One of the key findings after an analysis of more than 1,500 textbook and curricula frameworks from about 50 countries was that Americans tried to teach too much, Schmidt said in a telephone interview. For example, U.S. math textbooks for 8th graders cover about 35 topics compared to an average of seven in Germany and Japan, he said. This can be a problem because it gives teachers little time to spend on each topic and textbooks often repeat familiar ones, Schmidt explained. This fails to challenge students and causes them to lose interest. Schmidt said American students are studying simpler subjects, like fractions and earth sciences, at the same age as children elsewhere are beginning algebra, chemistry and physics, he said.
States now set their own curricula.
Glen Cutlip, a spokesman for the National Education Association, which represents most teachers, agreed there are problems with U.S. curriculum and said his group was concerned about the performance of American students. But it would be expensive to change because it would require new textbooks and expanded teacher training. W. Virginia Williams, spokeswoman for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, agreed there are ingrained problems with the U.S. curriculum and said studies like this can help draw public attention to the issue. Williams said in a telephone interview.