RSSU. S. Students Lagging in Math and Science: O.E.C.D. PISA Tests (2000-2003)
Most of the major inventions designed to improve our modern way of life have been invented or perfected by Americans (electricity, steam turbine, corn flakes, light bulbs, telecommunications, modern-day radio, television, the transistor, the microchip, the computer, and the Internet). The U.S. System of advanced education and research has kept us in the position of technology leader for the last century. However, our primary and secondary education programs are falling behind. Every three years, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development tests fifteen-year-olds in math, science, reading and problem solving skills (Program for International Student Assessment). In the 2003 tests, the United States fell to 26th in math and to 20th in science among 32 nations. Even when the comparison is limited to the top tier of students, when compared with top students elsewhere in the world, America’s best math students ranked no better than 25th out of 30 countries.
UPDATED
A sharp eyed reader spotted the 2006 PISA test results which we did not find when we drafted the orginal post. These results are consistent with the 2000 and 2003 results and do not show significant improvement.
In 2006, the results show the average combined science literacy scale score for U.S. students to be lower than the OECD average. U. S. students placed 29 out of 57 countries in science literacy and 35 out of 57 in math literacy.
In 2006, When comparing the performance of the highest achieving students—those at the 90th percentile—U.S. students scored lower (593) than the OECD average (615) on the mathematics literacy scale. Twenty-nine jurisdictions (23 OECD jurisdictions and 6 non-OECD jurisdictions) had students at the 90th percentile with higher scores than the United States on the mathematics literacy scale.
In 2006, When comparing the performance of the highest achieving students—those at the 90th percentile—there was no measurable difference between the average score of U.S. students (628) compared to the OECD average (622) on the combined science literacy scale. Twelve jurisdictions (9 OECD jurisdictions and 3 non-OECD jurisdictions) had students at the 90th percentile with higher scores than the United States on the combined science literacy scale.
30 Responses to “U. S. Students Lagging in Math and Science: O.E.C.D. PISA Tests (2000-2003)”
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October 30th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
I have been teaching for 25 years, and I am known as a “hard” teacher. Because I am “hard” I am hated by the community because it is difficult to receive an ‘A’ in my class. No one wants to work to earn a good grade. They all want to be just given A’s.
I had a parent conference last week with a mom who was outraged that I “took-off” for spelling and grammar on her child’s government essay. Never mind the kid is in the 12th grade and wants to attend college. It was the kid’s “right” according to Mom to make an A in my course.
I have two years to retirement and it can’t come soon enough.
If anyone is considering teaching, let me suggest, find another field.
And those of you who think vouchers are the way, think again. Most parents who have children in private schools want their kids to have an “A” because as a friend of mine told me ( She teaches at the local Catholic High School) ” they are not paying for B’s”
October 29th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
I send my children to a private christian school. I want my kids to talk about GOD. And I still don’t understand why if a child can do 7th grade level work in the 5th grade why the school systems don’t encourage children to excel if they have that knowledge gift. Why do you have to fight tooth and nail to allow children to learn at the pace they can and not what the “Class” is ready for as a whole. We should embrace bright children and use our resources wisely. Not stifle them, we as a nation are going downhill with that education attitude!
September 20th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
It is an oversimplification to say that foreign students do not do well in school and bring down the school grades. I have been a teacher in the public school system for over 11 years and I do agree that foreign students from third world nations do slow down the class; mostly because their parents are not educated and do not raise their children to value education. Prior to teaching, I was an engineer for about the same amount of time (11 years). The majority of students in the engineering classes were foreign students and they were very intelligent. Most were from the Middle-East or Asia. Many were also from India. Very few of the engineering students were born in the United States.
Hunger is a good motivator. Most American-born children with educated parents are not deprived and therefore have little incentive to work hard in school. To make things worse, the media plays up the social aspect of school and put down parents, teachers, and any other authority figures.
I finally left the teaching profession last year. After many years of frustration with a system that does everything possible to make it difficult for me to teach my students, I had had enough. Our system is broken and just uses teachers as a scape-goat instead of demanding accountability from parents and students. I am also not a fan of the teacher’s union since it spends most of its resources to keep the unqualified teachers employed. Some times (when I get frustrated) I wonder if there is not a bigger plan to keep the United States youth uneducated because nothing is being done to alleviate problems that seem to have such an easy solution.
September 15th, 2008 at 10:39 am
I have some thoughts on some very meaningful data that might shed some light on education:
1) What does US spend on education vs other countries on a per pupil basis? This could then be compared to the relative test scores that you already provide.
2) Is there a way to show productivity in education?? Our country as a whole has undergone tremendous productivity gains because of computers, the internet, etc and I am wondering if our eduction system is keeping pace. My gut says that education has NOT and there is no reason they shouldn’t.
Thanks
August 17th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Thanks, Ross, for making this information available. The charts are very informative and easily understood. I hope enough of our next generations will have a basic understanding of graphical presentation. I was not aware of the Canadian dominance in our oil import mix. Since I saw that chart I have been asking people if they know who our major oil suppliers are.
The most frightening statistic was the 2% figure for PhD graduates from our major universities coming from the U.S. citizenry. My, how times have changed! Our popular consumer-obsessed culture puts no value on advanced education. The lowest common denominator seems to rule. The bright and motivated young people who devoured knowledge and lived to solve problems are now rare. I helped take us to the moon, make space rendevous look easy and lay the groundwork for GPS. Who will do the next wave of exploration? Where will the U.S. be?
August 16th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Our education woes are almost all tied to our immigration policies or lack thereof. Without these drains on our schools and their depressed test scores dragging down the average, there would be a much smaller problem to deal with.
August 4th, 2008 at 2:24 am
Vouchers!
July 30th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
America is all about inefficiency these days, what really annoys me is that our national education budget per child exceeds from many other nations who have scored a better rating. I am proud to be an American but without proper education we are losing our edge. Most kids these days seem more interested in internet surfing and video games than in real education. If we want to succeed the nation’s schools are an obvious place to start. I have written many of my personal concerns about issued faced by the US in the article below, many of which are already discussed here http://www.saching.com/Article/Future-of-America-looks-bad/95
July 28th, 2008 at 12:51 am
The future of America and world peace is equivalent to our ability to be on the top of the world’s O.E.C.D. and PISA education charts. We need to keep our nation’s competitive edge technically, and that requires trained minds. Does one need to guess why our education system is so burdened and challenged? Does illegal immigration and lack of qualified educators have an influence? Are our administrators more interested in selfish motives than academic performance?
In Rogers, Arkansas, the demographics of the the high school graduating class have boggled the locals minds in the past few years. When the children’s parents don’t have any education to speak of, how important is it to them that their children become educated? How can they assist them in their studies? Do the teachers have to slow down the curriculum to accommodate these children who are here illegally?
If I were to violate a federal statute, I would no longer be able to vote, hold public office, get a security clearance, possess a firearm at a minimum and would most likely be incarcerated for a while. Am I imagining things? Am I out of line for expressing myself?
Charlie Aker
NW Arkansas
July 21st, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Please rank the states by their test scores. Why is Tennessee so low?