As the creator and Executive Producer of Two Million Minutes, I thought I might offer a few comments to this post.

First, I'm sorry that you felt the film was biased. Both the Director and Producer of the documentary hold Master's degrees in Journalism from Berkeley and we took every reasonable step to make the film as objective as possible.

Ironically, the largest buyers of the DVD on our web site are, in fact, high school teachers and principals - they seem to be using the film to help their students become more globally aware in a Flat World.

To address your specific criticisms: We did not "stack the deck". The three schools were chosen for these reasons: 1) they represent the upper echelon of high school education in each country and 2) the families of the students have relatively similar socio-economic backgrounds.

The specific students were selected as follows: 1) we asked the administrators of each school for students academically in the top 5% and 2) we also asked for students who were held in high regard by their peers.

In America, Neil is class president, was on the varsity football team, on the school newspaper and got a full scholarship to study Computer Graphics at Purdue his junior year of high school. Brittany graduated #28 in her class of nearly 1,000, was involved in numerous school activities and was seen as a leader. She is currently 4.0 pre-med at Indiana University.

In China, the boy chosen was ranked #1 in math in his school - something that his peers in China regard highly. However, as the movie shows, despite his obvious math skill he was rejected by the Math Program at Beijing University - because so many other Chinese students were even more gifted in math. He did not get into the college of his choice.

The same is true of the Chinese girl - she is smart, a talented violinist and ballet dancer, but she was rejected by Yale - her first choice.

The Indian students experienced the same outcome - they are clearly smart, have studied incredibly hard for years, but they are rejected by the top Indian colleges - because thousands of Indians scored higher on the entrance exams.

So, while the intensity of the Indian and Chinese students may, to American eyes, make them appear to be tops in their country, in fact, they are far from the top.

I have spent a lot of time in Indian and Chinese schools, as well as American schools. I would contend that the work ethic you see is entirely accurate for all three countries for the upper half of typical high school students.

Your observation about engineering. In hindsight, I regret I did not devote more time to the other subjects that Indian and Chinese students study in high school. In fact, they study subjects typical of American schools - for example Apoorva, the Indian girl in the film, had the following curriculum in 9th and 10th grade: English language, English literature, Hindi language and literature [2nd language], World History and Civics, World Geography, Algebra, Geometry, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Computer Programming (elective).

In 11th and 12th, she chose a more technical track, not dissimilar from Brittany's interest in preparing for pre-med: English Language and Literature, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics through Calculus, Biology, Computer Science and Environmental Education (a newly required course). During middle school, art and music are standard subjects as are more social sciences.

I employee over 100 Indians and Chinese - engineers, business majors, teachers, artists and general administrative people. From my personal experience, I have found both cultures to produce very well rounded individuals - smart, creative, socially adept, with wonderful senses of humor. They are also excellent in math and science, but they are decidedly not simply "left-brained" nerds. For their ages, they do know more about math and science than their American peers, but that knowledge has not been gained at the sacrifice of literature, history, geography, politics, art or music.

Finally, you assert that I used "statistical slight of hand" by not showing Chinese and Indian dropout rates. There is only so much one can cover in 54 minutes, but my intent was not to deceive.

Below are the current enrollment statistics on each country. It is true a large percentage of Indians and Chinese do not even get to high school. But their absolute numbers are so large that a high drop out rate still leaves a lot of students getting an education. I'm not sure America can take much comfort in Indian and Chinese drop out rates.

ENROLLMENT IN EACH COUNTRY -

US: K-8 - 38 million students, H.S. - 16 million, College -17 million

China: K-8 - 170 million students, H.S. - 24 million, College - 16 million

India: K-8 - 176 million students, H.S.- 35 million, College - 8 million

I'm sorry you took my film as critical of American high schools - that was not the intent. Rather I had hoped to show how students in each country allocate their time - between school, study, sports, extracurricular activities and jobs.

What the film illustrates is that students allocate their time very differently in each country based mostly on families, community recognition and their culture - not simply because of the school system.

The question I hoped to raise with the film was - does it matter to America's economic future that Indian and Chinese students spend more time building their intellectual foundation than American students? We tried to show the simple reality in each country, and then let each viewer draw their own conclusion.

I hope U.S. educators will view Two Million Minutes as an opportunity to gain insight into the educational priorities and practices of the two largest countries on Earth and not as criticism of American high schools.

I have yet to see this documentary, therefore I can only comment on what I have read so far. I feel the NASSP's counter-argument is somewhat unfair. Yes, the Asian dropout rate is high. However, what you have neglected to consider is the socio-economic status of their citizens. Despite China's booming economy, many of its citizens are not financially well-off. China and India are still considered developing countries so naturally, the dropout rate will be high. Further, I believe the topic of this documentary relates to technology so logically, they will focus on math and science. Again, I have yet to see this film, but I'm looking forward to it.

Having read the NASSP review and Bob Compton's fine response, I do hope to soon see the film.

While I am skeptical about advocacy films, the education community clearly needs to be very concerned about future global competitiveness and the essential contributions of education.

If the case examples and reported statistics in this film can be criticized as unrepresentative or incomplete, the extensive TIMSS and PISA studies provide more than a sufficient review of the our educational status globally. Should U.S. High Schools be challenged to use time more effectively? There is no doubt that we should, and can.

It is important that these concerns are given exposure, especially in public and legislative spheres. Thank you, Bob Compton.

Steven Rogg, Ph.D.

As the executive director of ED in '08, a sponsor of "Two Million Minutes," I read with interest NASSP's statement on the film. Here's my take:

As American parents and educators, it is understandably a difficult thing to acknowledge that our students, whom we strive to provide with every advantage education can offer, are not the best in the world. In fact, they are far from it. However, what matters is our reaction to this realization. Will we duck our heads in the sand, become defensive and resistant? Or will we accept the challenge to reinvigorate our public schools and ask more of our students, schools, and leaders?

The National Association of Secondary School Principals’ defensive reaction to the documentary Two Million Minutes: A Global Examination, even going as far as to issue a statement rejecting the film’s premise, mistakes a call to action for an attack. The film, which looks at the different ways that high school students in China, India, and the United States allocate their time based on academic demands, culture, and family, raises questions that deserve consideration, questions that transcend the particular subjects and nations portrayed. Put simply, what are the consequences if our American culture of cloaked mediocrity is allowed to continue unchecked?

Top-performing, middle class students like Neil and Brittney, the American teenagers featured in Two Million Minutes, appear to our eyes to be above-average, successful individuals, yet when compared with top-performing, middle class students in other nations, their shine pales. What becomes clear while watching the film is the different cultural intensity around academic achievement in these three nations.

The NASSP statement takes issue with minor statistics and stylistic elements of the documentary at the expense of missing the larger point that American schools can and must do better. We are not assured that the innovations and highly skilled jobs of the next generation will be American ones. Our nation has a history of grade inflation coupled with decreasing standards and rigor. What good is it that our students earn high grade point averages if they are learning less and performing lower than their peers in other nations?

The effects of this watered-down approach are already being made known in our own economy, and not only in math and science. Nearly three in four human resource officials rate young hires as deficient in basic writing skills, and employers agree, estimating that nearly half of high school graduates are not prepared with skills to advance beyond entry level jobs. Even jobs that don’t require college are struggling to find qualified workers. Jonathan Mitchell, training director at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 490 in Concord, New Hampshire, said that last year about half of applicants failed a required entry test in math and reading, echoing a larger trend across the country.

While I recognize the extraordinary work of American administrators, teachers, and parents, what we are witnessing are the coming effects of an entrenched isolationist approach to our schools. There must be a cultural shift – higher standards and rigor in all subjects – and a greater understanding of the connections between what happens in our schools and what happens in our economy. To deny this is to suggest that American students are already performing as best they can – and we all know that’s not true.