Skeptics question whether Soviet system produced better outcomes overall
4 Nov 2 10:51 AM · 6d ago · 3 comments · 1 source · development 4 of 9
Commenters argue that while Soviet textbooks were harder, evidence for superior actual outcomes is unclear—Western approaches like individual focus on top talent (citing Terence Tao and Magnus Carlsen) may be equally effective.
“But does it really produce better outcomes? At the top? At the 50% percentile? For neither I find the answer obvious.”
teifererAndrey Kolmogorov Soviet mathematician; curriculum curatorTerence Tao Mathematician raised in the WestMagnus Carlsen Chess grandmaster raised in the West
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But does it really produce better outcomes? At the top? At the 50% percentile? For neither I find the answer obvious.For the top talented "the west" has the approach to do individual focus, with focus classes and prodigies and all that. It may not hit everybody whom it should and may waste some potential here and there, but it's less scary too and…
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At least for up to high school level, it's because they didn't care if a good part of the class fell behind. If little Jimmy (well, little Ivan, I guess) can't understand how algebra works and is getting only 1s and 2s, it's too bad, he'll have to repeat the whole grade again I guess. The whole "maybe math is too hard and we should just make it…
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US STEM education through high school is 2-4 years behind the old USSR. Meaning what was taught to 10-year-olds in the USSR was/is taught to 12-14-year-olds in the US
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