People like to think of America as the greatest country in the world. And at one time, it was. But now other countries such as Japan and China have not only caught up to us, but surpassed us in almost every field in education.

According to a chart that can be found on businessinsider.com, composed from statistics from the last survey done by the OECD (The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) about a year ago, today the top country in mathematics, reading, and science is Shanghai-China. And where on the scale is America? Well, since 2009 the U.S. went from 25th to 31st in mathematics; from 20th to 24th in science; and from 11th to 21st in reading, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. We are far below the global averages in math, reading, and science as well.

So what is it really that makes a country’s education system good or bad; effective or ineffective?

Well, in Shanghai-China, their high success in education is due to a multitude of factors. According to The New York Times, one of these is the incredibly high standards that their society puts on education. And in schools, they have abandoned the “traditional” way of testing and teaching students. Schools in Shanghai have gotten rid of the multiple choice test and standard curriculum we see here in American schools. They no longer focus on multiple choice testing, based on the belief that students simply memorize information for the test, and then forget it as soon as the test is over. The curriculum now focuses more on real-life skills.

Switzerland is another country that has a much more individualized, real-world approach to education. They start to separate students as soon as primary school based on their talents, skills, and intentions of their future careers. This allows students to be able to learn skills for future careers faster, allowing them to start work at a younger age. It also keeps students from being forced to take classes that they will never use or are not good at.

The United States is so low in the ranking of testing scores and education systems because we are sticking too much to the approach to education that people have used for years. We have specific standards in our education system that many students just are not able to meet. We have to take standardized tests that are the same for everyone in the state. Not every student is good at math, science and English. We should be able to choose our classes and curriculum more freely, and based more upon our desired career or our abilities and skill sets.

When we get to high school we are required to take certain classes. We must take art, gym, math, history, English, etc. just to be allowed to graduate. Some students in high school already know what they want for a career, and won’t need many of the classes they are made to take. A student who wants to be an engineer major should not have to take art or history classes in order to graduate. A student who wants to be an art major should not have to take calculus. And if that art major got a D in calculus because it was not their best subject, it will affect that student’s GPA. And now, that art student might not be able to get into the college he or she wanted; just because they were forced to take a class that they will never again use after they take their final.

Perhaps we should take a cue from other countries, and make school something that actually prepares us for the real world; instead of just being able to recite the quadratic formula at the drop of a hat.