We're a nation that's coming to respect statistics. Billy Bean convinced us that better statistics could beat bigger payrolls in sports. Nate Silver helped humble Karl Rove's money machine with better statistics. Maybe it's time to take a more careful look at the international test statistics judging how good our nation's schools are.

A Somewhat Happy Education Headline? America's students are graduating high school at higher rates, according to a new Harvard report (via the Wall Street Journal.) In 2000, researchers found, 77.6 percent of Americans ages 20-24 had high school diplomas; 10 years later, 83.7 percent of that same group held diplomas. "The improvement was particularly sharp among blacks and Hispanics," WSJ reports. "For instance, in 2000, 61.2% of black men between 20 and 24 had finished high school; in 2010, 72.0% of black men in that age bracket had." But even so, 20 percent of American men between 20 and 24 -- and 14 percent of women -- still lack that crucial certification.

The U.S. performed above average on international standardized tests in elementary and middle school math, science and reading, according to reports r...

STANFORD, Calif. -- Finland is this decade's shiny icon of classroom success, the repeat winner of top results in a global ranking of national school ...

We are unique in pursuing so much testing, punitive measures against schools and teachers, and the creation of so many independent charter schools. At the same time, we are ignoring financial inequality among schools and school districts.

As American students continue to struggle in math and reading, students in Shanghai who took international exams for the first time outscored every ot...