http://www.boston.com/news/daily/04/test.htm

International test finds US 15-year-olds average in reading, math, science

By Sharon Theimer, Associated Press, 12/04/01

WASHINGTON -- American 15-year-olds rank average in reading, math and science skills among their peers in highly industrialized nations, results the U.S. education secretary says are unacceptable.

Fifteen-year-olds from 32 of the world's most developed countries were tested last year as part of the Program for International Student Assessment. The test gauged how well they could apply knowledge gained in and out of school in the three subjects.

The results, released Tuesday, show 14 countries ranked higher than the United States in overall literacy, with Finland, Canada and New Zealand at the top, respectively. That combined score includes the ability to interpret and reflect on texts and retrieve information.

U.S. 15-year-olds ranked 18th in math; Japan, Korea and New Zealand ranked highest. The U.S. was 14th in science, with Korea, Japan and Finland at the top.

"Unfortunately, we are average across the board compared to other industrialized nations," Education Secretary Rod Paige said in a written statement. "In the global economy, these countries are our competitors -- average is not good enough for American kids."

Paige noted that the United States had among the highest percentages of students scoring in the top 10 percent in overall reading skill -- behind only Canada, Finland and New Zealand -- but also had more students at the lowest level than several countries.

Congress is considering education legislation proposed by President Bush that would require standardized math and reading tests annually for students in grades three through eight. It would provide federal money for tutoring, summer school or travel to another school for children whose schools have persistently low test scores.

Among the study's other findings:

--Girls outperformed boys in reading literacy in every participating country.

--There was no difference by gender in math or science in the United States.

--In the United States, black and Hispanic students did not do as well in any of the three subjects as other racial and ethnic groups did.

--The relationship between family wealth and performance in the United States mirrored that in other highly industrialized nations, with higher performances tending to parallel higher socio-economic status.

Students were tested by age rather than by grade. The United States tested nearly 4,000 15-year-olds from public and private schools in what Education Department spokesman Dan Langan said was a statistically solid sample.

No state- or school district-level results were available, he said.

The study is the first in a series. In 2003, PISA will test problem-solving skills, and in 2006, literacy in information and communication technology.

PISA was organized by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an international group that includes the United States and other industrialized nations.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2001