US triumphs in 'hardest ever' maths Olympiad

[Dr. Strange]

This was the final question at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), an annual “maths World Cup” for secondary school-age students, held this year in Thailand, which ended on Wednesday with the US as winners:



Don’t panic if it left you bewildered. Some of the world’s best mathematical brains have been having trouble too. The British IMO team’s leader, Dr Geoff Smith, of Bath University, said it was the hardest paper in the history of the IMO, which was first held in 1959.

More what-the-mathery at: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jul/15/us-wins-hardest-ever-international-maths-olympiad

Congratulations to all the mathletes!

[Oneironaut]

1. The answer, of course, is three-ve

[Dr. Strange]

3. Show your work!

[frazzled]

2. USA, USA!

That's a big effin' deal. We should cheer for math as much as we cheer for Olympic gold medals. We're Number 1 (which is about all the math I know, but my son is a mathematician, and left his poor parents in the dust by about 6th grade).

[Javaman]

4. 42. nt

[Dr. Strange]

6. Well, that's a deep thought!

[hifiguy]

7. Eeyup! nt

[CTyankee]

5. but...but...how can that happen when Obama destroyed public education?

[Igel]

8. Maybe this is how.

The first participant, Ryan Alweiss, is from Jersey and goes to a magnet school with instructors all of whom have at least masters in their subjects. They also have a very active IB program. I'd suspect he's in it. IB programs are their own critter. They get an IB diploma and aren't always subject to all the regular crap testing requirements.

The second participant, Michael Kural, is from a public school with a very strong AP program, from an area with a very large college faculty presence. It's just a good school, and the best and brightest, if they're not hobbled, will do well if given the chance.

The third is from a Title I school (although I don't know how it pulls that off, since it's the only high school in the district), Pennfield, NY. It's not a bad area, to be honest, but also has a full set of AP classes.

The problem with Duncan and Obama is that their policies lead to crappy outcome for a lot of students. They so focus on trying to make sure that the bottom 20% are serviced that a lot of schools slight the top 20%. That's a serious error, since the bottom 20% are not likely to do much but get jobs and be cogs in keeping the economy going, while the top 20% are more likely to be shapers and innovators and get the economy moving forward. (Before great umbrage is taken, notice the words "likely"; counterexamples are fine, but recycle them for some other post.) The top 20% usually still do well in spite of the system; imagine what they'd do if a large part of the system was geared to their needs? I've seen it. IB programs, lots of AP courses, high college attendance rates because the kids want to learn, projects, outside learning, not just competition for grades but students asking for additional reading *beyond* what the AP and IB curriculum require--and I'm watching it unravel against the onslaught of "what about the bottom 20%?" and "we need to close the achievement gap!"

We won't even discuss things like morale, just the kids.

It's the unloved 60% in the middle that suffer the most, because they're the ones who are unlikely to be great but certainly can do very well. Instead, they're taught that education is checking off boxes; the goal of education is to pass a test; the goal of education is to get a piece of paper. The systems that schools put in place in order to service the bottom 20% hurt the top 20%, but many overcome that; it's the middle students who aren't able to overcome that drag and who just learn to play the system instead of having a hefty chunk of them excited about college because they get to learn.

Now, depending on the school, peer and parental pressure can counterbalance that dead weight. A magnet school with an IB program escapes it; a school with a lot of college faculty can counteract it; Pennfield is the one mostly likely to suffer, but again, the top students are often mentored, but that isn't a systemic thing that Obama or Duncan should take credit for, it's a teacher and parents who look out for a kid.

The knee-jerk defense of "he's our guy" based on exceptional, anecdotal information gets old.

[CTyankee]

9. My grandson is in an IB school in Glendale, CA...

it's a foreign language academy, teaching immersion in French, Italian and Spanish. He is in the Italian program. The students are immersed in every class in that language except one in English. So that means he has learned everything from math to geography to history taught in Italian. When I visit his classroom I am not allowed to speak in English...I do manage a bit so it's OK...