Excessive Test Focus Hurts Love Of Learning, South Korean Official Says

Education Week (4/6, Cavanagh) reports, "A former top education official in academically high-flying South Korea has warned the United States against copying his nation's approach, which he says has grown too test-centered and often detracts from students' love of learning. Byong Man Ahn, the former minister of education, science, and technology in South Korea, said officials in his country are attempting to scale back the heavy test emphasis and nurture broader student skills, a step some of the United States' other foreign competitors also have taken." Education Week adds, "President Barack Obama and US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have pointed to the Asian nation's strong performance as evidence of how far US students have to go to compete in the global economy."