Experts agreed that the examination should happen once in 3 years. When it comes to the States – in 2009, the US Teenagers ranked 26th on the Math Test and 13th on Reading.
Kim’s Story:
Although there are several stories, we cannot basically cover all of them.
Kim was born and raised in Oklahoma or more precisely Sallisaw – a small town inhabited by less than 10,000 people. Half of those claim to have a Native American background, which grants them small favors and benefits such as free school materials and support in all forms.
From a young girl, Kim showed promising signs as a leaning enthusiast with an unquenchable passion for knowledge. In the late 60s, The United States was in desperate need of modification regarding the education system, and they tried to fill in the gap by hiring new teachers, enforcing new policies, and authorizing new standards.
Nonetheless, all of these efforts were mainly fruitless and didn’t live up to their expectations. About the time Kim was 12-year-old, she was exalted by her English teacher, who said that her tests met specific standards and that she’s fit to enroll in the special summer program at Duke.
Let’s say that once more – Kim outperformed her much-older peers and college seniors by a whopping 40%.
Despite her eagerness to learn and advance, Duke was an unreachable destination at the time due to money problems. 12 months later, Kim and her family found out that Finland is a gold mine for Smart Kids, and they have a much more progressive System than the Americans.
As a freshman at Sallisaw High School, Kim embarked on a journey with her mom’s permission to raise money and go to Finland. Reaching 10,000 $ for an unemployed girl was no piece of cake. She was persisting and determined to go to the end and started by selling her flute on eBay.
Through donations, going from door-to-door, she managed to reach $5,000. Her grandparents provided the last financial injection, and Kim was finally there.
Time in Finland wasn’t only Sunshine and Rainbows, both literally and metaphorically. Dark winters, with little daylight, made her depressive and added to her homesickness in general. She sought the help of a psychologist who confirmed that Kim is eligible to stay for as long as she wants in Finland.
The American student-exchange program helped her to find a new home, where Kim lived for less than a year. In the meantime, she started collecting Finish words, to keep her motivated and endure during this hard period.
The Teachers’ Program
Investing in creating, distributing and maintaining high-level of education, that contains progressive methods is many countries’ top priority. They want to achieve a level of independence that is brought by psychologically equipped and technologically savvy teachers.
Motivation is the key trigger, which pulls all the strings and sets in motion the idea of investing in yourself. These persons can, later on, develop into skilled negotiators, lawyers, economists, entrepreneurs and even athletes.
Proficient teachers are able to teach and convey moral norms and other traits such as “diligence,” “self-discipline,” “dedication” to students who are still on the lookout for their innateness.
PISA Testing as a process is promoting dialogue and project-based learning, which puts emphasis on interactions and solving real-life problems that are an integral part of the social system.
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“The Smartest Kids in the World Quotes”
Everywhere I went, in every country, people complained about their education system. It was a universal truth and a strangely reassuring one. No one was content, and rightly so. Educating all kids to high levels was hard, and every… Click To Tweet It was interesting to note that higher standards were seen not as an investment in students; they were seen, first and foremost, as a threat to teachers. Click To Tweet In many U.S. schools, sports instilled leadership and persistence in one group of kids while draining focus and resources from academics for everyone. The lesson wasn't that sports couldn't coexist with education; it was that sports had… Click To Tweet Tom was not good at math. He’d started to lose his way in middle school, as so many American kids did. It had happened gradually; first, he hadn’t understood one lesson, and then another and another. Click To Tweet Without data, you are just another person with an opinion . . . Without data, you are just another person with an opinion . . . Click To Tweet
Our Critical Review
We are speechless and amazed by the authenticity of this masterpiece. As mind-blowing these discoveries are, we were also surprised by the data presented to support such claims.
Two words – Read Now!
Emir is the Head of Marketing at 12min. In his spare time, he loves to meditate and play soccer.
