In April 2009, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the “primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations,” found little improvement in long term assessments of math and reading, despite stating “improvements seen in reading and mathematics.”
Reading Assessments:
Nine-year-old students scored an average of 215 in reading in 1980 and an average of 220 in 2008, an increase of 5 points through nearly three decades.
Thirteen-year-old students scored an average of 258 in reading in 1980 and an average of 260 in 2008, an increase of 2 points through nearly three decades.
Seventeen-year-old students scored an average of 285 in reading in 1980 and an average of 286 in 2008, an increase of 1 point through nearly three decades.
Math Assessments:
Nine-year-old students scored an average of 219 in math in 1982 and an average of 243 in 2008, an increase of 24 points through nearly three decades.
Thirteen-year-old students scored an average of 269 in math in 1982 and an average of 281 in 2008, an increase of 12 points through nearly three decades.
Seventeen-year-old students scored an average of 298 in math in 1982 and an average of 306 in 2008, an increase of 8 points through nearly three decades.
Although the NCES found nominal improvements in reading and slightly greater improvements in math, compared to the rest of the world the U.S. continues to fall behind the competition. Countries from Europe and Asia are surpassing the United States in math, reading and science. As The Washington Post reported, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) 2009 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) found the U.S. was “average in reading, average in science and slightly below average in math.”
“The U.S. scores of 500 in reading and 502 in science, on a 1,000-point scale, were about the organization’s average, according to the report. The U.S. math score of 487 was below the average of 496.” (Nick Anderson, “International Test Score Data Show U.S. Firmly Mid-Pack,” The Washington Post, 12/7/10)
Don’t let the word “average” fool you though. The United States ranks well behind many countries in math, reading and science.
“Out of 34 countries, the U.S. ranked 14th in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math.” (Christine Armario, “In Ranking, US Students Trail Global Leaders,” The Associated Press, 12/7/10)
In 2008, UPI reported the OECD found the U.S. ranked 18th out of 36 nations in secondary education. “The United States is no longer the world leader in secondary education, according to the rankings of an international organization.”
“Headed to the top of the heap is South Korea where 93 percent of high school students graduate on time compared with the United States where 75 percent receive their diplomas.” (“U.S. Slipping In Education Rankings,” UPI, 11/19/08)
In 2007, The Washington Post reported “U.S. 15-year-olds trailed their peers from many industrialized countries. The average science score of U.S. students lagged behind those in 16 of 30 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a Paris-based group that represents the world’s richest countries. The U.S. students were further behind in math, trailing counterparts in 23 countries.”
In 2005, The Associated Press reported the OECD found the U.S. had slipped to “ninth among industrialized nations in the share of its population that has at least a high school degree. In the same age group, the United States ranks seventh, with Belgium, in the share of people who hold a college degree.” This is a startling revelation after ranking first “as recently as 20 years ago.”
A study released in September 2003, “conducted as part of the Representative Democracy in America project, a joint effort of the Trust for Representative Democracy of the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Center for Civic Education and the Center on Congress at Indiana University,” found “young people do not understand the ideals of citizenship, they are disengaged from the political process, they lack the knowledge necessary for effective self-government, and their appreciation and support of American democracy is limited. The older generations have failed to teach the ideals of citizenship to the next generation.” Further, the “gap between the civic attitudes, knowledge and participation of the new generation of” people between the ages of 15 and 26, “and the older ones is substantially greater than the gaps between previous generations. It suggests that [they] will never be as engaged in democracy as their elders.” The report also suggests that their findings “leave little doubt that Baby Boomers and the World War II generation have failed to successfully pass on ideals of citizenship to the…generation that is now coming of age.”
In another study from 2003 by The Albert Shanker Institute, a liberal labor union backed think tank, drew similar conclusions. The press release announcing the findings of the study got right to the point: “The typical American high school student has neither an understanding of nor appreciation for the basic democratic principles that make the United States different from most other nations.”
In study after study, we are finding the foundation to liberty is crumbling. By our own measurements, students are not gaining significant ground in the areas of math and reading. At the same time, many industrialized countries are surpassing ours. Worse, the youth of our country have not been passed the American principles, values and traditions required to keep our Republic vibrant in the decades to come.
ThinkFY's full feed