Every three years, 15 year-old students from 65 highly industrialized countries and educational systems complete the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). The results from the 2009 test are in and U.S. education officials are concerned.
U.S. students placed below average or average in the three subject areas tested.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan did not mince words in a press release discussing the PISA results. “Today’s PISA results show that America needs to urgently accelerate student learning to remain competitive in the global economy of the 21st century.”
PISA was introduced in the year 2000 and measures literacy in reading, mathematics and science. “Literacy” according to PISA standards, indicates the student’s ability to apply knowledge to specific subject areas.
PISA is coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental association of 34 highly industrialized countries. This most recent assessment was done between the months of September and November 2009 in the United States.
The most distressing area for U.S. educators was in mathematics. U.S. students ranked below the average of all participating countries with an average math literacy score of 487. The average of other participating countries was 496. Korea and Finland led in overall averages with scores of 546 and 541, respectively.
In science literacy, the average U.S. student score was 502. Twelve countries had higher average scores. Thirty-three countries had lower average science literacy scores while another 13 countries were not measurably different from the U.S. average score. Finnish students led in this subject while the Slovak Republic, Italy, Spain, Greece, Israel, Turkey, Chile and Mexico trailed the U.S. at the lower levels.
Only 29 per cent of American students were able to place above Level 4 in science literacy on a scale of 1 to 6 with Level 6 denoting the highest or advanced level.
In reading literacy, 30 percent of U.S. students scored at or above the level 4 proficiency while 18 percent scored below level 2. Level 2 proficiency, according to PISA, is a “baseline level” similar to functional literacy.
According to the chief of National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), U.S. students taking the PISA were in three grade levels with 69 percent in the tenth grade. Stuart Kerachsky, Deputy Commissioner of NCES, explained that PISA scores were not indicative of “curriculum knowledge at a particular grade level,” but rather they indicate a “yield” of learning.
Nonetheless, Education Secretary Duncan said the PISA results were “not nearly good enough in a knowledge economy where scientific and technological literacy is central to sustaining innovation and international competitiveness.”
Duncan found the results “especially troubling because PISA assesses applied knowledge and the higher-order thinking skills critical to success in the information age.”
Meanwhile, students in Shanghai turned in outstanding scores, placing first overall in reading and science with scores of 556 and 575. In contrast, U.S. students ranked 17th in reading and 23rd in science.
“We have to see this as a wake-up call,” said U.S. Education Secretary Duncan. “We can quibble, or we can face the brutal truth that we are being out-educated."
Sources:
Education Secretary Arne Duncan Issues Statement on the Results of the Program for International Student Assessment (2010, December 7). Retrieved December 18, 2010, from U.S. Department of Education.
Kerachsky, S. NCES Statement on PISA 2009 (2010, December 7). Retrieved December 18, 2010, from U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences.
"Top test scores from Shanghai stun educators, worry US officials." (2010, December 8). Retrieved December 18, 2010, from MediaCorp Press, LTD.
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