IN SCIENCE AND MATH TESTING, AT LEAST AMERICA BEATS OUT JORDAN

Tom Harkin and Pat Buchanan, candidates on the left and on the right, traverse New Hampshire espousing "America First" the battle cry of isolationism and protectionism. They now have some new numbers to blurt out. Today's Granite State script could be "America 13th" and "America 14th." Among 13 year-olds, the U.S. ranked 13th out of 15 countries in science and 14th in math. We clobbered Jordan in both ratings that's a comfort.

Among 9 years-olds, we beat Slovenia and Portugal in math. In that same age group, we ranked 3rd in science losing to Korea and Taiwan but beating out several others including Slovenia, Portugal and the former Soviet Union.

Japan and Germany, our great international competitors, did not participate in the ratings. Japan's and Germany's standardized examinations do not conform with tests given by the Educational Testing Service. No one doubts that both countries would beat the socks off both the United States and Slovenia.

The president of the Educational Testing Service cautioned that "the overall poor performance of American students was not to be taken as evidence that the United States was losing in the international educational steeplechase." Some of the difference might be attributable to how the tested groups were selected in each country. He pointed out that the top 10 percent of American students tested did superbly.

It's not the top 10 percent that is cause for national concern. The top 10 percent will acquit themselves ably, and receive a first-rate education. Many will embark on distinguished careers in science and math-related fields. What about the bottom 25 percent or even the bottom 50 percent? In an increasingly technological age in which routine science and math skills will be required for the basic jobs of the 21st century, where will they fit in? Nowhere.

In St. Louis, the new numbers were treated with acclaim. The rankings of the 13 year-olds the most troubling ones were left out of the bar graph of the front-page story in the Post-Dispatch. The director of the Mathematics and Science Education Center, a division of the Cooperating School Districts of Greater St. Louis, was exhilarated. For our 13-year-olds to beat out Jordan seemed to be a pleasant surprise. We used to rank last in some previous tests. Everyone is pleased about the improvement in the 9-year-olds' science scores. We should, however, test our fourth graders against their Japanese and German counterparts before getting carried away that America is loaded from top to bottom with Thomas Edisons.

We spend a lot on public education and probably should spend more. We should make teaching an honored and desired profession the way it is in Japan and Germany. We should provide a great deal more individualized instruction for students with specific needs and problems.

The new study "links the performance of students to such factors as disparities in curriculum, how much is demanded of the children and how much interest parents take in what the students are learning." That says it all. Money, salaries and buildings won't do it if motivation isn't there.

The burden of motivation cannot be solely placed on the classroom teacher for a few hours five days a week. The burden of motivation comes at home and from within.