U.S. Schools Aren’t Flunking Out
American students do pretty well compared with the rest of the world, except in math.
Put the despair on hold.
Photographer: Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group Editorial/Getty ImagesThe latest round of international test scores seems to reinforce the narrative that the U.S. education system is failing, overtaken by overseas rivals despite throwing vast sums of money at schools. Examining the new 2018 numbers from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Programme for International Student Assessment, which measures aptitude in reading, math and science among 15 year olds, some observers have reached the despairing conclusion that U.S. education reform efforts have been futile. The unspoken implication is that American children are fundamentally less educable and that more school spending would represent money down the drain.
This argument, however, is deeply flawed. It relies on an inaccurate and incomplete reading of the data. First, U.S. performance on international tests is not nearly as low as is commonly made out.