The Japanese educational system is superior to the U.S's.

Contentions #1: US ranked better in innovation index One of the main purposes of education is to increase the innovation of society. An economy's productivity can only increase If the innovation of the society increases. For example, Bill Gates's creation of Windows has increased both the productivity of the private sector and has made life very convinent. We are able to have this debate due to software development. John Green, educator who has created "CrashCourse" states that compulsory education has allowed many new inventions and technologies that make modern world possible. He also notes that school is not for one's own benefit, since he acknowledges that school is not fun, but to benefit others through learning new innovation in society. That's why taxpayers invest in school (video). Currently, the United States is ranked 10th in the world innovation index. This is milestones better then Japan, which is only ranked 25th in the innovation index. . http://www.globalinnovationindex.org...; #2: US ranked better on education index: The United States is also ranked higher on the education index. The US is ranked #13 in the education index while Japan is only ranked #35: . http://en.wikipedia.org... #3: US colleges are ranked the best in the world: I stated in the first round that this debate will also include higher education. The top universities, based on the world ranking index are mainly in the US. MIT is the top ranked school, which is located in the US. The list also includes the following American universities: Harvard University, Yale University, University of Chicago, Princeton University, and CalTech which are all ranked the top 10 universities in the world. In fact, the University of Tokyo is only ranked 30th in the world while 13 universities in the United States are ranked higher than the number one university in Japan. . http://www.topuniversities.com... #4: Magnet Schools and Charter schools are superior. Magnet schools are schools that provide technical and specialized education for the brightest students in the US and are funded through public tax dollars, allowing the brightest students to achieve their potential even If they do not have enough money. These do not exist in Japan. These students go on to do remarkable things. For example, Taylor Wilson (video), at the age of 14, built a fusion nuclear reactor in his garage and developed a radiation detector that can detect nuclear weapons in a given location. He is the youngest person in the world to build a nuclear reactor Charter schools are developing in the US. Charter schools bring choice to the individual student and allow his or her needs to be met. Charter schools often outperform public schools and are growing in momentum. Sweden, the #1 most innovated nation in the world use charter schools. . http://www.youtube.com... . http://www.youtube.com... #5: More US adults are scientifically literate According to science daily: “A slightly higher proportion of American adults qualify as scientifically literate than European or Japanese adults” . http://www.sciencedaily.com... #6 US spends more on education It should be common knowledge that the more one spends on a good or service, the better quality the good or service will be. The US spends significantly more on K-12 education then Japan does. . http://mercatus.org... #7: US students are happierWhile the goal of education is not to make students happy, it should be taken into consideration. For one, a happy population allows people to be more innovate and productive. If one is not happy with he/she does, then he/she will not be inspired to create new innovations, which is the purpose of education. Second, its good to have happy people. Japanesse education is more stressful, due to its intensive workload. This causes them to commit suicide at twice the rate of the US population which is obviously bad. . http://img329.imageshack.us... Rebuttal: #1: Japan performing better does not mean their education is better Pro links some studies demonstrating that Japanese students outperform US students in mathematics, science, and reading. However, there are many major biases that cause US students to outperform First, these rankings were based on tests. Tests have many shortcomings. They focus more on memorization then actually learning the material. Also, one can just improve their test taking abilities without imporving . Tests do not reflect the real world since most of the real world involves projects, coming up with creativitive solutions, and working with others. Instead the US education focuses more on creativity, projects, building, electives and socialization. Stuff that is more applicable in the real world. Extracurricular activities bring strong social bonds. Socialization is important so that people will be willing to work as a team in the work place, and exchange ideas which improve worker productivity. For example, US schools have the following: science labs, science fair projects, engineering projects, computer programming, and shop and technical electives. General electives in US high schools allow students to find subjects that he/she will enjoy. Schools have extracurricular activities that teach students to enjoy learning and create. These include math team, science olympiad, model UN, art and music clubs, charity clubs, Drama, Film, journalism, and student council. a) Selective-bias Since 6% of Japanese students do not attend secondary school because of it is not requred, this creates a selective bias, since 6% of the population is cut out. . In contrast, high school attendance is compulsory for students under the age of 16. This is a signficant factor. b) IQ discrepency The discrepency between Japaneese scores and American test scores can be attributed to the Japenese having a higher IQ score then Americans. IQ is mainly due to heritability. Asians tend to have higher IQs then Caucasians. However, the US contains many African Americans and Hispanics who on an aggreage, have lower IQs then both Caucaisns and Asians. An education system is measured based on how superior the teachers are, not the students. #2 A longer school break allows students to pursue other activities:PRO states that the Japanesse education is longer, however this is not necessarily good. Summer jobs allow teenagers to learn what the real world is like and develop work ethic. It also gives them time to find what he/she really enjoys. Summer camp is a great way for chacter development to occur. It can be also be used as an opportunity to travel abroad to a foreign country and learn about a new culture. It can also be used to pursue a summer internship. #3 Decentralization works better then nationalization PRO states that Japanesse education is better because it is nationalized. However, when has nationalization ever worked? The Soviet Union nationalized itself but eventually collapsed and performed worse economically then capitalist US. Capitalism required decentralization, while communism is nationalizing industries. India had democratic socialism and only started increasing its growth after economic liberalism reforms. North Korea and South Korea both contain the same culture, people, and geography but South Korea embraces decentralized free markets while North Korea is communist. South Korea is way more developed then North Korea is. The US is moving in a more decentralized direction, as the charter school movement is growing in momentum. Conclusion:While the Japanese education might cause more stress and create good test takers, it fails to achieve the main goal: innovate society. The US system allows people to pursue what they enjoy, making them more innovative and more productive.