U.S. Falls In World Education Rankings, Rated 'Average'

Ed. Clarification: HuffPost Education originally reported that the United States was ranked 14th by the OECD. That figure is the nation's ranking in reading skills, not the overall ranking of the country.

The United States has fallen to "average" in international education rankings released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, according to the AFP.

America has received scores around 500 on a scale that goes up to 1,000: 487 in math, 500 in reading and 502 in science.

The AFP reports,

The three-yearly OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, which compares the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds in 70 countries around the world, ranked the United States 14th out of 34 OECD countries for reading skills, 17th for science and a below-average 25th for mathematics.

Citing concerns over the country's education performance compared to other nations, and the long-term impact of the shortcomings on the future economic viability of the country, the Obama Administration has pushed for comprehensive reforms during the president's time in office.

According to the AP,

"This is an absolute wake-up call for America," U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in an interview with The Associated Press. "The results are extraordinarily challenging to us and we have to deal with the brutal truth. We have to get much more serious about investing in education."

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Comments

[ninetailedfox]

04:40 AM on 02/04/2011

This is what happens when people allow fundamentalist christians to play with education. If we dont want to lose more children, it would be wise to curb them from doing further damage.

[MirageRF]

01:48 AM on 01/25/2011

When you find a student who is failing, you usually find a family who is failing.
The student is a product of the home long before he comes to school.
Show me a healthy, functional family and I'll show you a successful student/teacher relationship.

[Kuei Yup]

08:02 AM on 01/27/2011

And, when you have millions of families that are failing, you have a government that is failing.

[MirageRF]

01:19 PM on 01/27/2011

And when the government takes over the responsibility of the family to clothe, house and feed the members, you further undermine the family. I don't support the government as a "mommy and poppa state." Seems like a "chicken or the egg" scenario.........?

[kevinw71]

08:20 PM on 12/27/2010

America has the highest amount of children living in poverty than any industrialized country. Let's lower that number before we attack our nation's teachers.

[RedRat]

07:52 PM on 12/12/2010

Considering how much we spend on education and then blather on about the importance of education, I find these results pathetic at the best and outright criminal at worse. Clearly, we are not doing something right here. We had better take a long hard look at our educational system and try to figure out why we are failing so badly.

[plthomas]

09:23 AM on 12/12/2010

Rankings are always distorted, and should never be taken at face value; read some Gerald Bracey (SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT). And what is worse, the valuable message from international comparisons is about CHILDHOOD POVERTY RATES. . .note where the US ranks there. . .we have social inequity problems that are mirrored in the schools, not caused by them. . .If we applied the same senseless bashing of hospitals and doctors that we do to schools and teachers, we'd be condemning hospitals and doctors' offices for causing sickness since they are often filled with the sick. . .

Note the facts about international comparisons of poverty: http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/445; http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/371; http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_chi_pov-economy-child-poverty

[Avatar73]

12:16 PM on 12/20/2010

We have complete apathy from our lower classes, they don't study with their kids, get involved with the school to help reach the desired outcome, they leave it in the hands of the teachers, and they are dealing with the worst, un-trained, un-disciplined, criminal-minded generation created. And you ask why the system is failing, Garbage in Garbage Out.

[farmilyman]

05:08 AM on 12/11/2010

Thanks to conservatives.

[GarryGreen123]

11:02 PM on 12/11/2010

Yes and Liberals too.

[ninetailedfox]

04:42 AM on 02/04/2011

More like fundie christians. Not all conservatives are christians, not all liberals are atheists.

[Scott1560]

01:05 PM on 12/10/2010

"No User Serviceable Parts Inside" speaks volumes about the dumb down of our society. Electronic components are pretty standard (not alien technology) and the flow of electrons has not changed, but most folks these days haven't a clue as to how their radios or TVs work.....and cell phones.....I could go on, but am sure that most of you get the drift.

It feels intentional.

[GarryGreen123]

11:23 PM on 12/11/2010

I think the "No User Serviceable Parts Inside" has truly little to do with the education level of the operators and more to do with the throwaway society we have these days.

[kinsale]

12:32 PM on 12/10/2010

A) to the school boards: Quit building palaces so you can have your name on a big brass plaque, use the money for instruction, you can teach english in a garage.
B) to the teachers: Decide if you wish to be a professional and get paid well but judged critically or be a member of a union and a "job for life" with average pay.
C) to the parents: skip the coffee and doughnut a couple of times a month and sign your kids up to a home study like electricworkbook.com instead of a new video game.

[laymancanuck]

11:54 AM on 12/10/2010

Like most things in America it's a social- economic class issue. Whether it's health care or education ,with money you get the best in the world. The working people who don't live in the better areas with good schools, have access to services that function at a third world level.Now with policy focused on cutting the debt, services to the working class will only get worse.

[raechel]

09:34 AM on 12/10/2010

I heard an update on NPR this morning about the Atlanta cheating scandal. At first I was angry -- how can teachers and administrators expect anything from or accomplish anything with kids if they're modeling cheating to get ahead? It's an integrity thing. And then of course we have this "teaching to the test" thing, which is only a few steps removed from cheating. I won't teach the material, won't make sure my students are really prepared, I'll just make sure they can pass the test. It doesn't work, of course, but the fact that teachers talk about it so much is, well, creepy. It's like painting over rust and justifying it by saying "well, the customer was happy when I returned the car to him."

Then I started to think about why students cheat. Of course a "culture" that tolerates or celebrates cheating is part of the problem. But I think a big part of the problem is that the cheaters don't think they can do what it takes to achieve anything honestly. Beneath their bravado and "don't care" attitude there's fear -- fear of being found out, fear of being unequal to the job, fear of failing, all of that.

So now I'm angry about teacher's colleges. They turn out ill-prepared and incapable teachers. Is it any wonder that the students they teach are as ill-prepared and incapable as they?

This also explains the rabid hatred for people who do have confidence and capability.

[WhatchaTalkinBoutWillis]

11:00 PM on 12/09/2010

Why do educational threads rarely make the front page? I would deem this a very important topic!

But, we as a country are more obsessed about the Snookis', Bradjelinas', and Kardashians than what our children may or may not be learning within our own educational system!

[AndyWright68]

12:51 PM on 12/10/2010

What they're learning is to be patriotic and obedient taxslaves. What they are not learning is anything BAD about the government or any other skills they may need to know to communicate effectively. "They don't want them smart enough to figure out how badly they are getting pǝʞɔnɟ by the red white and blue." ~ Carlin.

[yill danniel]

09:23 PM on 12/09/2010

It hard to educate students today, all they care about is texting and sexting.

[AndyWright68]

12:52 PM on 12/10/2010

Don't expect government schools to cater to that.

[rlugbill]

07:00 PM on 12/09/2010

This needs to be the lead story today. The American people need to understand this.

The Chinese-Shanghai students were the best in every category. Reading, math and science.

For the U.S. to catch up, it would take a total transformation of our culture and education system. I taught in Taiwan for a year and know a little about Chinese culture and education system.

Teachers in China are highly respected. The title of "teacher" is a title of respect, like we would call someone doctor.

Parents are highly supportive of their children's education. People who can't afford cars or vacations will pay for special after-school classes to help their children's education. And children understand that their role is to succeed for the pride of their family. If they don't succeed, it is a shameful thing for their family.

Their education system has traditionally been criticized as being too rote. But, they have switched to a more problem-solving approach recently in response to these criticisms.

Children in China do not misbehave like American children do. They don't disrupt class or get in fights or quarrel. There is much less of the social life in school. There is little drama and school is not a fashion show like in many American schools. There is very little drugs or drinking among Chinese teens.

There are not school sports teams or cheerleaders or pep rallies. Also, longer school year and longer school days. In short, school is for learning.

[WhatchaTalkinBoutWillis]

10:53 PM on 12/09/2010

Great post. Although, I'm not sure if elimination of school sports for an already growing population of obese children would be more to our detriment or advantage. Sometimes participation in extracurricular activies can foster academic excellence. All children need that balance. I agree, schools should be centers of higher learning... and NOT centers of 'babysitting' those unwilling or uncapable of such.

[raechel]

09:23 AM on 12/10/2010

Having a few kids playing sports is unlikely to address the root cause of obesity -- the electronic babysitter. Phys ed, yes, and every day (kids aren't designed to sit all day), but skip the school sports.

[Andy Clark]

11:33 PM on 12/09/2010

China is also a less culturally diverse country than ours.

the thing is, while we report scores for EVERY child, a lot of these nations omit special education students from their scores, therefore inflating their rankings a bit.

Still, I agree with your post.

[kansasmagic]

04:39 AM on 12/11/2010

Yes, China is less culturally diverse, but it is more economically diverse than the US. When I see/hear reports of China's academic successes vs. the US, I wonder about the millions of school-age students who don't live in the vibrant (and increasingly rich) coastal cities. It's not only the "special education students" who are left out of these rankings.

[John Mainstream]

05:31 PM on 12/09/2010

Need to get rid of the SAT as a way of measuring. Change the focus of middle school and high school to teach core business skills, and real-world applications for basic math, reading, computer skills, and physical education.

[Kenz300]

04:06 PM on 12/09/2010

It is too bad our education system does not spend more time on financial literacy.

Teens and adults in middle, high school and college need to be taught:

Preparing a resume

Job interview skills

Balancing a check book

Saving and investing 101

Preparing a budget

Insurance - health, auto and home

Credit -- credit cards and their proper use

Home mortgages -- types and cost

The expense of home ownership

The expense of raising children

Too many young people have had no guidance on their financial path and set themselves
for failure by digging a big hole they can not get out of.

[WhatchaTalkinBoutWillis]

11:16 PM on 12/09/2010

We had classes which touched upon some of the topics you've outlined in your post when I was in high school--home economics, economics, and accounting. All were 'electives' which definitely could have been more expansive in their scope. The students who typically elected to enroll in these courses--particularly economics and accounting--were referred to as 'nerds'. Being labelled a 'nerd' in those days (early 90s') was more of a stigma than a badge of honour. If more children 'channelled their inner nerd' and more parents were insistent upon academic excellence from their children and schools, the U.S. could become the 'leader in education' that it was destined.